UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
AT  LOS  ANGELES 


R  E  P  0  R  T 


INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY   CONGRESS 


L  OISTD  oi<r. 


HELD   JULY  -S-LS,  m9.. 


By  E.  C.  WINES,  D.  D.,  LL.  D. 

UNITED    STATES   COMMISSIONER. 


TO  WHICH  IS  APPENDED 


THE  SECOND  ANNUAL   REPORT  OF   THE   NATIONAL   PRISON   ASSOCIATION 

OF    THE    UNITED    STATES,    CONTAINING    THE    TRANSACTIONS 

OF    THE    NATIONAL    PRISON    REFORM    CONGRESS, 

HELD    AT    BALTIMORE,   MARYLAND, 

JANUARY  21-24,    1873. 


WA  SHTN^GTON: 

GOYEENMENT     PRINTING     OFFICE, 
1873. 


V4V 


To  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  : 

I  transmit  herewith  a  report  from  the  Secretary  of  State  aud  accom- 
panying papers. 

U.  S.  GRANT. 

Washington,  February  13, 1873. 


Department  of  State, 

Washington^  February  13,  1873. 
Referring  to  the  joint  resolution  of  Congress,  of  the  20th  March, 
1871,  authorizing  the  appointment,  by  the  President,  of  a  commissioner 
to  attend  an  International  Congress  on  Penitentiary  and  Reformatory 
Discipline,  proposed  to  be  held  in  Europe,  I  have  the  honor  to  transmit 
herewith  the  report  of  Mr.  E.  C.  Wines,  appointed  under  the  said  res- 
olution, of  the  congress  which  was  held  at  London,  together  with  an 
^  appendix  containing  a  summary  of  the  proceedings  of  the  late  National 
"^  Prison  Congress  of  Baltimore. 
Respectfully  submitted. 

HAMILTON  FISH. 
The  President. 


<^ 


Washington,  February  12, 1873. 

^        Sir  :  I  have  the  honor  to  submit  to  you  my  report  as  Commissioner 

"^  of  the  United  States  to  the  International  Penitentiary  Congress  of  Lon- 

2^    don,  together  with  an  appendix,  containing  summary  of  proceedings  of 

the  late  National  Prison  Congress  of  Baltimore. 

With  gTcat  respect,  I  have  the  honor  to  be,  your  most  obedient  servant, 

E.  C.  WINES, 

Commissioner,  dc. 
His  Excellency  U.  S.  Grant, 

President  of  the  United  States. 

H.  Ex.  185 * 


1 


jj"^.  ■.'1  .■  ^  .y'v.  ■-  ''■■  .' 


CONTENTS. 


Page. 

Genekal  ixtkoduction 1 

PAET  FIRST :  STATE  OF  PKISONS. 

Chaptek  I :  PiiisoN  systems 7 

§  1.  Austria , 8 

2.  Belgium 7 

.3.  Denmark 10 

4.  France - 11 

5.  German  Empire 14 

(1.)  Baden 14 

(2.)  Bavaria 15 

(3.)  Prussia 15 

(4.)  Saxony IB 

(5.)  Wiirtemberg 16 

6.  Italy , 17 

7.  Mexico , 18 

8.  Netherlands -  19 

9.  Norway 19 

10.  Rassia"^ ; 20 

11.  Switzerland 21 

12.  Sweden 22 

13.  United  States .■ 23 

14.  England 25 

1.5.  Ireland 26 

Chaptek  II :  PrasoN  administration 27 

^  1.  Austria 27 

2.  Belgium 28 

3.  Denmark , ■. 28 

4.  France 28 

5.  German  Empire 29 

(1.)  Baden 29 

(2.)  Bavaria 29 

(3.)  Prussia 30 

(4.)  Saxony 30 

(5.)  Wiirtemberg 30 

6.  Italy 31 

7.  Mexico 31 

8.  Netherlands 31 

9.  Norway 32 

10.  Russia 32 

11.  Sweden 33 

12.  Switzerland 33 

13.  United  States .-  34 

14.  England  and  Ireland 34 

Chapter  III :  Prison  discipline 35 

§  1.  Austria , 35 

2.  Belgium 36 

3.  Denmark 36 

4.  France 36 

5.  German  States 37 

(1.)  Baden 38 

(2.)  Bavaria , 38 

(3.)  Prussia 38 

(4.)  Saxony 39 

(5.)  Wiirtemberg 39 

6.  Italy 40 

7.  Mexico 41 

8.  Netherlands , 42 

9.  Norway 42 

10.  Russia 43 

11.  Sweden 43 

12.  Switzerland 44 

13.  United  States 45 

14.  England 46 

15.  Ireland 47 


IV  CONTENTS. 

•  Page, 

HAPTER  IV :  Moral  axd  religious  agencies 48 

5  1.  Austria 48 

"  2.  Belgium 48 

3.  Denmark 49 

4.  France 49 

5.  German  States 50 

(1.)  Baden 50 

(2.)  Bavaria 50 

(3.)  Prussia 51 

(4.)  Saxony 51 

(5.)  Wiirtemberg 52 

G.  Italy 52 

7.  Mexico 52 

8.  Netherlands 52 

9.  Norway 53 

10.  Russia 53 

11.  Sweden 54 

12.  Switzerland 55 

13.  United  States 56 

14.  England 57 

15.  Ireland 57 

Chapter  V :  Scholastic  education 57 

6  1.  Austria 57 

2.  Belgium , 58 

3.  Denmark 58 

4.  France 58 

5.  German  States 60 

(1.)  Baden 60 

(2.)  Bavaria 60 

(3.)  Prussia 60 

(4.)  Saxony 61 

(5.)  Wiirtemberg 61 

6.  Italy 61 

7.  Mexico : 62 

8.  Netherlands 62 

9.  Norway 62 

iO.  Russia 62 

11.  Sweden 62 

12.  Switzerland 63 

13.  United  States 64 

14.  England 66 

,     15.  Ireland 67- 

CitAiTER  VI :  Prison  labor 67 

^  1.  Austria 67 

2.  Dennuuk 68 

3.  Belgium 68 

4.  France 69 

5.  German  States 69 

(1  )  Badon 69 

(2. )  Bavaria 70 

(3.)  I'nisHia 70 

(4. )  Haxony 70 

(.5.)  Wiirt(!nibcrg 71 

6.  Italy 71 

7.  Mexico 71 

H.  N(!thiTlarids 71 

9.  Norway 71 

10.  ItiiHMJa 72 

11.  Sweden 72 

12.  Kwitzdrland 73 

13.  United  States 74 

14.  Eiightnd 75 

ir..  Inland 76 

(-'iiAiTKU  VII:  Sanitary  condition  ok  prisons 76 

^  1.  AoHtria 76 

2.  l'<!lgiiiiti 76 

3.  I )r'iiinark 78 

I.  Fraiicf! 78 


CONTENTS.  V 

Page. 
Chapter  VII  :  Sanitary  condition  of  prisons — Continued. 

5.  German  States 79 

(1.)  Baden ' 79 

(2.)  Bavaria 80 

(3.)  Prussia 80 

(4.)  Saxony 81 

(5.)  WUrtemberg 81 

6.  Italy 82 

7.  Mexico 82 

8.  Netherlands - 82 

9.  Norway 83 

10.  Russia 83 

11.  Sweden 84 

12.  Switzerland 84 

13.  United  States 84 

14.  England .--.  85 

15.  Ireland 85 

ChapterVIII:  Reformatory  results 85 

§  1.  Austria i 85 

2.  Belgium 85 

?>.  Denmark 86 

4.  France 86 

5.  German  States 86 

(1.)  Baden 86 

(2.)  Bavaria 86 

(3.)  Prussia 86 

(4.)  Saxony - 86 

(5.)  Wiirtemberg ! 86 

6.  Italy 87 

7.  Mexico 87 

8.  Netherlands 87 

9.  Norway 87 

10.  Russia 87 

11.  Sweden 87 

12.  Switzerland 88 

13.  United  States 88 

14.  England*  and  Ireland 89 

Chapter  IX:  Prison  officers,  their  qu^axifications  and  training 89 

§  1.  Austria i 89 

2.  Belgium 89 

3.  Denmark 89 

4.  France 89 

5.  German  States 90 

(1.)  Baden 90 

(2.)  Bavaria , 90 

(3.)  Prussia 91 

(4.)  Saxony 91 

(5.)  Wiirtemberg 91 

6.  Italy 91 

7.  Mexico 91 

8.  Netherlands 91 

9.  Norway 92 

10.  Russia 92 

11.  Sweden 92 

12.  Switzerland 93 

13.  United  States 93 

14.  England  and  Ireland 93 

Chapter  X :  Sentences 94 

§  1.  Austria 94 

2.  Belgium 94 

3.  Denmark ^ , 94 

4.  France 94 

5.  German  States 94 

(1.)  Baden 94 

(2. )  Bavaria 94 

( 3. )  Prussia 94 

(4.)  Saxony 95 

6.  Italy 95 

7.  Mexico 95 

8.  Netherlands 95 


VI  CONTENTS. 

Page. 
Chapter  X  :  Sentences — Coutinuecl. 

9.  Norway 95 

10.  Russia , 95 

11.  Sweden 95 

12.  Switzerland 95 

13.  United  States 96 

14.  England  and  Ireland 96 

Chapter  XI :  Imprisonment  for  debt 96 

1^  1.  Austria 96 

"  2.  Belgium , 96 

8.  Denmark 96 

4.  France 96 

5.  German  States 97 

(1.)  Baden 97 

(2. )  Bavaria 97 

(3J  Prussia 97 

(4.)  Saxony 97 

(5. )  Wiirtemberg 97 

G.  Italy 97 

7.  Mexico . : 97 

8.  Netherlands 97 

9.  Norway » 97 

10.  Russia 97 

11.  Sweden 98 

12.  Switzerland 98 

13.  United  States 98 

14.  England  and  Ireland 98 

CnAPTi^R  XIJ :  Causes  op  crime 98 

(\  1.  Austria 98 

2.  Belgium 98 

3.  Denmark 98 

4.  France 98 

5.  German  States 99 

(1.)  Baden 99 

(2.)  Bavaria 99 

6.  Italy 99 

7.  Mexico 99 

H.  Netherlands 100 

9.  Norway 100 

10.  Russia". 100 

11.  Sweden 100 

12.  Switzerland 100 

13.  United  States 100 

14.  Engl.'ind  and  Ireland 100 

Ciiai'Ter  XIII :  Liijerateo  imusoners 101 

$  1.  Austria 101 

2.  Belgium :.., 101 

3.  Denmark 101 

4.  France 102 

.5.  German  States 102 

(1.)  Baden  102 

(2.)  Bavaria 102 

('.',.)  I'rnssia H'3 

(4.)  Saxony 103 

(5.)  Wiirtemberg 103 

0.  Italy 103 

7.  Mexico • 103 

H.  Netherlands 103 

9.  Norway 104 

10.  KriHsia 104 

11.  Sweden 104 

,    '       12.  Switzerland ^ 104 

13.   United  States 104 

11.   F'lngland 105 

1.'..  Ireland 105 

CiiArri-.K  XIV:  Sixjuehtions  uklatino  to  J{ef<»i{mh 105 

^  1.  AuHtria 105 

2.  Belgium 10.5 

3.  France lOii 


CONTENTS  VII 

Page. 
CiiArTER  XIV  :  Suggestions  relating  to  reforms— Continued. 

4.  German  States 106 

(1.)  Baden lOR 

(2.)  Bavaria 106 

(3.)  Prussia 106 

.^).  Norway 106 

6.  Netherlands 106 

7.  Eussia 107 

8.  Switzerland ll^I 

9.  United  States 113 

Chapter  XV:  Juvenile  reformatories 114 

§  1.  Denmark 114 

2.  Saxony 114 

3.  France 114 

4.  Italy 115 

5.  Switzerland 115 

6.  United  States 115 

7.  England 116 

Historical  sketch  of  reformatory  system 116 

Results  of  the  system 118 

Distinction  between  reformatory  and  industrial  schools 119 

Fnndamental  principles  of  reformatory  system 119 

1.  The  union   of  private   agency  with  government  support  and 

supervision 119 

2.  The  use  of  moral  in  preference  to  physical  dicipline 120 

3.  Its  thoroughly  religious  tone  and  character 121 

4.  Careful  industrial  training ^ 121 

5.  Supervision  and  occasional  assistance  after  liberation 121 

6.  The  responsibility  of  parents  to  contribute  toward  the  support 

of  their  children  committed  to  reformatories 121 

Chapter  XVI :  State  of  prisons  in  British  possessions 122 

^1.  India 122 

"  2.  Ceylon 124 

3.  Jamiaca 125 

4,  Victoria 126 

PART  SECOND :     WOP.K  OF  THE  CONGRESS. 

Introductory 128 

Chapter  XVII  :  The  prisoner  after  arrest  and  before  conviction 130 

What  treatment  should  he  receive? 130 

Remarks  of  Count  de  Foresta 130 

Mr.  Collins 131 

Mr.  Stevens 131 

Mr.Pownell 131 

Chapter  XVIII  :  The  prisoner  during  his  incarceration 131 

^  1.  Proper  maximum  of  prisoners  for  any  single  prison. 131 

Remarks  of  Mr.  Ekert 131 

Sir  John  Bowring 132 

Mr.  Vaucher  Cr6mieux 132 

Mr.  Stevens 132 

Dr.  Mowatt 132 

Mr.  Peterson,  (Norway) 132 

Hon.  H.  H.  Leavitt./. 132 

Mrs.  Janney 133 

Colonel  Colville 133 

Dr.  Frey 133 

General  Pilsbury 133 

Professor  Foynitsky 133 

Mr.  F.  Hill 133 

Baron  A'on  Holtzendorff" 133 

ij  2.  Classification  of  prisoners 133 

Remarks  of  M.  d'Alinge 133 

Mr.  Stevens 134 

Dr.  Mowatt 134 

Mr.  Tallack 134 

Dr.  Marquardsen 134 

Mr.  Sargent  Cox , 134 

Dr.  Bittinger 134 

Colonel  Ratcliff 135 

Baron  von  Holtzendorff 135 


VIII  CONTENTS. 

Page. 
CliAPTEK  XVIII :  The  rRisoxER  during  his  incarceration — Continued. 

§  3.  How  far  should  prison  management  be  regulated  by  legislation  ? 135 

Kemarks  of  Mr.  Stevens 135 

Baron  Macay 135 

Mr.  F.Hill 135 

Dr.  Mowatt 135 

Baron  von  Holtzendorff 135 

Mr.  Beltrani  Scalia 136 

Mr.  Hastings 13G 

Mr.  Berden 136 

$|4.  Whether  ^vbipping  should  be  used  as  a  disciplinary  punishment ... 136 

'  Remarks  of  Mr.  Stevens 136 

Major  DuCane 136 

Dr.  Mowatt.... 137 

Mr.  Shepherd 137 

Dr.  Marquardsen 137 

Dr.  Frey 137 

Dr.  Guillaume 137 

Major  Fulford 137 

Mr'.  Wills 137 

Mrs.  Julia  Ward  Howe 137 

Mr.  F.Hill 137 

Mr.  Hastings 137 

Sir   Walter  Crofton 138 

General  Pilsbury .  138 

Dr.  Marquardsen 138 

§  5.  Kinds  and  limits  of  instruction  suited  to  the  reformatory  treatment  of 

prisoners 138 

Remarks  of  Mr.  Stevens 138 

Mr.  Tallack 139 

Mr.  Merry 139 

Mr.  McFarlane 139 

Dr.  Varrentrapp 139 

Miss  Mary  Carpenter 139 

^  6.  Whether  it  is  expedient  in  certain  cases  to  employ  an  imprisonment 

consisting  in  mere  privation  of  liberty  without  obligation  to  work.. .  139 

Remarks  of  Count  de  Foresta 139 

Professor  Wladrinoif 139 

Mr.  Chandler 140 

Dr.  Mowatt 140 

Dr.  Marquardsen 140 

$  7.  Whether  sentences  for  life  are  expedient 140 

Remarks  of  Baron  von  Holtzendortf 140 

Dr.   Wines 140 

Dr.  Mowatt 140 

Hon.  Daniel  Haines 140 

Mr.  Stevens 140 

Mr.  Vaucher  Cr6micux 140 

Mr.  Hastings 140 

§  8.  Wh<!tlier  jirisoiK  rson  reconviction  should  be  subjected  to  a  more  severe 

disci jiliiiary  tn-iitnient 141 

Remarks  of  Mr  S.  I'dersen,  (Bavaria) 141 

Mr.  rioos  van  Amstul 141 

Dr.  Fr.v 141 

M.   Robin 141 

.Mr.  St<!vcns 141 

(■(Mint   Sollolmb 141 

l>r.  (Jiiillauiiic ■ 141 

Connt  d(!  Foresta 141 

Dr.  BiUiiigcr 142 

Mrs.  .Julia  Ward  Howe 142 

•',;*.  Wliat  hhould  lie  tin'  niaxiininii  of  imprisonmonl,  cellulnr  or  otherwise, 

for  t«TMiH  Irss  than  lid;  ? 112 

Remarks  of  1  )r.    .Maninanlseii H2 

Dr.  Frey 142 

Mr.  Htcvcns 142 

Mr.  Monciire 142 

I'.arnii  Mmkav 142 

Sir  VViilt.T  Crofton 142 


CONTENTS.  IX 

Page. 
Chapter  XVIII:  The  pklsoner  during  his  incarceration— Contmued. 

^  10.  Whether  or  not  imprisonment  should  be  uniform  in  nature,  and  differ 

only  in  length 142 

Remarks  of  Count  Sollohub 142 

Dr.  Mowatt 14« 

Count  de  Foresta 143 

^  11.  Prison  labor — penal  and  industrial 143 

Remarks  of  Mr.  F.  Hill 143 

Major  Fulford 144 

General  Pilsbury 145 

Dr.  Wiues 145 

Mr.  Hibbert,  M.  P 145 

Sir  John  Bo  wring , 145 

Mr.  Ploos  von  Amstel 145 

Colonel  Colville 145 

Mr.  Stevens 145 

Dr.  Mowatt 145 

Dr.  Frey 146 

Chapter  XIX:  The  prisoner  after  his  liberation 146 

§  1.  Best  mode  of  aiding  discharged  prisoners 146 

Remarks  of  Mr.  Murray  Browne 146 

Mr.  Powell 147 

M.  d'Alinge 147 

Mr.  Rankin 147 

Baron  Mackay 148 

Mrs.  Meredith 148 

Rev.M.Robin 148 

Mr.  M.  Browne 148 

A  member  from  France 148 

Dr.  Guillaume 148 

Mr.  Biemner 149 

$  2.  Best  means  of  securing  the  rehabilitation  of  prisoners 149 

Remarks  of  !Mr.  Stevens 149 

Mr.  Hastings , 149 

Sir  Walter  Crofton : 149 

Mrs.  Julia  Ward  Howe 149 

Baron  Mackay 149 

Mr.Baker 149 

Dr.  Wines „ 149 

Mr.  Chandler 150 

Sir  John  Packington 150 

§  3.  Best  mode  of  giving  remission  of  sentences  and  regulating  conditional 

discharges « 150 

Remarks  of  Sir  W.  Crofton 150 

Mr.  Tallack 150 

Mr.  Stevens 150 

Mr.  Chandler 151 

Mr.  F.  Hill 151 

Major  Du  Cane 151 

Mr.  Nevin '. 151 

/                                  Dr.  Frey 151 

Mr.  Hastings 151 

$  4.  Supervision  of  discharged  convicts 152 

Remarks  of  Mr.  Baker 152 

Mr.  F.  Hill 152 

Mr.  Browne 152 

M.  Stevens 152 

Chapter  XX :  Miscellaneous  joints 152 

$  1.  Whether  prison  officers  should  have  special  training  for  their  work 152 

Remarks  of  Dr.  Guillaume 152 

Major  Du  Cane , 153 

Baron  Mackay 153 

Sir  Harry  Vorney,  M.  P , 153 

Mr.  Rathbone 153 

Major  Fulford 153 

Dr.  Mouat 153 

Dr.  Wines 154 

^  2.  Whether  transportation  is  expedient  in  punishment  of  crime 154 

Rejmarks  of  Count  de  Foresta 154 


X  CONTENTS. 

Page 
Chapter  XX:  Miscf.i.i^\neous  points— Continued. 

M.Pols 154 

•  Count  Sollohub 154 

Mr.  Hastings 154 

Count  de  Foresta 154 

Baron  Von  Holtzeudortf 155 

^  3.  Whether  short  imprisonment   and  the  non-payment  of  fines  may  be 

replaced  hy  compulsory  labor  without  privation  of  liberty 155 

Remarks  of  Count  de  Fox'esta 15.5 

Mr.Tallack , 155 

Rev.  Mr.  Collins 155 

Mr.  Stevens 155 

Sir  John  Bowring 155 

Baron  Mackay 155 

Mr.  Bremuer 156 

Baron  von  Holtzendorft' 156 

•^  4.  The  proper  limits  of  the  power  of  boards  of  prison-managers,  as  regards 

the  administration  of  prisons 1.56 

Remarks  of  M.  Loysou 156 

M.  Yaucher-Cr6mieux 1.56 

Colonel  Ratclitf 1.56 

^>  5.  Whether  the  government  of  j)risons  should  be  placed  in  the  hands  of 

a  supreme  central  authority 156 

Remarks  of  Mr.  Hastings'. 156 

M.  Ploos  van  Anistcl 156 

M.  Stevens 156 

Dr.  Guillaume 157 

Messrs.  Carter  and  Baker 157 

«>  (").  International  prison  statistics 157 

Remarks  of  Mr.  Beltrani-Scalia . .  ^ 1-57 

Count  Sollohub 1.57 

Dr.  Frey 1.57 

Dr.  Guillaume 1.57 

Trofessor  Lione  Leir 157 

^  7.  The  best  means  of  repressing  crime-capitalists 157 

Remarks  of  Mr.  Edwin  Hill 157 

Mr.  Serjeant  Cox 158 

Mr.  Chandler 1.58 

Colonel  Ratcliff 1.58 

Mr.  Aspimill 159 

$8.  Whether  whipi)iiig  is  expedient  in  punishmcut  of  crime 159 

Remarks  of  M.  Pols 159 

,  Mr.  Aspinall 159 

Colonel  Ratolitt' 159 

Dr.  Maniuardsen 159 

v>  9.   lOx  trad  it  ion  trcatii'S 100 

lieiiiai  ks  of  Dr.  Frey 100 

MO.  Woman's  work  in  prisons 160 

liemarivs  of  Mrs.  Ciiaae 100 

M iss  'Mary  Carpenter 160 

Miss  Emily  Faithful ir»l 

Mrs.  .Julia  Ward  Howe 161 

^Irs.  Ltswis 161 

Mr.  Jiremucr 162 

liev.  Mr.  Crombleholuie 16"> 

l.afly  Bowring h'>2 

CiiAi'ii.K  XXI:  l'i:i;vK,N-nvK  anu  kkkok.matoky  wokk 1.52 

liiiiiaiki  lit'  Mr.   Uracr 162 

MIhh  Cui'pi-nlitr 16U 

Mr.  Foot.-, 164 

.M.  Vanclii  r-(,'n'micux 164 

Mr.  Ilcndiicksou 164 

.Mr.  Howe 1 64 

.M.  Hourniit 164 

.Mr.  MiirHliall 164 

•Sir  "i".  Fowell  Baxtoii 104 

Mr.  linker 101 

Haroii  von  I  loltzendorH' 105 

Dr.  (inillaunuT 16.5 

Mr.  Wills 155 


CONTENTS.  XI 

Page. 
Chapter  XXI :  Preventivk  and  REroRMATOiiY  work — Continued. 

Eev.  Mr.  Crombleholnie 165 

Remarks  of  Mr.  Aspinall '. 16.^ 

Sir  W.  Crofton 16." 

Dr.  Marquardseu 16". 

Mr.  Ford 165 

Charter  XXII :  Penitentiary  systems 166 

^  1.  The  Irish  convict  system,  as  explained  by  Sir  W.  Crofton 16G    • 

2.  The  Irish  borough  and  county  prison  system,  as  explained  by  Mr.  Bourke 

and  others 167 

3.  The  English  convict  system,  as  explained  by  Major  I)u  Cane.., 167 

4.  The  English  borough  and  county  jirison  system,  as  explained  by  Cap- 

tain Armytage  and  others 16b 

5.  The  Scotch  prison  system,  as  explained  by  Mr.  Monclare 168 

6.  The  Belgian  prison  system,  as  explained  by  Mr.  Stevens 169 

7.  The  Russian  prison  system,  as  explained  by  Count  SoHohub 16^ 

8.  The  French  prison  system,  as  explained  by  M.  Berenger 169 

9.  The  Swiss  prison  system,  as  explained  by  Dr.  Guillaume 170 

10.  The  Italian  prison  system,  as  explained  by  Count  de  Foresta 170 

11.  The  German  prison  system,  as  explained  bj-  Heir  Ekert,  Dr.  Varrentrapp, 

and  Baron  von  Holizendoiff 170 

12.  The  Netherland's  prison  system,  as  explained  by  M.  Ploos  van  AmsteL.  171 

13.  The  Swedish  prison  system,  as  explained  by  M.  Almquist 171 

1 4.  The  Austrian  prison  system,  as  explained  by  Dr.  Frey 171 

15.  The  prison  system  of  India,  as  explained  by  Dr.  Mouat 171 

'16.  The  prison  system  of  the  United  States,  as  explained  by  Mr.  Chandler 

and  others 171 

Chapter  XXIII :  Concluding  session  of  Congress 172 

§  1.  Presentation   by  -Dr.  Wines  of  the  Works  of  Edward  Livingston  on 

Criminal  Jurisprudence,  in  English  and  French 172 

Letters  from  M.  Vergd,  member  of  the  institute,  and  Archbishop  Man- 
ning on  the  subject  of  Livingston's  Works 172 

2.  Presentation  by  Dr.  Wines  of  M.  Lucas's  observations 17^-5 

R«?sum^  of  Mr.  Lucas's  views 173 

3.  Propo.sit ions  submitted  by  American  delegation ,  174 

4.  Propositions  embodied  in  tinal  report  of  the  executive  committee,  and 

adopted  by  the  congress  as  expressing  its  conception  of  the  funda- 
mental principles  of  prison  discipline  177 

Remarks  of  Mr.  Hastings  on  moving  the  adoption  of  the  report 178 

•    Gov.  Haines  in  seconding  same 179 

Miss  Carpenter  on  report 179     ' 

Siv  John  Packington  on  putting  motion  to  adopt  report 179 

5.  Creation  of  permanent  international  prison  commission 179 

6.  Vote  of  thanks  to  Mrs.  Hastings  and  Pears,  with  remarks  by  Dr.  Wines, 

Archbishop  Manning,  and  Sir  John  Packington ISO 

7.  Vote  of  thanks  to  Dr.  Mouat,  w  ith  remarks  by  Mr.  Aspinall  and  Baron 

Mackay 180 

8.  Vote  of  thanks  to  Dr.  Wines,  with  remarks  by  Drs.  Guillaume,  Mar- 

quardsen,  and  Sir  John  PacKiugton 180 

Response  by  Dr.  Wines  ^ 181 

9.  Vote  of  thanks  to  Sir  John  Packington,  "with  remarks  by  Messrs.  Has- 

tings and  Mouat   181 

10.  Response  by  Sir  John  Packington 181 

PART  THIRD  :  PAPERS  SUBMITTED  TO  THE  CONGRESS. 

Introductory l«*ir 

Chapter  XXIII  :  *Prisoners  and  their  reformation,  by  Z.  R.  Brockway..  162 

Chapter  XXIV  :  Cumulative  sentences,  by  Liverpool  magistrates 184  / 

Chapter  XXV  :  Treatment  of  prisoners,  by  Sir  W.  Crofton.. 185       / 

Chapter  XXVI :  Preventive  police  organization,  by  Edwin  Chadwick.  ..  187  ~  / 
Chapter  XXVII :  Crimes  of  passion  and  crimes  of  reflection,  by  Dr. 

Bittinger 189 

Chapter  XXVIII :  Life  and  services  of  Howard,  by  Dr.  Bellows 190 

Chapter  XXIX :  Historical  sketch  of  the  prison  of  Ghent,  by  M.  Vis- 

SCHERS 194 

Conception  of  this  prison  due  to  Viscount  Vilain  XIV - 194 

State  of  society  in  Belgium  near  the  middle  of  eighteenth  century 195 

*  !Number  of  last  chapter  repeatedlnadvertently. 


XII  CONTENTS. 

Page. 
Chapter  XXIX  :  Historical  sketch,  etc.— Continued. 

Principal  events  in  the  life  of  Viscount  Vilain 195 

Analysis  of  two  memoirs,  by  Vilain,  proposing  the  construction  of  the 

prison  of  Ghent 19.5 

Plan  and  interior  division  of  the  prison 196 

'           Administration,  discipline,  and  industries 197 

Howard  visits  and  praises  this  prison » 199 

Kecapitulation  of  Vilain's  principles  of  prison  disciiiliue 200 

Progress  of  prison  discipline  during  the  last  century 200 

Mr.  Visschers  prefers  the  Crofton  system 201 

Note  on  a  paper  communicated  by  Dr.  Despine,  of  France,  on  the  criminal 

himself,  being  a  study  and  development  of  his  moral  anomalies 201 

PART   FOURTH:   PERSONAL    INSPECTIONS    OF   EUROPEAN    PRISONS  AND 

REFORMATORIES. 

INTRODUCTORY 201 

Letter  of  instructions  by  Governor  Seymour 201 

Chapter  XXX:  Prisons  and  reformatories  op  Ireland 202 

0  1.  Convict  prisons  of  Ireland 202 

2.  Juvenile  reformatories  of  Ireland 208 

Chapter  XXXI :  Prisons  and  reformatories  op  England 209 

?  1.  English  prisons 209 

2.  Aid  to  discharged  prisoners - 213 

A.  Mrs.  Meredith's  wash-house  in  aid  of  discharged  female  prisoners 213 

4.  Carlisle  memorial  refuge  for  women 214 

5.  English  reformatories 216 

Chapter  XXXII:  Prisons  and  rejormatories  of  Switzerland 216 

^  1.  The  prisons  of  Switzerland 216 

Penitentiaries  at  Geneva  and  Berne 216 

Penitentiary  at  Zurich - 216 

Penitentiary  at  Lenzbourg 217 

Penitentiary  at  Neufchatel 217 

2.  Reformatories  of  Switzerland 228 

Chapter  XXXIII:  Prisons  of  Germany •..  228 

('  1 .  German  convict  prisons 228 

(a)  Convict  prison  at  Berlin 228 

(b)  Convict  prison  at  Bruchsal 229 

{(•)  Convict  prison  at  Munich 230 

2.  Detention  prison  at  Municli « 231 

:?.  Patronage  of  discharged  prisoners  at  Bavaria 232 

System  of  patronage  admirably  organized  ;  its  orgauization/lcscribed  in 

'detail 232 

Minutes  of  a  njeeting  of  the  patronage  society  of  Munich,  August  12, 

1873 234 

Chapter  XXXIV:  Prisons  in  Italy 235 

^  1.  The  prison  delhs  Marate,  at  Florence 235 

2.  The  ]iris<)iis  of  Rome 235 

(a)  'I'he  i)rison  ch-Ue  Terino 235 

(h)  Tlie  juison  of  San  Micliele 235 

This  prison  liistoric 235 

Founded  in  1704,  byl'ope  Cleniont  XI 2.36 

San  Micheie  the  germ  of  tlio  Auburn  system 236 

3.  Tin-  fiitnro  of  penitentiary  rcibrni  in  Italy 236 

CHAITEK  X.\X\   :    I'KISO.NS  and  RErORMATOItlES  OP  BELGIUM 237 

(»  1.  Brjgian  prisons 237 

(a)  l'(  III  tent  iary  of  Lou  vain 237 

(h)  (Convict  prison  of  (ilient 238 

(c)  Detention  prison  and  house  of  correction  at  Ghent 238 

2.  .jnveniln  reforniatorirs  of  Belginni 2.38 

'  liAriKR  XXXV'I:  I'imso.ns  and  itKioitMAToitiKS  IN  Netiikulands 240 

^1.  Military  jirison  at  J/cydcn 240 

2.  Cellular  prison  of  AniMtcrdani 241 

'■'.  Detention  jirinon  at  tlie  Hague - 242 

t.  Aid  tf>  liberated  prisoners 242 

.5.  Netherlands  Mettruy 242 

Chaptkr  XXXVII:  I'kihonw  aki>  kki-ohmatouiks  ln  France 245 

$  1.  Two  (list  in<t  jirison  adniinistr.'itions 245 

2.  Kxi)l;uiatifin  of  the,  tcniiH  indiljii'n,  jnrroiUH,  accuses 246 

3.  Grand  d«]iot  of  the  ijrefcctnre  of  ]  ml  ice 246 


CONTENTS.  XIII 

Page. 
CiiAPTEK  XXXVII :  Prisons  and  beffrmatories  in  France— Continued. 

4.  Mazas - 247 

5.  The  Concierj^erie 249 

G.  The  Grand  Roquette 249 

7.  Sainte-Pdlagie , 250 

8.  Saint-Lazaie 251 

9.  LaSaut6 253 

10.  La  Petite  Roquette 255 

11.  The  female  central  prison  of  Clermont , 255 

12.  Male  central  prison  of  Melun 257 

13.  Departmental  prisons  at  St.  Omer 258 

14.  A  quasi  prison 259 

15.  General  remarks  on  French  prisons 259 

(a)  Material  organization  excellent — moral,  lanqiiid 259 

(&)  Percentage  of  relapses  increase  rather  than  diminish 259 

(c)  Wards  of  preservation  and  amendment , 260 

(d)  Dietaries  too  low 260 

16.  Agricultural  and  penitentiary  colony  of  Mettray 260 

Founded  by  M.  Demetz  thirty-five  years  ago 261 

General  statistics 261 

Conducted  on  the  family  system 261 

Advantages  of  this  system 262 

Agriculture  the  chief  industry,  but  not  to  the  exclusion  of  mechan- 
ical labor 262 

System  of  training — the  heart,  the  body,  the  intellect 263 

Earnest  care  given  to  the  vrards  of  Mettray  after  their  discharge 264 

Mettray  resembles  a  great  and  beautiful  vrork  of  nature 264 

Extraordinary  results 265 

The  training  school  of  Mettray,  {^cole  preparatoire) 265 

The  maison  paternelle,  (house  of  ijaternal  correction) 266 

Review  of  the  colons 268 

17.  Patronage  of  discharged  prisoners  in  France 268 

Has  not  taken  root  widely 268 

Well  organized  and  successful  as  far  as  it  goes 269 

PART  FIFTH:  LESSONS,  SUGGESTIONS,  RECOMMENDATIONS. 

Ch^vpter  XXXVIII :  Conclusion 270 

§  1.  Principle  above  systems 270 

2.  Evil  eifects  of  repeated  short  sentences 271 

3.  The  character  of  sentences  needs  modification 272 

4.  The  prison  system  of  a  country  should  be  a  unit 274 

5.  Stability  of  administration  an  essential  condition  of  a   good   prison 

system 275 

6.  Series  of  institutions  needed  in  a  good  system • 277 

(a)  Preventive  institutions 277 

(6)  Juvenile  reformatories 278 

(c)  The  county  jail , 279 

(d)  The  house  of  correction 280 

(c)  The  state- prison 281 

Connected  with  these  last  two  classes  of  prisons  should  be  inter- 
mediate or  testing  establishments 282 

Mr.  Barwick  Baker's  proposition  on  this  subject 283 

7.  Crime-capitalists  should  be  exterminated 285 

8.  Society  owes  indemnity  to  persons  wrongfully  imprisoned  and  declared 

innocent  by  the  courts 286 

9.  Effective  means  should  be  devised  to  identify  prisoners  previously  con- 

victed    288 

10.  Greater  attention  should  be  given  to  penitentiary  statistics 289 

11.  A  reformatory  prison  discipline  must  work  with  nature,  not  against  it..  292 

12.  A  reformatory  discipline  must  have  a  punishing  stage  and  a  training 

stage 295 

13.  A  reformatory  discipline  must  impart  the  power  and  the  will  to  live 

honestly 296 

14.  Religion  and  education  are  essential  forces  in  the  work  of  reforming 

criminals 296 

15.  To  success  in  this  work  it  is  essential   that   those  wlio   engage  in  it 
should  both  desire  and  intend  its  accomplishment 297 

16.  A  sincere  belief  that  it  can  be  done  is  equally  necessary 297 

17.  Greater  use  must  be  made  of  moral  forces,  less  of  physical 297 


XIV  CONTENTS. 

Page 
Chapter  XXXVIII :  Conclusion— Continued. 

18.  ludividualization  an  essential  principle  in  a  reformatory  discipline.. .  300 

19.  Men  trained  to  the  work  are  needed 301 

20.  All  possible  encouragement  and  aid  must  be  given  to  liberated  prisoners 

who  desire  to  live  honestly 302 

'21.  The  National  Government  should  have  prisons  and  a  prison  system  of 

its  own 303 

TRANSACTIONS  OF  THE  NATIONAL  REFORM  CONGRESS  OF  BALTIMORE. 

I.  First  session. 

Opening  address  of  Governor  Seymour 307 

Address  of  welcome,  by  Mr.  Jones 313 

Address  of  Mr.  Kerr 314 

Remarks  of  Mr.  Hageman 317 

Appointment  of  standing  committees 316 

Organization  of  the  congress 318 

Roll  of  members 318 

II.  Annual  reports  of  secretary  and  standing  committees  of  the  National  Prison 

Association .' 321 

1.  Report  of  the  secretary ..., 321 

2.  Report  of  the  executive  committee 321 

3.  Report  of  the  committee  on  prison  discipline 331 

4.  Report  of  the  committee  on  discharged  convicts 336 

D.  Papers  communicated 338 

1.  The  criminal;  by  Dr.  Despine,  France 338 

2.  On  the  treatment  of  life-sentenced  prisoners;  by  Miss  Mary  Carpenter, 

England 348 

3.  Remarks  on  sundry  points  considered  in  theCongress  of  London  ;  by 

theRt.  Hon.  Sir  W.  Crofton,  England 354 

4.  School  for  training  officers  at  Mettray  ;  by  M.  Demetz,  France 358 

5.  Susceptibility  of  criminals  to  reformatory  agencies;  by  Henry  James 

Anderson,  New  York 359 

6.  Duty  of  society  to  persons  arrested ;  by  William  J.  Mullen,  Pennsyl- 

/  vania 362 

7.  Intemperance  and  crime  ;  by  Aaron  M.  Powell,  New  York 364 

8.  Prison  reform  in  Pennsylvania  ;  by  George  L.  Harrison,  jiresident  of 

the  board  of  public  charities 367 

9.  Hope  the  great  reform  ;  by  Hon.  B.  F.  Butler,  M.  C 369 

10.  The  final  cause  of  criminal  legislation  as  effecting  modes  of  punishment  370 

11.  Thoughts  on  prison  treatment ;  by  A.  H.  Love,  Philadelphia 374 

12.  A  noble  testimony;  by  Rev.  C.   C.  Foote,  ex-chaplaiu  of  the  Detroit 

House  of  Correction 374 

lY.  Reports  on  the  i)enal,  reformatory,  and  preventive  institutions  of  States  and 

Territories 375 

1.  Californi;i — by  Rev.  James  Woodworth 375 

2.  Connecticut — l)y  Rev.  .T.  K.  Fessendeu 379 

3.  Illinois— by  Rev.  Fred.  1 1.  Wines 384 

4.  Indiana — by  C.  F.  Colllin 388 

.').  Iowa — by  M.  1  leisey 391 

C).  Kansas — by  II.  Hoi»kins 391 

7.  Maine- by  Rev.  J.  K.  Mason 393 

8.  Maryiand-Iiy  G.  S.  Grildth 396 

9.  MasMacluisetts — l)y  F.  15.  Sanborn 400 

10.  Micliigan— by  Hoii.  C.  I.  Walker 411 

11.  MinncHota— iiy  Prof.  W.  T.  Piiclps 417 

12.  Mis-iissippi — by  (Jcnera!  15.  !5.  lOggleston 422 

i:'..  MiHHouri—  by  Mr.  Miiltjr  and  (Jcniiral  Miner 424 

M.  Ni-biiiHka — by  Rev.  J.  W.  Snowden 425 

15.  N<  w  llatnimhire — by  Rev.  Dr.  (Jlark 426 

16.  New  .Jersey — by  Jolin  F.  Hageman,  eH(| 428 

17.  New  York— l)yK.  Harris,  M.  D 433 

IH.  North  ('an)lina 435 

19.  Oregon— by  Rev.  (i.  Williain  Walker 439 

20.  Riiode  Island- i)y  Rev.  A.  Woodbury 440 

21.  Sou  til  Carolina— by  (Jeneral  Stolbrniid 447 

22.  Tenn<!MHee— by  Dr.' Wriglit 449 

23.  Texas— by  Rev.  .Mr.  Rogers 449 

24.  Vermont— by  licv.  V.  I'.utler 451 

25.  WiHcoiiHin  — l)y  Hon.  Samuel  Hastings 4.55 

26.  Utah— by  Mr.  Rockwood 458 


CONTENTS.  XV 

Page. 

V.  Proceecliugs  aud  discnssious - 460 

Discussion  on  annual  io})orts  of  standing  committees  on  iirison  discipline 

and  discharged  convicts 460 

Discussion  on   indefinite  sentences .-.---: ^^'^ 

Discussion  on  reports  from  Connecticut  and  California 46:3 

Invitations  from  institutions  in  Maryland 464 

Address  by  Miss  Linda  Gilbert 465 

Discussion  on  reports  from  Michigan  and  New  Jersey,  and  a  paper  by  Dr. 

Despine  on  "The  criminal" 46." 

Resolutions  relating  to  the  works  of  Edward  Livingston,  published  in 

America  and  France ^ 466 

Discussion  on  annual  report  of  executive  committee,  and  a  paper  on  "Un- 
tried prisoners,"  by  Mr.  Mullen 467 

Sir  Walter  Crofton's  paper,  with  remarks  on  same 46"J 

Discussion  on  Mr.  Powell's   paper  on  intemperance  and  crime 469 

Discussion  on  several  papers  relating  to  reformatory  work 470 

Invitation  to  hold  next  congress  at  Saint  Louis — accepted  with  thanks 474 

Miss  Carpenter's  paper  on  life-sentenced  prisoners,  with  remarks  on  same..  474 

Finance  committee's  report 474 

Discussion  on  memorial  to  congress 475 

Discussion  on  system  of  leasing  prisoners 476 

Discussion  on  untried  and  discharged  prisoners 476 

Resolution  and  discussion  on  reformatories 479 

Mr.  Yaux's  remarks  on  the  Pennsylvania  system 480 

Vote  of  thanks  to  Maryland  Prisoners'  Aid  Association  and  others 481 

Valedictory  addresses - 481 

Special  thanks  voted  to  Governor  Seymour  and  Dr.  Wines 482 

Speech  of  Mr.  Walker  in  moving  this  vote .-•  482 

Responses  from  Messrs.  Wiiies  and  Seymour 483 

VI.  Resolutions  adopted  by  the  congress - 48o 

VII.  The  National  Prison  Association  of  the  United  States  of  America 485 

1.  Officers  of  the  association  for  1873 485 

2.  Board  of  directors , 485 

'■i.  Standing  committees - 486 

4.  Corresponding  members 486 

5.  Life-directors '  487 

6.  Life-members 487 

7.  Treasurer's  report , 488 

8.  Contributions  from  May,  1871,  to  May,  1873 488 

9.  Act  of  incorporation ^ 490 

10.  Constitution 491 

11.  Bv-laws 49;i 


HEFORT 


GENERAL  INTEODUCTIOK 

The  Congress  of  London  lias  passed  into  history.  It  is  a  fixed  fact, 
irrevocable  and  unchangeable.  It  only  reaiaius  t6  tell  its  story  and 
gather  its  frnits.  The  first  is  simple,  and  may  be  quickly  done  ;  the  last 
will  be  manifold,  and  the  harvest,  it  may  "be  hoped,  will  be  gathering  for 
years,  if  not  for  generations,  to  come. 

In  a  paper  read  by  M.  Charles  Lucas  before  the  French  Academy 
prior  to  the  meeting  of  the  congress,  it  was  well  remarked  by  that  emi- 
nent and  venerable  man : 

InternationaT  congresses  have  been  too  often  repeated  in  onr  day  to  be  looked  upon 
as  facts  purelj'  accidental.  There  is  a  reason  fen-  their  existence.  They  are  the  neces- 
sary consequence  of  the  two  laws  of  the  sociability  and  perfectibility  of  man,  which, 
at  the  present  advanced  stage  of  our  civilization,  demand  the  international  exchange 
of  ideas  to  promote  the  moral  progress  of  humanity,  as  they  do  that  of  material  pro- 
ducts to  advance  the  public  wealth.  Such  congresses  serve  to  show  the  condition  of 
different  nations  as  regards  their  intellectual  (levelopment,  in  the  same  manner  as 
industrial  exhibitions  show  the  comparative  results  of  their  economic  development. 
Hitherto  there  have  been  convened  congresses  of  governments  and  congresses  of  citi- 
zens. The  first  have  already  done  good  service,  and  it  is  desirable  to  iiicrease  their  im- 
portance and  their  frequency  in  international  and  diplomatic  relations.  The  second 
play  the  part  of  generous  satellites  of  civilization,  wlwich,  that  they  may  give  light  and 
direction  to  its  progress,  rush  to  the  front,  sometimes  rather  precipitately  and  not  in 
the  most  perfect  order,  but  always  affording  a  useful  stimulus  to  human  development. 
What  stamps  upon  the  Congress  of  London  a  character  of  complete  originality  is  that 
it  is  enritled,  and,  in  effect,  is  to  be,  a  xemi-official  conference,  combining  the  initiative 
of  governments  and  of  individuals.  The  circumstance  most  remarkable  about  it  is 
that  this  semi-official  character  has  been  given  to  the  congress  by  a  government  hereto- 
fore least  disposed  to  interfere,  in  the  slightest  degree,  with  the'free  initiative  of  indi- 
viduals and  associations,  and  by  a  people  least  inclined  to  tolerate  such  interference. 

This  analysis  of  the  elements  composing  the  Congress  of  Loudon  is 
perfectly  just.  The  congress  was  opened  on  the  evening  of  the  3d  of 
July,  in  the  great  hall  of  the  Middle  Temple,  with  an  address  by  the 
right  honorable  the  Earl  of  Carnarvon,  a  nobleman  profoundly  versed 
in  penitentiary  science  and  thoroughly  active  in  the  work  of  peniten- 
tiary reform.  The  address  was  able,  lerse,  and  practical — one  of  those 
model  productions  which  give,  with  a  Doric  simplicity,  "  the  essences 
of  things."  Every  sentence  went  straight  to  the  mark ;  every  paragraph 
was  marked  by  good  sense;  and  the  whole  discourse,  drawn  from  "the 
well  of  English  undefiled,"  held  the  vast  assemblage  spellbound  to  the 
end. 

At  the  conclusion  of  the  address  Lord  Harrowby  offered  a  resolution 
of  welcome  to  the  foreign  delegates,  which  was  seconded  by  Sir  Charles 
Adderly;  and  both  gentlemen  gave,  expression,  in  well-conceived 
thoughts  and  happy  phrase,  to  the  sentiment  of  hospitality  with  which 
England  received  the  members  of  the  congress  coming  from  other  coun- 
tries. 

Baron  Von  Holtzendorff,  on  behalf  of  the  continental  delegates,  and 
the  Hon.  Joseph  K.  Chandler,  on  behalf  of  the  delegates  from  Amer- 
ica, replied  to  the  welcome  in  terms  no  less  graceful  and  eloquent  than 
those  in  which  it  had  been  conveyed. 
H.  Ex.  185 1 


2  INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

The  nnclersig'ned  would  here  respectfully  submit  to  the  President  his 
appreciation  of  the  character,  work,  and  probable  results  of  the  Con- 
gress of  London. 

1.  Twenty  distinct  nationalities  were  represented  in  the  congress  by 
delegates  bearing  commissions  from  their  respective  governments:  in 
some  cases  one  representative  only  being  so  commissioned,  in  others 
several.  In  addition  to  the  national  representatives  from  the  United 
States  and  the  German  Empire,  fifteen  States  of  the  former  and  five  of 
the  latter  were  also  officially  represented  ;  some  of  them,  as  in  the  case 
of  nationalities,  by  a  single  delegate,  others  by  a  plurality.  The  same 
was  true  of  several  of  the  larger  of  the  colonial  possessions  of  Eng- 
land ;  as,  for  example,  India  and  Australia.  So  that  altogether  the 
numljer  of  official  members  with  commissions  from  governments,  could 
not  have  been  less  than  sixty,  and  might  have  reached,  and  probably 
did,  to  seventy.  This  is  a  great  fact,  quite  unprecedented  in  the  annals 
of  penitentiary  reform. 

2.  Besides  official  members,  numerous  delegates  were  present  with 
commissions  from  national  committees,  prison  societies,  managing 
boards  of  i:)enitentiary  and  reformatory  establishments,  societies  of 
jurists,  criminal-law  departments  of  universities,  and  last,  though  not 
least,  the  Institute  of  Fraiice,  the  most  illustrious  body  of  sovans  iu  the 
world.  Between  official  and  non-official  members,  that  is,  delegates 
commissioned  by  governments  and  delegates  commissioned  by  such  or- 
ganizations as  those  named  in  the  preceding  sentence,  the  congress 
must  have  numbered  not  much,  if  any,  less  than  four  hundred  mem- 
bers. 

3.  If  the  cqngress  was  conspicuous  by  the  number  of  its  members  and 
of  the  governments  and  organizations  represented,  it  was  no  less  con- 
spicuous by  their  ability  and  thorough  mastery  of  the  questions  which 
engaged  its  study.  It  was  a  reunion  of  specialists — men  and  women 
largely  devoted  to  prison-work,  whether  in  the  investigation  of  the 
])rinci])les  of  ])enitentiarv  science  or  in  their  practical  ap])lication — 
and  embodying,  representatively,  the  knowledge,  experience,  and  wis- 
dom of  the  Avorld  on  the  subjects  to  which  its  labors  were  dedicated. 

4.  It  is  much  that  the  thinlcers  and  workers  in  this  great  cause  have 
met  in  council  ;  that  they  have  looked  into  eacli  othei's  faces ;  that  they 
have  gras[)ed  hands;  .and  that  they  have  felt  their  hearts  beating,  as  it 
w«^re,  one  against  the  other.  Symi)athies  have  thus  been  awakened 
and  friends!ii[)s  ibrmed,  ii-om  which  precious  fruits  will  be  gathered. 
All  will  go  back  to  tlieir  respecive  fields,  to  work  with  greater  earnest- 
ness and  liiglier  hope  from  the  strength  and  courage  received  from  su(;h 
Communion.  Valuable  correspondence  and  the  interchange  of  nuitually 
instructive  docuinents  cannot  fail  to  be  among  the  useful  results  of  the 
acqiniintances  foi-med  at  this  great  international  gathering.  Another 
benefit  will  be  a  far  more  extensive  international  visitatiou  of  ])risons; 
and  from  tliis  will  conu',  on  the  one  side,  a  largi^  intbix  into  the  diiferent 
countries  of  lu'w  and  in  many  cases  fiuitful  ideas,  and,  on  the  other,  a 
great  diminution,  if  not  a  comj)h'te  obliteration,  of  international  preju- 

(licAiH. 

5.  An  amount  of  information  on  the  jjcnitejitiary  aiul  reformatory 
systems  of  dilTeicnt  countries  and  their  residls,  never,  I  think,  hereto- 
fore collected,  juid  ceitainly  never  before  ])resented  in  one  view,  is 
among  the  most  ])recions  results  of  this  congress.  The  greater  i)art  of 
the  governments  represented  handed  in  ('arefully-])repared  official  re- 
ports in  response  to  a  series  of  (piestions  submitted  to  them  by  the  un- 
dersigned, and  the  information  tlius  offered,  wide  and  valuable  as  it  is, 


INTRODUCTORY CHARACTER    AND    BENEFITS.  6 

was  most  usefully  supplemented  by  facts  communicated  and  statements 
made  by  delegates  on  the  floor  of  the  congress.  It  would  be  dilticult  to 
exaggerate  the  value  of  such  a  mass  of  information,  coming,  as  it  does, 
from  the  most  authentic  sources,  and,  by  consequence,  (,'lotlied  with  an 
authority  with  which  it  could  not  have  been  otherwise  invested. 

6.  The  vast  fund  of  precious  information  thus  accumulated  will  be 
diffused,  through  the  agency  of  the  congress,  to  the  utmost  limits  of 
civilization.  It  is  to  be  presumed  that  the  official  delegates  will  all 
make  reports  to  the  governments  by  which  they  were  commissioned, 
all  of  which  reports  will,  no  doubt,  be  published  among  the  archives 
of  the  governments  to  which  they  are  made,  and  will  thus  not  onl^- 
be  circulated  among  the  people  of  all  civilized  countries,  but  will  come 
under  the  special  notice  of  the  makers  and  executors  of  the  laws  of 
those  countries. 

But  this  is  not  all.  The  numerous  non-official  delegates  will,  beyond 
a  doubt,  in  a  thousand  different  forms  and  through  as  nmny  several 
channels,  make  report  of  the  doings  of  the  congress  to  their  respective 
constituencies ;  and  the  press  of  all  nations — so  keen  in  its  scent  of  news, 
so  prompt  to  catch  and  crystallize  all  forms  of  thought,  so  potent  for  good 
as  well  as  for  evil,  and,  to  its  praise  be  it  said,  so  ready,  in  the  main,  to 
lend  its  powerful  aid  to  every  worthy  cause — will  echo  and  re-echo  these 
many  voices  to  the  very  ends  of  the  earth.  What  iinagination  can 
grasp  the  amount  of  good  which  will,  in  this  infinite  variety  of  ways, 
be  accomplished  through  the  congress,  or  forecast  the  progress  thence 
likely  to  result  in  a  department  of  social  science  second  in  importance 
to  no  other  in  the  whole  field  of  social  investigation  ? 

7.  The  congress  has  given,  or  is  destined  to  give,  an  immense* impulse 
to  the  cause  of  prison  reform.  On  this  point  it  is  enough  to  refer  to 
what  has  been  written  above,  and  to  state  that  the  evidences  of  a  newly- 
a wakened  Interest  in  penitentiary  questions,  and  of  a  strengthened 
l^urpose  to  seek  their  just  solution,  are  visible  on  every  side. 

8.  It  is  not  to  be  disguised  that  the  summoning  of  such  an  assemblage 
as  that  of  the  late  Congress  of  London  was  a  hazardous  experiment. 
It  w-as,  from  the  start,  encompassed  with  dangers  as  well  as  difficulties  : 
and  a  peril  far  from  inconsiderable,  and  awakening  uo  little  anxiety, 
and  even  some  alarm  in  my  mind,  developed  itself  in  the  progress  of  its 
labors.  Eepresentatives  from  more  than  twenty  different  nationalities, 
coming  together  literally  from  the  ends  of  the  earth,  for  .the  study  of 
problems  at  once  so  important  and  so  perplexed  as  those  comprehended 
in  the  field  of  penitentiary  science,  could  not  fail  to  develop  a  good 
deal  of  difference  of  opinion,  which  might  become  so  sharp  as  to  end  in 
a  violent  disruption  of  the  body.  This  is  the  peril  referred  to  above  as 
Laving  actually  presented  itself — rather,  however,  to  those  who  were 
more  in  the  inner  circle  than  to  the  ordinary  observer.  But  by  moder- 
ation and  prudence  the  danger  was  averted,  and  the  congress  was,  in 
the  end,  able  to  announce  a  series  of  propositions  of  the  highest  im- 
portance, embodying  its  conception  of  the  cardinal  principles  of  prison 
discipline.  They  are  substantially  those  adopted  by  the  Congress  oi 
Cincinnati,  in  1870.  This  was  a  great  result ;  and  the  whole  world  may, 
it  seems  to  me,  be  congratulated  on  such  a  conclusion  to  the  labors  ol 
the  Congress  of  London.  The  propositions  announced  will  enter  as  seed 
into  the  public  opinion  of  the  world,  and  can  hardly  fail,  in  due  time, 
to  make  themselves  felt  in  improved  systems  of  criminal  law  and  prison 
discipline.  Indeed,  Professor  Marquardsen,  of  Bavaria,  a  distinguished 
member  of  the  German  Parliament,  ]Kiblicly  declared  his  conviction 
that  the  new  penal  code  for  the  German  Empire,  now  under  consideration 


4     '  INTERXATIOXAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

by  the  Parliament,  would  be  materially  improved  through  the  labors  of 
the  congress. 

9.  The  congress  will  have  made  a  contribution  of  great  value  to  the 
literature  of  penology.  Its  volume  of  transactions  will  embody:  1,  the 
official  reports  of  governments  on  the  penitentiary  systems  and  admin- 
istrations of  their  respective  countries ;  2,  the  discussions  had  on  the 
numerous  and  important  questions  which  came  before  the  body  for  its 
consideration,  taken  down  at  the  time  by  competent  reporters;  3,  the 
papers  submitted  to  the  congress  by  distinguished  si)ecialists  in  differ- 
ent countries,  most  of  them  of  remarkable  ability,  breadth,  and  power, 

10.  Another  admirable  result  of  the  congress  is  the  creation  of  a  i^er- 
manent  international  committee,  charged  with  important  functions  in 
the  interest  of  international  prison  reform,  and  more  particularly  with 
the  duty  of  seeking  to  secure  greater  uniformity  and  trustworthiness 
in  international  prison  statistics.  The  committee  is  constituted  as  fol- 
lows: Dr.  Wines,  United  States,  chairman;  Signor  BeltraniScalia, 
Italy,  secretary :  Mr.  G.  W.  Hastings,  England;  M.  Loyson,  France; 
Dr.  Guillaume,  Switzerland;  Mr.  SteveuvS,  Belgium;  Mr.  M.  S.Pols, 
Netherlands;  I3r.  Frey,  Austria;  Count  Sollohub,  Eussia:  and  Baron 
Von  Iloltzendorft',  Germany.  This  committee  will  hold  its  first  annual 
meeting  in  Brussels,  Belgium,  in  the  month  of  September,  1873. 
Doubtless  one  of  the  most  important  questions  that  will  then  come 
before  the  committee  will  be  that  of  calling  another  international  pen- 
itentiary congress,  and  if  that  question  be  decided  affirmatively,  the 
duty  will  arise  of  fixing  the  time  and  place  for  holding  it,  and  of  deter- 
mining the  bases  on  which  it  shall  be  organized  and  conducted.  It  may 
be  hoped  that  this  committee  will  form  a  kind  of  central  bureau,  to 
■which  intelligence  relating  to  prison  reform,  and  the  progress  made 
therein,  will  be  communicated,  year  by  year,  from  all  parts  of  the  world, 
and  from  which,  in  a  condensed  and  digested  form,  it  will  be  again  dis- 
tributed to  every  region  of  the  globe.  Thus  every  part  of  the  world 
will  he  kept  informed  of  what  is  doing  in  every  other  part  in  reference 
to  this  vital  interest  of  society.  In  this  way  a  continual  circulation  of 
ideas  on  penitentiary'  questions  will  be  maintained ;  the  nature  and  re- 
sult of  experiments  undertaken  in  any  given  country  will  be  speedily 
nuide  known  in  every  other:  and  an  honorable  rivalry  will  be  kept  up 
between  nations,  in  which  each,  while  rejoicing  iu  every  instance  and 
at  every  proof  of  progress  elsewhere,  will  yet  strive  to  outstrip  its  fel- 
lows in  the  race  of  improvement. 

1 1.  Three  great  national  commissions  have  already  grown,  not,  indeed, 
out  of  the  congress,  but  out  of  the  movement  for  the  congress,  having 
been  ci-eated  before  the  body  itself  assembled,  but  not  before  the  j^ropo- 
sition  for  it  had  been  submitted  to  the  governments  b^^  which  the  com- 
missions have  been  inauguratcMl.  The  tirst  is  a  royal  commission  for 
Italy,  named  by  the  King  last  autumn,  on  a  rei)ort  submitted  to  him  by 
the  i)rime  minister,  Mr.  Ijanza,  atfer  an  interview  had  with  him  by  the 
undei'sigiied,  ;ind  exjMessIy  based  on  what  passed  at  that  interview. 
1"he  second  is  a  h'gis];itive  commission  I'or  ]<"'ran(H\created  by  tho  National 
Assemt)I.\-,  in  piiisnance  of  a  i-eport  sulunitted  to  that  body  by  tlu»  Vis- 
count (ril;iMss((n\  ille  and  an  a(;t  i)assed  on  his  motion  early  last  winter. 
'JMie  distinguished  mend»er  a\'owed,  in  terms,  that  hfsreijort  and  motion 
grew  out  of  the.  jMoposil  ion  Ibr  the,  Congress  of  London,  and  that  the 
labors  of  tite  <;ommission  were,  in  pait,  intended  as  a  ])iei)aration  for 
that  assemblage.  'J"lu^  third  is  an  imjieriai  commission  tor  llussia, 
named  by  de(n-ee  of  the  Czar  last  siu'ing.  The  tirst  two  of  these  com- 
missions,'^namely,  tor  Italy  and   France,  have,  for  object,  penitentiary 


IiN'TliODUCTOm' CHAKACTER    AND    BENEFITS.  5 

■  reforms  in  those  countries.  The  third  lias  been  created  with  a  view,  liot 
of  iini)roviii<;-  an  exisriuLi,'  prison  system,  but  of  devisinj^'  one  entirely 
new,  tor  a  vast  and  [)Owerfiil  emi)ire.  They  are  all  composed  of  eminent 
citizens,  chosen  ou  account  of  special  fitness  for  the  work  to  which  they 
Lave  been  called.  The  French  comniission  is  formed,  in  one  respect, 
ou  the  model  of  the  congress ;  that  is  to  say,  it  combines  the  official 
and  uouofBcial  elements,  which,  as  M.  Lucas  has  shown,  gave  a  char- 
acter of  special  originality  to  that  body.  The  act  created  a  commission 
of  fifteen  members  of  the  Assembly,  with  authority  to  associate  in  their 
hibors  such  other  persons,  from  outside  the  legislative  body,  as  they 
might  deem  proper  to  invite.  The  commission  is  actually  constituted  of 
fifteen  members  of  the  Assembly  and  fifteen  private  citizens  summoned 
to  their  aid. 

12.  The  Congress  of  Loudon  has  made  easy  the  holding  of  future  con- 
gresses of  the  same  kind,  since  all  agree  that  it  has  been  a  success,  and 
all  unite  in  the  desire  that  others,  with  similar  aims  and  objects,  should 
follow,  and,  indeed,  that  a  character  of  ])eriodicity  should  be  given  to 
them.  But,  more  than  this,  it  has  taught  us  how  to  prepare  for  and  conduct 
them  in  such  a  way  as  to  derive  the  highest  advantage  from  their  labors. 

The  appreciation  of  the  congress  and  its  labors,  contained  in  the  fore- 
goiuc?  paragraphs,  is  shared  by  many  eminent  men  in  Europe,  as  corre- 
vSpondence,  had  with  them  by  the  undersigned  since  its  sessions  were 
closed,  abundantly  attests..  I  venture,  in  proof  of  this,  to  offer  a  single 
extract  from  one  of  the  letters  received  within  the  period  referred  to. 
It  is  from  Mr.  M.  S.  Pols,  one  of  the  oflicial  delegates  from  Holland,  who 
took  rank,  by  common  consent,  among  the  most  intelligent,  industriouSj 
and  useful  members  of  the  congress.     Mr.  Pols  says  : 

I  received  a  copy  of  the  Loiulou  Times  contaiuing  your  letter,  and  ou  nearly  all 
poiuts  fnlly  concur  with  you  iu  opinion.  I  never  expected  anj^  direct  result  from  the 
congress,  nor  do  I  believe  such  to  be  the  case  with  any  congress  not  specially  convoked 
for  ibhe  solution  of  a  distinctly  stated  question.  The  great  aim  of  such  congresses  is 
to  stir  public  opinion  and  to  give  it  a  mighty  impulse  iu  some  direction.  This  aim,  I 
believe,  has  been  fully  attained  by  the  Loudon  congress,  and  as  I  believe  that  public 
opiuiou  rules  the  world,  not  only  in  free  countries,  like,  yours  and  mine,  but  even  in 
states  seemingly  directed  by  an  uncontrolled  executive  power,  the  indirect  results  of 
the  congress  will  soon  appear,  and  our  (or,  as  I  do  not  hesitate  to  say,  your)  work  will 
be  proven  not  to  have  been  fruitless.  The  thoroughly  practical  and  scientific  character 
of  the  proceedings,  the  earnest,  and  on  many  poiuts  exhaustive  discussious,  and  the 
nnanimous  accord  finally  reached  concerning  so  many  great  and  important  principles 
of  ijenifreutiary  discipline,  insure  its  success,  which  will  prove  the  greater,  as  it  will 
be  won  by  instillation  and  not  bj'  strong  measures,  too  soon  iu  general  counteracted  by 
reaction.  Nor  do  I  think  it  one  of  the  least  remarkable  results  of  the  congress  that 
men,  so  widely  diverging  as  to  the  means  of  working  out  common  principles,  have  met 
one  another  without  any  quarreling  or  pei'sonal  strife,  but,  without  au  exception  that 
I  am  aware  of,  have  showu  the  greatest  esteem  for  their  strongest  antagonists,  the 
largest  toleratioii  for  adverse  opinions.  The  absence  of  petty  jealousies  and  personal 
vanities  insures,  as  I  believe,  au  impartial  and  broad  consideration  of  the  rival  sys- 
tems. 

The  report  which  the  undersigned  has  the  honor  now  to  submit  to 
the  President  will  consist  of  five  parts,  as  follows  : 

Part  First  will  present  a  complete  resume,  arranged  iu  subjects,  of  the 
information  furnished  in  the  olficiul  rei)orts  submitted  to  the  congress 
from  the  different  countries,  thus  giving,  at  a  glance,  a  comparative 
view  of  the  present  state  of  prisou  discipline  and  the  ijrogress  of  prison 
reform  in  the  leading  nations  of  the  world. 

Part  Second  will  review  and  condense  the  proceedings  of  the  congress, 
giving  the  gist  of  the  debates  aud  the  main  currents  of  opinion  and 
argument  dev.elox)ed  in  th£m^ 


6  INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

Fart  Third  ^svill  contain  some  notice  of  the  papers  offered  to  the  con- 
gress, with  an  analysis  of  a  portion  of  them. 

Part  Fourth  vrill  embody  the  results  of  the  personal  observations  and 
inquiries  of  the  undersigned  in  relation  to  the  prisons  and  reformatories 
of  Europe. 

Part  Fifth  will  deduce,  from  all  that  has  gone  before,  its  appropriate 
lessons,  and  state  them  in  the  form  of  suggestions  and  recommendations. 


PART     FIRST. 


STATE     OF     PRISONS. 


CHAPTER    I. 
PRISON  STSTEMS. 

§  1.  Austria  has  three  classes  of  prisons,  those  for  male  and  female 
prisoners  being  distinct  establishments,  viz  :  1,  prisons  for  persons  sen- 
tenced to  more  than  one  year  of  imprisonment ;  U,  prisons  for  persons 
sentenced,  to  less  than  one  year;  3,  prisons  of  the  district-courts  for 
minor  offenses.  Of  the  first  class,  there  are  eighteen,  with  a  mean  pop- 
ulation of  10,490;  of  the  second  class  there  are  sixty-two,  with  an  aver- 
age population  of  7,103  ;  of  the  third,  neither  the  number  of  i)risoDS  nor 
the  population  is  given. 

The  proportion  of  male  prisoners  to  female  in  prisons  of  the  first  class 
is  as  five  to  one,  and  in  jorisons  of  the  second  class  as  six  to  one. 

Until  quite  recently  the  associated  system  of  imprisonment  aloue  ex- 
isted in  Austria.  Since  1867  all  new  prison  constructions  have  been 
arranged  in  such  manner  that  associated  imprisonment  may  be  com- 
bined with  cellular;  so  that,  excepting  short  imprisonments,  which,  it  is 
held  in  Austria,  ought  to  be  wholly  cellular,  every  *i3risoner  should,  as  a 
rule,  spend  at  least  the  first  eight  months  of  his  imprisonment  in  a  cell, 
and  the  remainder  in  association,  under  conditions  of  proper  classifica- 
tion, and  a  consequent  graduaUj'improved  treatment  and  a  gradual  prep- 
aration for  liberty.  Several  prisons  of  the  first  class  have  been  built  or 
are  in  process  of  construction  upon  this  |)lan,  in  which,  nevertheless,  it 
isintended  that  one-third  of  theinmates  shall  undergp  their  entire  punish- 
ment in  cells,  and  that  the  other  two-thirds,  after  eight  months  of  cellu- 
lar confinement,  shall  pass  into  the  state  of  association  and  enjoy  the 
benefits  of  a  i^rogressive  classification.  One  prison  only  of  the  second 
class  has  thus  far  been  arranged  on  this  plan. 

The  considerations  which  have  prompted  this  change  are  that  collective 
imprisonment,  carried  through  the  whole  sentence,  has  been  found  by 
experience  incompatible  with  individual  treatment,  and  consequently 
obstructive  as  regards  the  moral  improvement  of  the  i^risoner,  partic- 
ularly in  the  old  and  ill-constructed  country  prisons,  so  that  many  are 
made  worse  instead  of  better  by  their  imprisonment.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  system  of  absolute  isolation  has  been  attended  with  this 
disadvantage,  that  it  makes  the  prisoner  weak-willed,  especially  if  the 
confinement  is  long  continued.  It  incapacitates  him  to  meet  success- 
fully the  temptations  that  beset  him  on  his  return  to  liberty.  Difference 
of  culture  is  also  found  to  give  a  wide  difference  of  result  in  the 
application  of  the  cellular  system,  and  many  prove,  on  trial,  wholly  un- 
fitted for  isolation.  On  these  grounds  it  has  been  judged  wisest  to 
choose  a  middle  course,  and  combine  the  two  systems. 

In  prisons  where  the  associated  system  is  followed  there  exists  a 
classification  of  prisoners  in  the  dormitories.  Youthful  criminals,  espe- 
cially, are  kept  as  much  as  possible  from  old  and  hardened  offenders; 


8  INTEKXATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

and  educated  prisoners  are  not,  if  it  can  be  avoided,  placed  with  the 
ignorant,  the  rnde,  and  the  base.  The  opinion  is  expressed  in  the  report 
that  tbe  same  classification  should  be  (whence  the  inference  is  plain  tliat 
it  is  not)  extended  to  the  tii;:e  and  place  when  and  where  tbe  prisoners 
take  their  exercise.  It  is  further  declared  that  the  basis  of  classifica- 
tion should  be  age,  education,  state  of  n)ind,  former  life,  degree  of  guilt, 
aud  tiie  crime  committed  ;  a  principle  which,  in  the  opinion  of  the  un- 
dersigned, cannot,  in  regard  to  most  of  the  particulars  named,  be  ap- 
plied with  any  great  degree  of  certainty,  and  which,  because  of  its  arbi- 
trary" character,  would  be  of  little  value  if  it  could. 

There  are  two  liinds  of  sentence  in- Austria,  viz:  to  simple  or  strict 
imprisonment  for  serious  offenses,  and  to  simple  or  strict  detention  for 
those  of  a  lighter  character.  The  punishment  of  imprisonment  draws 
after  it  the  obligation  to  wear  the  prison  garb,  to  submit  to  the  prison 
fare,  and  to  perform  the  allotted  work.  Political  prisoners  are  absolved 
■from  comi)ulsory  labor  and'from  the  prison  dress,  which  last  exemption 
is  also  accorded  to  prisoners  sentenced  tosiniple  imprisonment. 

The  i)unishment  of  strict  detention  involves  a  treatment  conformed, 
in  respect  of  food  aud  labor,  to  the  i)risou  regulations,  but  the  prisoner 
is  excused  from  wearing  the  prison  dress  and  the  work  given  him  is  of 
a  lighter  character. 

Simple  detention  is  for  persons  under  arrest,  and  means  merely  the 
safe-keeping  of  the  prisoner,  who  has  the  right  to  choose  his  own  occu- 
I)ation  and,  if  he  be  so  disposed,  to  provide  his  own  food. 

A  singular  adjustment  of  the  relative  duration  of  cellular  and  associ- 
ated imprisonments  has  place  in  Austria.  A  recent  enactment  provides 
that,  after  the  lapse  of  three  months  passed  consecutively  in  isola- 
tion, every  period  of  two  days  so  passed  shall  count  as  three  in  the 
term  of  his  sentence.  Another  provision  of  the  same  act  limits  cellular 
in)prisoument  to  three  years  and  forbids  the  application  of  that  s^'stem 
to  prisoners  sentenced  for  life.  • 

The  funds  for  the  support  of  the  prisoners  come  from  the  state.  Here 
and  there,  however,  there  exist  small  endowments  in  laud  or  monej', 
the  revenues  of  which  are  applied  to  that  purpose.  In  Vienna  tiiere  is 
an  old  arrangement,  by  Avliich  all  theaters  and  public  exhibitions  must 
contribute  an  annual  fixed  sum,  of  which  half  is  paid  for  the  relief  of 
the  poor  and-  the  other  half  to  the  prison-funds  of  the  province  of 
Lower  Austria.  The  prisoners  are  by  law  obliged  to  pay  the  actual  cost 
of  their  keep  out  of.  their  own  property.  That  part  wliich  goes  to  the 
state  is  set  oft'  against  the  amount  received  for  prison  labor.  In  the 
year  18G0,  the  sum  i)aid  to  the  state  as  the  product  of  prison  labor 
amounted  to  only  the  fifteenth  part  of  the  sum  spent  on  prisons  by  the 
government. 

Tlie  diicctors  and  offic-ersof  the  i)risons  of  the  state  receive,  when  iu- 
capacitate<l,  the  same  i)ensions  as  its  other  servants.  These  pensions  are  : 
After  more  than  ten  years  of  service,  one-third  ;  twenty  years,  one-half; 
thirty  yeai\s,  two-thiids;  forty  yeajs,  the  whoh^  of  their  last  salary. 

\i  an  oflicer  bdbre  serving  ten  years  l)ec<»mes  inca])ucitated  he  re- 
<-eiv«'s,  once  for  ail,  a  sum  of  money  e<pial  to  ids  last  year's  salary,  if  he 
lias  he<;oiiM^  incai)acitated  by  the  service,  as,  for  example,  if  he  become 
insane  or  blind,  lie  receives  a  })ension  of  one-(puirter  or  more,  according 
to  (;ircumstan(;(^s,  of  his  last  year's  salaiy. 

§  L',  Th(!  stafenuMit  in  the  report  sid)mitted  on  the  part  of  Delgium, 
in  relation  to  the  classifurafion  and  nund)er  of  ])iisons  in  that  kingdom, 
is  not  peilectly  cl(;ar.  From  its  terms  there  would  appear  to  l)e  but  two 
{;eneial  classes  of  penal  establishments,  or   three,  including  those  for 


PRISON    SYSTEMS AUSTRIA BELGIUM.  9 

juvoriilcs,  viz  :  1,  central  prisons,  corresponding  to  what  among  us  are 
known  as  state-prisons  ;  2,  houses  of  arrest  (called  provostal  when  de- 
signed for  the  safe-keeping  of  military  prisoners),  which  are  found  near 
all  tribunals  of  primary  jurisdiction  and  all  courts  of  justice,  for  the 
custody  of  persons  awaiting  examination  or  trial,  and  also  for  tlie  pun- 
ishment of  prisoners  convicted  of  minor  offenses;  3,  houses  of  refuge 
for  jurenjles,  of  both  sexes,  acquitted  as  having  acted  without  knowl- 
edge, but  placed  under  the  care  of  the  government^for  a  certain  period, 
to  be  educated  and  trained  to  industry  and  virtue. 

The  cellular  system  carries  by  far  the  larger  number  of  voices  in  Bel- 
gium, and  has  the  high  honor  of  counting,  in  that  number,  its  ablest 
and  most  earnest  living  defender,  M.  Stevens,  inspector-general  of 
prisons  for  the  kingdom.  Of  the  twenty-six  prisons  in  Belgium, 
eighteen  are  conducted  on  the  cellular  system,  and  of  the  six  congregate- 
prisons  four  are  undergoing  alterations  to  adapt  them  to  the  system  of 
separate  imprisonment.  The  report  submitted  to  the  congress  by  the 
Belgian  authorities  states  that  the  legislature  has  given  its  preference 
to  the  cellular  system,  because  it  renders  repression  more  efficacious 
and  because  the  reformation  of  the  convict  is  thereby  better  ijisured. 
The  results  claimed  for  the  system  in  that  country  will  be  more  fully 
set  forth  in  Part  Second  of  this  report. 

The  number  of  prisoners  confined  in  the  Belgian  prisons  is  not  given; 
but  the  two  sexes  are  stated  to  be  represented  in  the  proportion  of  88 
per  cent,  of  men  and  12  pef  cent,  of  women. 

There  are  three  kinds  of  sentence  pronounced  by  the  tribunals  of 
Belgium,  viz,  to  imprisonment,  to  reclusion,  and  to  hard  labor.  Sen- 
tences to  simple  imprisonment  are  from  eight  days  to  five  years;  sen- 
tences to  reclusion  from  five  to  ten  years ;  to  hard  labor  from  ten  to 
twenty  years  or  for  life.  The  report  states  that  the  diifereuce  in  the 
treatment  of  prisoners  sentenced  to  hard  labor  consists  in  this,  that  the 
first  are  confined  in  houses  of  correction,  the  second  in  houses  of  reclu- 
sion, and  tlie  third  in  convict-prisons.  This  statement  is  by  no  means 
clear,  and  the  obscurity  is  increased  by  the  fact  that,  in  the  enumera- 
tion of  prisons,  as  given  in  a  previous  part  of  the  report,  no  mention 
is  made  of  either  houses  of  correction  or  houses  of  reclusion. 

In  the  congregate  penal  prisons  the  prisoners  are  divided  into  three 
classes.  The  lowest  class  comprises  those  whose  antecedents  are  the 
most  unfavorable  and  whose  conduct  is  bad.  This  class  bears  the 
name  of  punishment-division.  The  middle  class  comprises  prisoners 
whose  antecedents,  without  being  decidedly  unfavorable  and  their  con- 
duct absolutely  bad,  have,  nevertheless,  need  to  be  subjected  to  a  pro- 
bation, longer  or  shorter,  before  being  definitively  classed.  This  class 
has  the  name  of  probation-division.  The  third  is  composed  of  prisoners 
Avho,  by  their  antecedents  or  their  good  conduct  in  the  penitentiary, 
have  claim  to  a  special  distinction.  This  class  bears  the  name  of  recom- 
pense-division. 

These  three  classes,  although  subjected  to  the  same  rer/ime  and  the 
same  exercises,  are  nevertheless  the  objects  of  special  distinctions.  In 
order  to  be  able  to  recognize  the  prisoners  who  belong  to  each,  a  dis- 
tinctive mark  in  the  clothing  is  adopted  for  each  division.  Tlie  prison- 
ers of  the  puliishment-division  are  subjected  to  the  most  painful  labors, 
are  deprived  of  the  cantine,  and  suffer  various  privations,  especially 
that  of  visits  from  and  correspondence  with  the  outside,  except  in 
urgent  cases,  which  are  left  to  the  judgment  of  the  director.  The  pas- 
sage from  one  division  into  another  is  determined  by  the  administrative 
commission,  on  the  i)roposal  of  the  director.     To  this  end  the  records  of 


10  INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

conduct  and  of  pnnisliment  are  consulted.  Tlie  examination  for  classi- 
fication talies  place  daring  the  first  third  of  each  year,  unless  ottener 
made  necessary  by  exceptional  circumstances  resulting  from  o\'ercrowd- 
ing  in  one  or  other  of  the  sections. 

The  numbers  of  the  prisoners  assigned  to  each  division  are  inscribed 
on  a  roster  suspended  on  the  wall. 

The  first  classification  is  made  by  the  director  according  to  the  known 
antecedents  of  the  convict  on  his  entrance,  the  circumstances  revealed 
on  the  occasion  of  his  conviction,  and  the  notes  which  are  forwaixled  by 
the  courts.  The  results  of  this  system  of  classifying  are  not  stated,  but 
there  is  an  implication  that  they  are  not  particularly  remarkable  in  an 
opinion  expressed  to  the  effect  that,  "  to  obtain  solid  results  in  a,  disci- 
I^linary  and  moral  point  of  view,  it  would  be  necessary  to  ap[)ropriate 
special  wards  to  the  different  classes." 

The  funds  needed  for  the  support  of  the  prisoners  are  derived  from  the 
same  source  as  the  funds  required  for  the  support  of  the  other  de])art- 
ments  of  the  public  service.  The  cost  of  each  day's  support  is  counted 
in  gross,  without  taking  account  of  the  product  of  the  prison  labor, 
which  is  turned  over  to  the  treasury.  The  value  of  this  labor  is  not 
stated. 

The  pension  granted  to  prison-officers  who  have  become  incapacitated, 
before  the  proper  time  for  retirement,  for  a  further  discharge  of  their 
duties,  is  regulated  on  the  footing  of  the  average  salary  of  their  last 
five  years  of  service.  The  pension  allowed  them  on  retiring  is  the  same 
as  that  allowed  to  all  the  other  functionaries  of  the  government. 

§3.  In  Denmark  there  are  two  general  classes  of  sentences,  viz,  to 
imprisonment  and  to  hard  labor.  There  are  three  kinds  of  imprison- 
ment: 1,  imprisonment  from  two  days  to  two  years,  during  whicli  the 
prisoner,  though  restrained  of  liberty,  is  permitted  to  procure  whatever 
comforts  he  can  by  his  own  efforts;  2,  imprisonment  on  common  prison- 
fare  from  two  days  to  six  months,  during  Avhich  the  prisoner  is  sub- 
jected to  the  disci]>line  of  the  prison  and  restricted  to  the  ])resoribed 
jn'ison  fare  ;  3,  imprisonment  on  bread  and  water  from  two  to  thirty  days. 
These  punishments  are  uiulergone  in  the  same  buildings  wliere  persons 
not  yet  sentenced  are  detained.  Every  jurisdi(;tion  has  its  jail,  the 
whole  number  in  the  kingdom  being  ninety-three.  They  vary  greatly 
in  size,  that  in  Copenhagen  having  accommodations  for  more  than  two 
hundred  inmates,  while  the  smaller  ones  can  receive  only  from  four  to 
six.  The  ordinary  inimber  of  persons,  in  the  whole  country,  who  are 
either  awaiting  trial  or  sentenced  to  imprisonment  in  jail,  is  about  five 
liundnMl.  These  jails  are  constructed  and  maintained  at  the  expense  of 
t])e  jurisdiction  in  whi(;h  they  are  situated.  J>y  far  the  great^in-  part  are 
of  recent  (MUistruction  ;  and  as  none  can  be  built  or  mateiially  altered 
without  an  approval  of  the  plan  by  the  ministry,  the  sanu>  i)r!n('.iples  of 
construction  are  realized  wil.ii  res[)ect  to  all.  Tlie  law  re(|uires  that  im- 
])risonm('nt  in  the  jails  be  cellular,  uidess  positively  forbidden  by  the 
in(Hii(*al  officer.  Conserpiently  all  the  cells  in  the  more  recent  construc- 
tions are  for  single  persons,  and  contain  al)out  800  cubic  feet  of  space. 

SentencM'S  to  hard  labor  are  of  two  kinds,  viz,  to  "labor  for  ame- 
liorating" and  "lal)or  for  ])unishing."  Sentences  of  the  first  class,  from 
eight  months  to  six  yeais,  are  undergone  in  houses  of  corfecliou.  The 
imprisonment  is  c.elluhir,  l)ut-,  with  deductions  from  tiie  ttu-nis  of  sen- 
tence, expicssly  on  the  ground  of  the  isolation  of  llie  ])risoniM'  increas- 
ing in  j)i-opoition  to  tlie  length  of  tlM>  sentence.  Thus  a  nominal  sen- 
teiu'e  of  eiglit  months  is  leihieed  to  six,  and  one  ol  six  years  to  three 
and  a  iuilf,  tiiis  latter  btang  the  longest  period  pernjitted  by  the  laws  of 


PRISON    SYSTEMS DENMARK FRANCE.  11 

Denmark  for  punislirneiit  in  separate  cells.  The  persons  sentenced  to 
this  denomination  of  labor  are  either,  first,  those  who  have  coniinicted 
a  slight  offense  or,  at  least,  a  crime  not  so  great  as  to  receive  a  sentence 
of  more  thtMi  six  years ;  or,  secondly,  those  who  liave  not  been  pre- 
viously convicted ;  or,  thirdly,  young  criminals,  not  exceeding  twenty- 
five  years.  They  are,  consequently,  without  exception,  persons  whose 
moral  regeneration  may  be  hoped  for. 

Sentences  to  hard  laljor  of  the  second  class,  ranging  from  two  years 
to  life,  are  undergone  in  prison!^  on  the  Auburn  plan,  the  prisoners  be- 
ing together  in  the  daytime,  but  separated  at  night.  The  prisoners  so 
sentenced  are  divided  into  two  classes.  The  first  receive  sentences  of 
two  to  six  years,  being  persons  of  a  more  advanced  age,  or  who  have 
been  punished  before.  Their  crimes  are  not  great,  but  their  moral  vigor 
is  broken.  They  form  the  fixed  stock  of  the  prisons,  inveterate  thieves, 
an  assemblage  of  i)ersous  wretched  and  enervate,  as  well  in  a  moral  as 
in  a  bodily  i)oint  of  view  ;  ruined  by  idleness,  drink,  and  debauchery. 
The  second  class  receive  sentences  from  six  years  to  life.  They  have 
the  name  of  "  great  criminals,"  but,  though  the  crime  committed  may 
be  grave,  it  does  not  follow  that  it  has  necessarily  sprung  out  of  a 
thoroughly  corrupted  nature;  on  the  contrary,  it  often  stands  solitary 
and  has  been  committed  in  a  momentary  passion  or  under  great  mental 
depression. 

For  criminals  sentenced  to  ^' hard  labor  for  ameliorating,"  there  is 
one  prison  (male)  on  the  cellular  system.  For  those  sentenced  to  "  hard 
labor  for  punishing,"  there  are  three,  (two  male  and  one  female,)  all  on 
the  associated  plan.  However,  as  there  is  but  one  prison  for  women,  it 
contains  prisoners  sentenced  to  "ameliorating"  as  well  as  to  "  punish- 
ing labor ; "  but  the  former  are  treated  on  the  cellular,  as  the  latter 
on  the  congregate,  principle.  The  four  prisons  have  accommodations 
for  an  aggregate  of  seventeen  hundred  inmates.  The  average  number 
is  about  twelve  hundred,  and  the  iiroportiou  of  women  a  fraction  over 
12  per  cent.* 

While  I  am  writing  this  report,  a  letter  reaches  me  from  Mr.  Bruiin, 
in  which  he  says  that  his  first  work,  after  his  return  from  London,  was 
to  draw  up,  on  the  request  of  the  ministry,  a  proposal  touching  the 
manner  of  carrying  into  effect  the  punishment  in  the  congregate  prisons, 
based  on  the  resolutions  formed  by  the  congress. 

§  4.  The  prisons  of  France  are  comprehended  in  six  classes,  to  wit : 
1,  penal  colonies ;  2,  central  prisons ;  3,  departmental  prisons ;  4,  es- 
tablishments for  the  correctional  education  of  juvenile  delinquents ; 
5,  chambers,  or  depots  of  safe-keeping;  G,  prisons  for  the  army  and 
navy. 

Formerly,  persons  sentenced  to  hard  labor  received  their  punishment 
in  galleys.  There  remains  but  one  establishment  of  this  kind  at  present, 
the  bagnio  at  Toulon.  The  galley-prisons  have,  since  1854,  been  re- 
placed by  transportation  to  penal  colonies.  Of  these  there  are  three,  viz, 
in  Algeria,  in  Guiana,  and  in  New  Caledonia — an  island  of  Oceanica — the 
latter  being  the  most  important  and  the  most  hopeful.  The  colony  of 
New  Caledonia  was  created  in  18G4.  This  island  offers,  by  the  salubrity 
of  its  climate  and  the  fertility  of  its  soil,  conditions  propitious  to  trans- 
portation. The  transportation  of  women  is  authorized  by  the  law,  in 
view  of  marriages  to  be  contracted  with  the  convicts  after  their  provi- 

*The  official  report  from  Denmark  being  very  brief,  I  bave  aupplemeuted  the  infor- 
mation given  in  it  by  recourse  to  a  paper  on  "  Prison-Discipline  in  Denmark,"  pre- 
pared for  the  Cincinnati  congress  by  Mr.  Bruiin,  supreme  director  of  prisons  in  Den- 
mark.—E.  C.  W. 


12  INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIAEY    CONGRESS. 

sioDal  or  definitive,  liberation.  Tlie  administration  selected,  from  amon;]^ 
tlie  female  prisoners  of  every  class,  those  who  expressed  a  desire  to 
profit  by  these  arrangements.  These  women  are  placed,  to  nndergo 
their  punishment  until  their  provisional  or  definitive  libyaration,  in  a 
special  establishment  at  Maroni,  under  the  sn[)er vision  of  the  religious 
ladies  of  Cherry.  The  majority  of  females,  however,  sentenced  to  hard 
labor  still  undergo  their  punishment  in  the  Central  prisons  of  the  con- 
tinent. 

The  central  prisons  of  France  correspond  to  the  state  prisons  in  the 
United  States.  Their  legal  designation  is  "  prisons  of  hard  labor  and 
correction."  The}^  receive  three  classes  of  prisoners,  viz,  woiuen  of  all 
ages  and  men  of  the  age  of  sixty  and  upivard,  persons  sentenced  to 
reclusion,  and  persons  sentenced  as  correctionals  to  an  imprisonment 
of  more  than  a  year. 

The  departmental  prisons  are  so  called,  not  only  because  they  are 
devoted  to  the  exclusive  service  of  the  departments  in  wliich  they  are 
placed,  but  still  more  from  considerations  of  property  and  maintenance; 
they  have  also  the  name  of  houses  of  arrest,  of  justice,  and  of  correction. 
These  prisons  receive  the  arrested ;  the  accused ;  the  correctionals  sen- 
tenced to  one  year  and  less;  persons  Sentenced  to  severer  punishments 
who  are  awaiting  their  transfer;  police  prisoners;  persons  imprisoned 
for  debts  in  matters  criminal,  correctional,  of  simple  police,  and  of  Jisc; 
juvenile  prisoners,  whether  arrested,  accused,  or  committed  in  the  way 
of  paternal  correction,  and  civil  and  military  prisoners  eii  route.  In 
general,  the  three  houses  are  but  three  distinct  wards  in  the  same 
establishment,  although,  to  answer  the  intention  of  the  law,  the  house 
of  correction,  as  being  a  place  of  punishment,  should  be  tlistiuct  from 
the  other  tuo. 

The  establislimeuts  devoted  to  the  correctional  education  of  juvenile 
delinquents  receive  minors  of  both  sexes  of  sixteen  years  and  under. 
These  will  be  considered  more  at  length  under  another  head. 

The  name  of  chambers  for  safe-keeping  is  given  to  places  in  which 
are  received  prisoners  who  are  being  conveyed  from  point  to  point  in 
localities  where  there  is  no  house  of  arrest,  of  justice,  or  of  correction. 
These  chambers  and  depots  have  the  same  destination  as  such  houses, 
and  are  but  places  for  the  temporary  confinement  of  prisoners  en  route. 

The  military  prisons  need  not  be  described  in  this  rei)()rt. 

The  cellular  system  is  not  applied  in  any  central  prison.  The  disci- 
pline of  these  prisons  is  that  of  detention  in  common  with  the  obliga- 
tion of  silence.  Some  of  them,  however,  have  cellular  wards,  in  which 
may  be  confined  certain  classes  of  ])risoners. 

Out  of  four  hundred  dcpartmeutal  i)ris()ns,  fifty  are  constructed  on  the 
celhdar  system ;  but  even  in  these,  or  at  huist  a  large  i)roportion  of  tliein, 
it  is  the  edifice  only  wliich  is  celhdar,  the  system  being  in  reality  that 
of  association  by  day,  whilov  separation  is  restricted  to  the  night;  so 
that  no  att(;m[>t  is  made  in  the  report  from  France  to  establish  a  com- 
parison of  the  results  yielded  by  the  two  systems.  The  report  declares 
that  the  results  obtaiiu'd  by  the  existing  system  are  far  from  Ixnng  satis- 
factory. i\Iore  than  51)  per  <;ent.  of  the  male  ])risoners  and  about  one- 
third  of  the  women  discharged  IVom  the  central  jnisons  fall  back  into 
Ci'ime.  The  rei)ort  strenuously  ailvocates  the  abandoiiMU'nt  of  the 
rc(/iin(;  in  comiifon,  so  far  as  the  arrested,  the  accused,  and  i)ersons 
sentetieed  to  short  imjjrisouments  art;  concern(!(l. 

The,  i)art  (loiitrihuted  l)y  tiu!  labor  of  the  ])iisoners  toward  Ihe  cost  of 
inainlciianc<i  is  placc(l  at  50  jicr  cent,  in  the  ccnti'al  i)rison.s  aud  at  17 
per  cent,  in  the  departniental  prisons,  the  delicaency  beiug  made  up  from 


PRISON  SYSTEMS — FRANCE BADEN.  13 

the  public  exclioquor.  Some  of  tlie  centra!  prisons,  liowever,  do  inncli 
better  than  this.  In  one  of  the  fenuUe  central  i)rison8  it  has  been  possi- 
ble entii'cly  to  withdraw  the  sal>sidy  granted  by  the  state,  the  earnings 
of  the  prisoners  being  sufficient  for  the  support  of  the  establislmieut.  In 
another  central  prison  the  earnings  more  than  defray  the  cost,  and  in  sev- 
eral that  result  is  approached  more  or  less  nearly.  It  is  hoped  from, 
these  examples  that  the  administration  will  at  length  attain  the  end 
which  it  has  always  sought  in  this  regard — that  of  exempting  the  treas- 
ury from  the  personal  expenses  of  the  prisoners  who  are  conliued  in 
its  great  i>risons  for  punishment. 

The  difference  between  sentences  to  simple  imprisonment,  to  reclusion, 
and  to  hard  labor,  which  are  the  three  kinds  of  sentence  known  in 
France,  is  thus  explained:  Simple  imprisonment  is  a  correctional  pun- 
ishment, its  duration  being  for  six  days  at  least  and  five  years  at  most. 
It  is  undergone  in  a  departmental  prison  if  its  duration  falls  within  a 
3'ear;  if  beyond  that,  in  a  central  prison.  Eeclusion  is  a  punishment 
attlictive  and  infamous.  The  sentence  to  it,  which  is  from  five  to  ten 
years,  is  always  served  in  a  central  prison.  It  implies  the  loss  of  civic 
rights.  Hard  labor  is  an  afflictive  and  infamous  punishment.  A  sen- 
tence to  it  for  life  involves  civic  degradation  and  civil  death.  The 
sentence  which  iaiposes  the  punishment  of  hard  labor  is  printed  and 
posted  in  the  central  city  of  the  department,  in  the  city  where  the 
sentence  was  pronounced,  in  the  commune  where  the  crime  was  com- 
mitted, and  in  that  of  the  domicile  of  the  convict.  Criminals  sentenced 
to  hard  labor  for  a  limited  term  are,  at  the  expiration  of  their  sentence 
and  during  their  whole  life,  legally  under  the  supervision  of  the  police. 

Classification  of  prisoners  has  been  practised  to  some  extent  both  in 
the  departmental  and  central  prisons;  but,  apparently,  it  has  not  been 
such  as  to  lead  to  solid  results.  An  experiment,  liowever,  of  great 
interest,  was  inaugurated  a  few  years  ago  in  this  direction.  Wards,  to 
which  has  been  given  the  name  of  wards  of  preservation  and  amend- 
ment, have  been  established  in  many  central  prisons,  and  a})proi)riated 
to  persons  sentenced  for  a  first  offense,  committed  under  the  influence 
of  a  sudden  impulse  or  of  some  violent  momentaiy  passion.  This 
experiment  promises  the  best  results.  The  prisoners  placed  in  these 
wards  have  shown  themselves  sensible  to  the  distinction  of  which  they 
have  been  made  the  object  and  have  exerted  themselves  to  justify  it 
by  their  good  conduct.  The  cases  are  extremely  rare  in  which  it  has 
been  found  necessary  to  put  them  back  into  the  common  ward. 

The  different  agents  of  the  penitentiary  administration  are  subject,  as 
regards  their  retirement  and  the  ])ension  that  may  be  granted  them,  to  the 
rules  embodied  in  the  law  of  the  Dtli  of  June,  1853,  relating  to  civil  pensions. 
The  principle  laid  down  by  this  law  is  that  every  public  functionary, 
paid  directly  from  the  funds  of  the  state,  has  a  legal  claim  to  a  retiring- 
pension,  when  he  fulHlls  the  required  conditions  of  age  and  of  continu- 
ance in  the  service,  that  is  to  say,  when  he  has  attained  the  age  of  sixty 
and  has  accomplished  a  service  of  twenty  years.  It  is  important  to 
remark  that  account  is  made  of  military  services  when  there  are  super- 
added to  them  twelve  years,  at  least,  of  civil  services.  Moreover,  a 
pension  can  be  granted  at  fifty  years  of  age,  and  after  twenty  years  of 
service,  to  those  who  have  become  incapacitated  from  a  longer  discharge 
of  official  duty  by  grave  infirmities  resulting-  from  the  exercise  of  their 
functions.  In  short,  this  same  law  relieves  from  every  condition  of  age 
and  continued  service,  1,  those  who  may  have  been  disabled  from 
continuing  their  service,  whether  as  the  result  of  an  act  of  devotion  in 
some  public  interest,  or  in  exposing  their  own  life  to  save  the  life  of  one 


14  INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

of  tlieir  fellow-citizens,  or  as  tbe  result  of  a  struggle  or  combat  encoun- 
tered iu  the  discharge  of  their  duties;  2,  those  to  whom  a  grave 
accident,  resulting,  notoriously,  from  the  exercise  of  their  functions, 
shall  have  made  it  impossible  to  continue  them. 

§  5.  The  German  Empire  was  represented  by  a  delegate  named  by  the 
central  government,  but  no  report  was  submitted  on  behalf  of  the  whole 
empire.  Five  states,  however — Baden,  Bavaria,  Prussia,  Saxony,  and 
Wiirtemberg — submitted  reports  each  for  itself. 

(1)  There  are  four  classes  of  prisons  iu  Baden :  Houses  of  correc- 
tion ;  central  prisons,  of  which,  however,  there  is  but  one ;  district- 
prisons;  and  fortresses. 

Prisoners  sentenced  to  hard  labor  are  placed  in  houses  of  correction  ; 
prisoners  sentenced  to  more  than  six  weeks  of  imprisonment  are  placed 
ill  the  central  prison,  and  those  sentenced  to  less  than  six  weeks  in  dis- 
trict-prisons. The  district-prisons  are  also  used  for  the  safe  keeping  of 
persons  awaiting  trial.  There  is  one  prison  of  this  kind  for  each  of  the 
tifty-three  district-courts  of  the  grand  duchy.  The  report  does  not  state 
^vhat  class  of  criminals  are  sentenced  to  fortresses,  but  simply  that  the 
number  of  such  is  small.  It  further  states  that  the  punishment  of  those 
thus  contiued,  as  well  as  of  the  inmates  of  district  prisons,  is  simply 
privation  of  liberty,  the  prisoners  being  free  as  to  the  choice  of  food 
and  occui)ation. 

The  punishment  of  prisoners  contiued  in  houses  of  correction  and  in 
the  central  prison  is  undergone  in  cells,  as  is  also  the  imprisonment  of 
persons  under  arrest.  Certain  restrictions,  however,  have  yjlace  as 
regards  the  intiiction  of  imprisonment  on  the  cellular  plan.  It  cannot 
be  extended,  contrary  to  the  prisoner's  wish,  beyond  three  years ;  nor 
can  it,  if  he  be  between  the  ages  of  twelve  and  eighteen  y/.-ars  and  if 
he  object,  be  applied  beyond  a  maximum  of  six  months.  Those  Avho 
object  to  this  kind  of  imprisonment  beyond  the  terms  named  above, 
and  those  who  are  pronounced  by  the  medical  ofilicers  unfit  for  it,  are 
treated  on  the  plan  of  association  ;  nevertheless,  they  are  associated 
only  during  the  hours  of  labor;  and  they  are,  as  far  as  possible,  classi- 
fied for  distribution  in  the  work  shops  according  to  their  personal  quali- 
ties, and  in  a  manner  best  suited  to  promote  their  moral  amendment. 

The  results  of  the  cellular  system  have  been  favorable,  and  so  have 
those  of  the  congregate  system  when  it  has  been  organized  and  carried 
out  on  right  priucii)les. 

The  number  of  prisoners  confined,  January  1,  1871,  and  which  ])rob- 
ably  rejjresents  about  the  average,  was:  Houses  of  correction,  303; 
central  prison  of  Bruchsal,  441;  district-prisons,  under  sentence,  198 — 
awaiting  trial,  227;  total,  1,1G9.  Of  these,  85  per  cent,  were  men  and 
1.5  |)('r  ('cnt.  women. 

The  suppoitoCthe  ])risons  is  derived  from  three  sources,  viz:  1,  pay- 
ments by  i)iis()ners  who  have  property;  these  amount  to  very  little ; 
2,  tiie,  labor  of  the  prisoners;  Ij,  subsidies  by  the  state. 

'J'lic  gjiins  liom  prison-labor  (lilTcr  materially,  according  to  the  dura- 
tion of  the  piinislinicnt,  tiu',  kind  (»ri)rison,  and  the  number  in  each.  Tiie 
])rodnct  of  the  tiades  <;iirried  on  in  the  cellular  i)rison  of  Bruchsal  has 
Hometimes  siiniccd  to  pay  the  wliole  expense  of  the  eslal>lishni<'nt,  with 
the  excejition  of  the  salaries  of  oilicers;  and  for  twenty  yenrs  it  has,  on 
theaverage,  ])i\'u\  consi<leral)ly  moic-  than  two-thirds  of  the  current  ex- 
penses of  the  |»rison. 

To  su|)erior  oflicers,  on  retirement  from  service,  there  is  granted 
an  annual  pension  equal  to  lour-liftiis  of  their  salary;  to  the  inferior, 
equal  to  one  half. 


PRISON    SYSTEMS BAVARIA PRUSSIA.  15 

(2)  The  classification  of  the  prisons  of  Bavaria  is  as  follows :  1, 
houses  of  correction ;  2,  prisons  for  adult  criminals  sentenced  for  a 
term  exceeding  three  months  and  for  juvenile  delinquents  for  a  tenu 
exceeding  one  month  ;  3,  district-prisons  of  courts  of  justice  for  adult 
criminals  sentenced  for  less  than  three  months  and  for  juveniles  sentenced 
for  less  than  one  mouth. ;  4,  police  prisons  for  persons  arrested  and  held 
lor  trial. 

There  are  distinct  prisons  for  men  and  women  of  the  class  called 
Louses  of  correction  ;  in  other  i^risons  the  two  sexes  are  placed  in  differ- 
ent ])arts  of  the  establishment. 

For  persons  convicted  of  crimes  against  property — theft,  fraud,  rob- 
bery, obtaining  money  or  goods  under  false  prtjtenses,  extortion,  receiv- 
ing stolen  property,  »&c.,  and  sentenced  to  a  term  exceeding  three 
months — special  prisons  are  provided,  to  which  no  other  prisoners  are 
sent. 

Bavaria  has  four  cellular  prisons.  One  of  these  only  is  for  sentenced 
prisoners ;  the  other  three  for  persons  awaiting  trial.  All  the  other 
prisons  of  the  kingdom  are  on  the  congregate  plan. 

Cellular  imprisonment  has  existed  for  only  a  few  years  in  Bavaria, 
and  consequently  (the  report  states)  accurate  data  touching  its  effect 
cannot  be  given.  But  the  system  of  isolation,  it  is  added,  gains  ad- 
herents daily,  because  of  the  evil  effects  of  the  collective  system  as 
there  practised. 

The  classification  of  prisoners  is  not  carried  to  any  great  extent ;  yet 
the  governors  must  keep  i^risoners  of  average  good  conduct  apart  from 
those  who  give  little  hope  of  improvement  and  whose  exam[>le  would 
exert  a  hurtful  influence  on  others. 

The  funtls  for  the  support  of  the  prisons  are  derived  from  the  i)roducts 
of  prison-labor,  from  fines,  and  from  the  public  chest.  The  first  of  these 
sources  yields  16  to  18  i^er  cent,  of  the  cost  5  the  second,  28  to  32  per 
cent. ;  and  the  state  pays  the  balance. 

The  pension,  on  retirement,  is  regulated  by  the  len  gth  of  service.  If 
retirement  becomes  necessary  within  the  first  ten  years,  it  is  seven-tenths 
of  the  salary;  if  within  the  second  ten,  eight-tenths;  if  within  the  third 
ten,  nine-tenths ;  and  after  forty  years  of  service,  or  after  the  officer 
has  reached  the  age  of  seventy,  the  pension  is  the  entire  salary. 

(3)  The  prisons  of  Prussia  are:  1,  prisons  exclusively  for  hard  labor, 
29;  2,  prisons  for  imprisonment  and  simple  detention,  15 ;  3,  prisons 
of  a  mixed  character,  11;  4,  houses  of  correction  for  the  punishment  of 
slight  offeii^es,  16  ;  total,  71.  They  will  hold  26,500  prisoners.  Forty- 
seven  i^risons  are  provided,  to  a  less  or  greater  extent,  with  cells  for 
separate  imprisonment  day  and  night,  the  whole  number  being  3,247. 

There  is  but  one  prison  organized  exclusively  on  the  cellular  system. 
There  are,  altogether,  only  2,000  separate  cells  for  isolation  at  night,  a 
number  (the  report  says)  wholly  insufficient,  but  it  is  increasing  dliily 
by  new  additions. 

There  is  no  sensible  difference  between  the  two  systems  as  regards 
reformatory  results.  The  number  of  relapses  has  not  been  diminished  by 
cellular  treatment.  Yet  some  remarkable  refornmtions,  even  of  hardened 
criminals,  have  been  accomplished  by  cellular  itnprisonment,  concerning 
which  a  doubt  is  expressed  whether  they  could  or  would  have  been 
effected  by  imprisonment  in  common.  The  effect  of  cellular  separation 
upon  prisoners  during  their  incarceration  is  said  to  be  decidedly  favor- 
able, and,  in  the  comparison,  superior  to  that  of  associated  imprison- 
ment. 

The  punishments  awarded  by  virtue  of  the  penal  code  are:  1,  hard 


16  INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

labor,  the  severest — inflicted  for  lifer  or  for  a  time  ;  miniinuni  one  year, 
maximum  tifteeii — draws  after  it  eompnlsory  labor,  without  restriction 
of  kind  or  place,  and  various  civil  disabilities  ;  2,  simple  imprisonment — 
maximum  five  years  ;  no  compulsion  to  work  outside  of  the  })rison  or  ;it 
occupations  not  in  accord  with  the  capacity  of  the  prisoner  and  with  his 
previous  social  position;  3,  imprisonment  in  a.  fortress — intiicted  for 
life  or  a  time;  maximum,  in  the  latter  case,  fifteen  years — is  a  simple 
privation  of  liberty,  with  supervision  over  the  prisoner's  occupation  and 
mode  of  life  ;  4,  detention  for  trifliui;-  offenses — maximum  six  weeks — 
consists  in  a  simple  privation  of  liberty,  but  may  be  intensified  by  com- 
pulsory labor,  when  inflicted  for  vagrancy,  begging,  or  professional 
prostitution.  The  minin.ium  imprisonment  under  the  last  three  kinds 
of  sentence  is  one  day. 

The  classification  of  prisoners  in  Prussia  goes  little  further  than  the 
separation  of  the  younger  from  the  older  criminals. 

Prison  officers  rendered  incapable  of  further  service  receive  a  pension, 
whose 'amount  is  regulated  by  the  laws  regarding  the  retiring  allow- 
ances of  all  other  state  officers.  To  gain  a  right  to  a  pension,  ten  years 
must  be  served:  the  pension  increases  with  each  additional  year  of 
service.     It  can,  however,  never  exceed  three-fourths  of  the  salary. 

(4)  The  prisons  of  Saxony  are  divided  into  the  following  classes :  pris- 
ons lor  severe  punishment,  2 ;  prisons  for  less  severe  punishment,  3 ; 
prison  in  fortress,  1;  reformatory  prisons,  o;  prisons  belonging  to 
courts  of  justice,  (number  not  stated  ;)  prisons  belonging  to  policecourts, 
(number  not  stated.)  The  average  number  of  criminals  for  1871  was: 
In  the  first  class  of  prisons,  1,153  ;  in  the  second  class,  1,001 ;  in  a  for- 
tress, 1;  in  reformatories,  (otherwise  called  houses  of^  correction,)  6S-1; 
in  the  fifth  and  sixth  classes,  1,800 ;  total,  4,(539.  « 

For  more  than  twenty  years  there  has  been  in  Saxony  a  conviction 
that  sentences  of  imprisonment  should  be  undergone  only  for  the  exj)ia- 
tion  of  crime,  the  i)iotection  of  society,  and  to  deter  the  prisoner  from 
the  commission  of  subsequent  offenses.  The  Saxon  government  has, 
therefore,  two  principal  objects  in  its  penal  system:  the  satisfaction  of 
justice  and  Ihe  reformation  of  the  prisoner. 

Since  18r>0  the  pe'nitentiary  of  Zuickau  has  been  specially  distinguished 
by  a  successful  ap])lication  of  the  principle  of  reformation  by  means  of 
individual  treatment.  The  Saxon  government  was  in  consequence 
induced  to  extinid  the  same  system  to  all  its  ])risoiis.  The  government 
more  readily  placed  confidence  in  the  new  method,  because  it  works  by  no 
complicat(!d  apparatus,  complies  with  existing  circumstances,  is  based 
upon,  the  i)riiiciple  of  individual  treatment,  and  so  combines  different 
modes  of  imprisonment  as  to  gain  the  best  results.  Thus,  the  common 
modes  ol"  ini|)risonment  and  treatment  are  excluded  ;  and,  just  as  a  ])hy- 
sician  presciil>es  suitable  medicine  and  diet  for  his  patients,  so  the  ad- 
ministration ])rovides  fit  (Mlucation,  work,  and  food  for  its  ])risoners. 
^J'he  penitent iaiy  of  Zuickau  gave  proofs  that  this  idea  was  not  only 
theoretically  right,  but  also  i)racticable.  The  government,  theivfore,  in 
]8o4,  icsolved  tliat  all  the  Saxon  i)iisons  slionld  ad()i)t  the  n(nv  regula- 
tions for  internal  management  and  the  treatment  of  ])risoiHM's.  A(;coi'd- 
ingly,  there  is  in  Saxony  no  |)enitentiary  wherc^  eif  liei'  solitary  or  col- 
]ecti\'e  imi»rison?nent  is  exclusi\-ely  employed  ;  both  imxles  are  used, 
according  to  the  piisoners' indi\idual  wants.  Saxony  has  eleven  ])ris- 
ons  where,  especially  during  the  last  ten  years,  the  reforms  mentioned 
above  have  been  canied  out. 

(.'■>)  Tlur  jtrisons  of  the  grand  dueliy  of  Wiirteinberg  are:  Prisons  of 
rcclusion,  4;  countiy  prisons,  3;  (brtress,  1;  ])rison   lor  minors,  1  ;  dis- 


PRISON    SYSTEMS SAXONY WURTEMBERG.  17 

trict  prisons,  (uumber  not  stated.)  Of  tlie  first  class,  two  are  exclusively 
for  lueUjOne  exclusively  for  women,  and  one  for  prisoners  of  both  sexes. 
Criuiiuals  sentenced  to  reclusion  and  haid  labor  are  placed  in  tliese 
establishments.  In  tlie  second  class,  sentences  for  minor  offenses  are 
undergone,  the  maximum  of  the  imprisonment  being  for  four  weeks. 
The  district  prisons  are  mainly  for  persons  under  arrest,  but  minor 
oftenders  are  also  punished  iu  them  for  a.  term  not  exceeding  four 
■weeks. 

The  congregate  system  of  imprisonment,  with  common  dormitories, 
still  prevails  in  Wiirtemberg,  although  cells  for  isolated  deteutiou  are 
found  in  all  tlie  prisons,  some  of  which  are  used  for  separation  at  night 
and  others  for  purposes  of  discipline.  But  it  has  been  resolved  to  make 
trial  of  the  cellular  system,  and  to  that  eiul  a  special  prison  has  been 
erected  at  Heilbronu,  which  is  expected  soou  to  be  opened  for  the  recep- 
tion of  prisoners. 

The  expense  of  maintaining  the  prisons,  so  far  as  it  is  not  defrayed 
by  the  industrial  labor  and  payments  of  the  prisoners,  is  borne  by  the 
state,  which,  on  the  average,  contributes  about  35  percent,  of  the  total 
expense  of  prisons;  the  remaining  05  per  cent,  is  derived  from  the  in- 
come of  the  prisons  themselves,  but  the  prisoners' payments  form  only  a 
small  part  of  tlie  amount.  What  comes  from  the  prisoners  is  mostly  the 
result  of  their  labor. 

§  6.  The  official  report  on  the  prisons  of  Italy  commences  with  an 
explanation  of  the  circumstances  of  the  country.  The  various  provinces 
of  the  Italian  peninsula,  divided,  for  ceuturies  into  so  many  different 
states,  at  length  united  under  the  house  of  Savoy,  brought  with  them 
to  the  union,  each  its  own  laws,  institutions,  and  traditions.  It  is, 
therefore,  yot  to  be  wondered  at  that  there  should  be  found  in  Italy  a 
wide  di\ersity  in  penal  legislation,  and,  consequently,  great  variety  in 
the  punishmeuts  adopted  and  in  the  mode  of  carrying  them  out. 
Thus,  the  law  of  the  Tuscan  provinces  had  abolished  capital 
punish tueut  since  1859  ;  the  ISTeapolitau  and  Sicilian  legislation 
still  inflicted  this  sentence  in  twenty-two  cases;  in  other  provinces 
of  the  kingdom  capital  punishment  was  decreed  in  ticenty  seven 
cases.  Again,  the  Tuscan  provinces  had  adopted  the  system  of  con- 
tinual isolation  ;  others  preferred  and  were  adopting  the  Auburn  system. 
In  some  provinces,  fetters  were  in  use  both  for  males  and  females  sen- 
tenced to  a  long  imprisonment;  in  others,  they  were  entirely  abolished. 
In  some  proviuces,  only  those  convicts  sentenced  to  the  heavier  i)unish- 
ments  were  admitted  into  the  bagnios;  iu  others,  these  establishments 
served  as  prisons  also  to  those  sentenced  only  for  a  few  years ;  in  otliers, 
again,  they  were  entirely  proscribed.  This  diversity  in  the  penal  codes 
and  the  variety  iu  the  methods  of  incarceration  could  not  be  at  once 
done  away  with,  but  the  government  is  directing  its  eflorts  to  the  ref- 
ormation and  complete  unification  of  its  iienal  legislation. 

For  detention  before  trial  there  are  the  central  or  c])ief  prisons  of  the 
provinces,  the  district  prisons,  and  the  communal  jails,  (number  not 
stated.)  For  penal  detention  there  are:  Bagnios,  for  criminals  sentenced 
to  hard  labor  for  life  or  a  limited  time,  21 ;  bridewells,  for  prisoners 
sentenced  to  reclusion  or  public  works,  11 ;  prisons  for  those  sentenced 
to  relegation  or  banishment,  3;  houses  of  correction,  for  persons  sen- 
tenced to  simple  imprisonment,  6;  special  establishments,  (classed  under 
the  general  name  of  houses  of  punishment,)  10;  special  prisons  for 
women,  5;  houses  of  correction  for  juvenile  convicts,  (minors.)  1 ;  estab- 
lishments for  forced  detention  (reformatories)  of  idlers,  vagabonds,  and 
youths  admitted  by  request  of  parents  for  correction,  (which  also  receive 
H.  Ex.  185^ 2 


18  INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

juvenile  offenders  before  trial,)  31 ;  agricultural  colonies,  2;  penal  estab- 
lishment for  invalids,  1. 

The  jails  and  prisons,  as  varying  in  their  systems  of  imprisonment,  may 
thus  be  classified  :  two  on  the  system  of  continued  isolation  ;  two  on  the 
system  partly  of  continued  isolation  and  partly  of  association ;  five  on 
the  Auburn  system  complete ;  two  partly  on  the  Auburn  system,  j)artl3' 
on  that  of  community,  and  forty-five  on  the  community  system. 

The  question  of  establishing  a  hospital  for  lunatic  convicts  and  a 
nautical  reformatoj'y  is  now  under  consideration  by  the  central  admin- 
istration. 

The  average  number  of  inmates  of  the  jails  (places  of  preliminary  de- 
tention and  miubr  punishments)  for  1871  was  45,083;  of  the  peniten- 
tiaries, 10,738;  of  the  bagnios,  15,118 ;  of  the  prisons  for  juvenile  con- 
victs under  age,  573. 

The  system  of  continued  isolation  has  been  decreed  for  all  detention- 
prisons.  Several  jails  have  been  erected  on  this  phm,  others  are  in  process 
of  erection,  and  pkms  for  a  still  greater  number  are  under  study. 

In  the  sense  of  assigning  prisoners  to  different  penal  establishments 
accordingtotheir  crimes  and  sentences,  a  complete  system  of  classification 
exists.  In  the  detention-prisons,  the  follovving  classes  are,^  as  much  as 
l)Ossible,  separated  from  each  other:  the  arrested,  (who  are  at  the  dis- 
I)osal  of  the  authorities  of  public  safety,)  the  accused  awaiting  trial, 
those  sentenced  for  terms  not  exceeding  a  year,  those  detained  in  tran- 
sit or  sentenced  and  awaiting  transfer,  women,  minors,  and  i)ersons 
imprisoned  for  debt.  In  the  bagnios  there  are  recognized  four  divisions, 
Avith  sei)arate  dormitories  for  each.  They  are  :  those  sentenced  for  mili- 
tary crimes  or  assaults,  those  sentenced  for  theft,those  sentenced  for  high- 
way robbery,  and  those  convicted  of  atrocious  crimes,  such  as  assassina- 
tion, homicide,  &g.  Each  of  these  four  divisions  is  subdivided  into 
three  categories,  distinguished  by  marks  on  their  dress,  according  to 
their  terms  of  sentence. 

The  funds  for  tlie  su])i)ort  of  the  prisons  are  drawn  from  the  general 
budget  of  the  state.  For  the  financial  results  of  the  prisoners'  labor, 
reference  is  made  tb  the  ofiicial  statistics,  for  which  examination  the 
undersigned  has  no  lime. 

The  pension  to  which  the  directors  and  officers  of  the  prisons  are 
entitled,  after  a  service  of  at  least  twenty-five  years,  is  determined  on 
the  same  ])rin<;ii)le  as  tliat  of  every  other  ollicer  in  the  civil  service  of  the 
state.  Thus,  when  retired  after  twenty-live  years  of  service,  they  have 
as  many  foitictiis  of  their  salary,  wlien  it  does  not  exceed  two  thousand 
Italian  livres,  and  as  many  sixtieths  when  it  is  more  than  two  thousand 
livres,  as  tlieii"  years  of  service.  But  without  regard  to  the  twenty-five 
years  of  service  there  are  cases  of  pensions  granted  to  all  classes  of 
officers,  when  one  becomes  incapaciatcd  by  a  wound  (caused  by  some 
extraordinary  act  ])crformed  in  the  dischai'ge  of  his  olficialduties,  or  b}' 
a  disease  (;ontra<'ted  in  the  public  service. 

§  7.  A  (fommission  of  <listinguishcd  and  able  citizens  was  ap])oint('d 
by  the  go\(;nimeiit  of  the;  icpuhlii;  of  jAlcxico,  which  the  undersigned 
lia<l  the.  honor  to  rej)resent  in  the  (.'ongi<'s.s  of  l^ondon  as  well  as  that 
of  the  United  Stales,  to  <liaw  up  a  rep(>rt  in  answer  to  tln^  series  of 
(piestions  sul»iiiitled  (o  that  as  well  as  to  the  other  governments,  which 
weie  in\ited  lo  take  pait  in  tlu',  movenuMit.  On  the  subje(;t  of  the 
prison  system  of  Mexico,  the  commission  say  that  in  the  capital  of  the 
rej)iil»]ic  thei(^  are  two  juisons,  one  for  those  who  are  simply  arrested 
and  detained,  and  the  olliei'  for  adult  i)ris<)ne.rs  who  are  to  be  tried  or 
have  been  already  sentenced.     Young  children  sentenced  to  a  term  of 


PRISON    SYSTEMS ITALY MEXICO NETHERLANDS.  19 

imprisonment  are  placed  in  an' establishment  called  "  hospicio  de  los 
l^obres,"  [hospital  of  the  poor.)  For  the  punishment  of  criminal  children 
between  nine  and  eighteen  5'Gars  of  age,  tliere  is  a  spi^cial  establisli- 
ment,  where  tliey  receive  an  elementary  religious  education  and  learn 
a  trade. 

The  system  of  imprisonment  is  that  of  association.  Its  results  are 
stated  to  have  been  very  sad,  the  prisoners  generally  leaving  the 
prisons  worse  than  when  they  entered.  Penitentiaries  on  the  cellular 
system  are  in  course  of  erection  in  several  of  the  stat.es.  Only  one  has, 
so  far,  been  completed. 

As  regards  the  proi)ortion  contributed  by  the  labor  of  the  prisoners 
towards  defraying  the  cost  of  maintaining  the  prisons,  the  commission 
reports  only  in  relation  to  the  Federal  district  and  Louver  California, 
where  it  is  from  40  to  50  per  cent. 

§  8.  In  the  Netherlands  four  classes  of  prisons  exist :  The  central 
prisons,  for  criminals  sentenced  to  eighteen  months  and  over ;  deten- 
tion-prisons, for  terms  of  sentence  less  than  eighteen  months;  houses 
of  arrest,  tor  sentences  of  three  months  and  under;  and  police  or  can- 
tonal prisons^  for  sentences  not  exceeding  a  month.  The  tiiree  classes 
last  named  also  receive  prisoners  under,  arrest  and  awaiting  trial. 
In  some  cases  all  three  are  united  together,  forming  a  single  establish- 
ment. 

Both  systems  of  imprisonment,  cellular  and  associated,  have  place  in 
the  Netherlands.  In  no  case,  however,  can  cellular  separation  be  ex- 
tended beyond  a  period  of  two  years.  The  two  systems  are  stated  in 
the  report  to  be  applied  not  uniformly  in  the  different  prisons  estab- 
lished on  each  plan,  but  in  a  manner  quite  irregular  and  little  har- 
nionious;  consequently  the  resuHs  obtained  are  not  such  as  to  permit  a 
fair  and  reliable  comparison.  Hence,  there  exists  in  the  country  a 
great  difference  of  opinion  on  the  question  of  preference.  Still,  the 
cellular  vsystem,  considered  in  itself,  and  apart  from  the  manner  of  ap- 
plying it  and  the  limits  to  be  imposed  on  it,  s(;arcely  encounters  any 
adversaries;  and,  for  short  imprisonments,  public  opinion  is  well-nigh 
unanimous  in  its  favor. 

The  classification  of  prisoners  does  not  seem  to  receive  much  atten- 
tion in  the  Netherlands.  In  the  central  prisons,  the  more  hardened  and 
dangerous,  and  those  sentenced  on  re-conviction,  are  separated  from 
the  other  prisoners.     The  results  are  reported  as  favorable. 

The  funds  for  the  support  of  the  prisons  are  a  charge  upon  the  annual 
budget  of  the  state.  The  part  contributed  by  the  labor  of  the  i)risou- 
ers  is  quite  inconsiderable. 

The  pensions  granted  to  prison-officers  when  they  become  incapaci- 
tated for  further  service  are  the  same  as  those  accorded  to  all  other 
employes  of  the  state.  Beyond  this  statement  no  information  is 
given. 

The  general  proportion  in  which  the  sexes  are  represented  in  the 
Netherlands  prisons  is  about  twenty  women  to  a  hundred  men ;  but 
this  proportion  varies,  especially  in  the  different  provinces. 

§  9.  There  are  four  classes  of  prisons  in  Norway  :  Prisons  established 
in  fortresses,  3 ;  houses  of  correction,  4;  a  penitentiary,  1 ;  district-pris- 
ons, (corresponding  to  our  common  jails,)  50. 

The  system  of  imprisonment  is  that  of  association  in  the  fortresses 
and  houses  of  correction,  and  of  separation  in  the  penitentiary,  and, 
to  a  very  considerable  extent,  also,  in  the  district  prisons. 

The  sentences  to  the  penitentiary  range  from  six  months  to  six  years  ; 
but  these  sentences  are  shortened  one-third,  because  of  the  system  of 


20  INTEENATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

iiiiprisonraent  (cellular)  applied  there.  'No  comparison  of  results  yielded 
by  the  two  systems  is  given. 

-  The  average  uumber  of  prisoners  in  the  fortresses  is  217  j  in  the 
houses  of  correction,  940;  in  the  penitentiary,  224;  in  the  district 
prisons,  not  stated.  The  proportion  of  women  in  the  district  prisons 
cannot  be  accurately  ascertained  from  the  statistical  returns ;  but  in 
the  penal  establishments  it  is  nearly  one  fourth. 

No  classification  of  the  prisoners  is  carried  out  in  the  prisons  based 
on  the  system  of  association,  but,  in  distributing  the  prisoners  in  the 
work  rooms  and  dormitories,  care  is  taken  to  keej)  the  less  corru[)ted 
prisoners  separate,  as  far  as  possible,  from  the  older  and  more  danger- 
ous criminals.  In  the  penitentiary  has  been  introduced  a  system  of 
I)rogressive  classification,  based  on  the  zeal  and  merit  of  the  prisoners, 
through  which  some  mitigation  of  their  punishment  is  gradually  af- 
forded, by  way  of  allowing  the  prisoners,  to  a  larger  extent  than  be- 
fore, to  read,  write,  receive  the  visits  of  their  relatives,  work  in  the 
open  air,  &c. 

The  liensions  allowed  to  prison-officers  on  retirement  are  not  regu- 
lated by  law,  but  are  matter  of  parliamentary  grant  in  each  individual 
case. 

The  expenses  of  the  penal  institutions  are  defrayed  out  of  the  ex- 
chequer, less  the  proceeds  of  the  prison-labor.  These  expenses,  in  1S72, 
were  203,410  thalers,  of  which  109,970  thalers  were  met  by  the  earnings 
of  the  piisoners,  leaving  93,440  thalers  to  be  supplied  by  the  state. 
The  expenses  of  the  district  prisons  are  paid  by  the  districts  in  which 
they  are  severally  situated.  Nevertheless  the  exchequer  has  to  pay  for 
medicines,  medical  attendance,  spiritual  assistance,  and  the  necessary 
clothing  of  the  prisoners  ;  besides  which  the  district  receives  from  the 
excheqner  an  allowance  of  24  skilling,  equal  to  11(7.  sterling,  a  day  for 
every  jirisoner.  The  balance  to  be  paid  by  the  district  after  these  va- 
rious grants  cannot,  one  would  think,  be  very  onerous. 

§  10.  The  report  submitted  to  the  congress  on  the  part  of  Russia  was 
drawn  up  by  Count  Sollohub,  president  of  the  imperial  commission  re- 
cently appointed  to  devise  a  new  penitentiary  system  for  the  Russian 
Empire.  The  count  explains,  in  his  introductory  remarks,  that  a  de- 
tailed description  of  the  system  now  in  operation  in  Russia  is  impossi- 
ble, and,  if  possible,  could  not  give  an  exact  idea  of  things,  since  the 
Ijenitentiary  ([uestion  in  his  country  is  at  this  moment  passing  through 
a  transitional  i)liase,  a  radical  reform  being  proposed  ami  certain  ex- 
periments ha\  ing  been  already  commencetl.  Russia  is  thus  between 
two  systems,  one  acknowledged  to  be  unsatisfactory  and  the  other  but 
Just  dawning,  with  its  methods  and  measures  yet  undeveloped.  From 
a  scientific;  [toiiit  of  view,  such  a  transitional  pliase  njiglit  be  interest- 
ing, but  it  could  Jiot  give  pre<'jse  statements  either  as  to  what  exists 
now  or  what  is  to  exist  hercalter.  Tiiese  considerations  caused  hesita- 
tion in  resi)ect  to  the  preparation  of  any  report  to  be  handed  in  to  the 
congnusH,  but  it  was  finally  concluded  to  prepare  and  submit  a  rei)ort, 
under  the  reserve  that  it  is  to  be  regarded,  not  as  the  exposition  of  a 
systi'in,  but  rather  as  a  short  sketcli  of  the  traditions  of  the  country. 

Tiie  existing  laws  of  Russia  relating  to  the  arrested  and  the  sentenced 
are  divided  into  two  parts,  the  fiist  referring  to  the  impiisoncd,  the 
second  to  the  transported.  The  following  is  the  present  classification 
of  prisons  :  1.  I'risonspidpeily  so  called,  (r>.s7/vYy.s',)  established  in  all  the 
towns  of  the  empire.  ()ri;;inally  tln'y  were  meicly  places  of  sale-keep- 
ing, tlie  actual  punishment  being  eitlwr  Ixxlily  inllictions  or  deportation 
to  the  lajlliesl  limits  td  the  empire,  with  a  treatment  of  gieater  or  less 


PRISON    SYSTEMS NORWAY RUSSIA S^VITZERLAND.  21 

severity.  More  recently  they  have  been  lised  for  ])nnis]iment  in  cases 
where  the  iinprisonuient  does  not  exceed  a  year  and  fonr  months.  2. 
Prisons  lor  arrest.  This  must  not  be  confounded  with  preliininary 
arrest,  where  the  detention  is  merely  that  of  safe  custody.  It  is  a  true 
punishment,  whi(;h  is  inflicted  by  justices  of  the  pea(;e  for  slight  offenses 
and  cannot  exceed  three  months.  3.  Houses  of  amendment  and  labor, 
established  by  the  Empress  Catherine,  probably  under  the  influence  of 
Howard,  to  whom  Eussia  owes  her  first  notions  of  the  humane  treat- 
ment of  prisoners.  4.  Prisons  for  industrial  sections  or  companies. 
These  companies,  sentenced  to  labor  on  public  works,  formerly  under 
the  jurisdiction  of  the  minister  of  ways  and  communications,  have  lately 
passed  into  that  of  the  minister  of  the  interior.  Sentences  to  this  class 
of  i)risons  cannot  now  exceed  four  years,  though  formerly  they  might 
be  extended  to  twelve. 

The  system  of  associated  imprisonment  in  rooms  still  exists  in  Russia, 
with  some  exceptions  5  for  example,  in  the  o.S'/ro/ys  of  the  first  class  there 
are  separate  cells. 

The  result  of  imprisonment  in  common  by  day  and  night,  and  also  of 
deportation,  has  been  found  lamentable.  It  has  created  in  Eussia,  a 
class  of  vagrants  and  wortliless  characters  {proletaires)  not  in  harmony 
either  with  the  fertility  of  the  soil  or  the  communal  constitution  of  the 
country.  The  system  individually  preferred  by  the  writer  of  the  report 
is  the  following:  1,  that  of  civil  imprisonment  for  the  accused  awaiting 
trial;  2,  that  of  cellular  imprisonment  for  the  convicted  undergoing 
short  sentences,  with  a  reduction  of  two-thirds  of  the  punishment  as 
compared  with  the  duration  of  collective  imprisonment;  3,  for  houses 
of  correction  and  convict  prisons,  that  of  separation  by  night  in  small 
cells  open  at  the  top,  arranged  in  large  common  dormitories,  well  ven- 
tilated, well  lighted,  and  under  constant  supervision,  with  labor  in 
common  workshops.  The  report  opposes  cellular  imprisonment  for  long- 
periods,  on  the  ground  that  it  must  either  render  the  prisoner  torpid,  or 
produce  in  him  such  a  constant  feeling  of  restraint  as  will  necessarily 
paralyze  the  play  and  development  of  his  individual  will,  sole  means  of 
bis  regeneration. 

Classification  of  the  prisoners  is  rigidly  required  by  the  Enssian 
legislation,  but  the  bad  condition  of  many  of  the  prison  edifices,  and 
especially  the  lack  of  space,  restricts  it  to  the  separation  of  the  sexes 
and  of  persons  arrested  from  those  who  are  undergoing  their  punish- 
ment. 

The  prisons  derive  their  support  mainly  from  the  treasury  of  the 
state.  The  earnings  of  the  prisoners  have  thus  far  been  inconsiderable, 
especially  when  considered  in  comparison  with  the  vast  ijopulatiou  and 
the  immense  productive  power  of  the  empire. 

The  system^f  pensions  is  uniform  for  all  public  functionaries.  What 
that  system  is  is  not  stated. 

§  11.  The  prisons  of  Switzerland  may  be  divided  into  four  groups : 
1,  those  of  five  cantons  are  administered  on  a  kind  of  patriarchal  sys- 
tem, (whatever  that  may  mean,)  by  sisters  of  charity  ;  2,  those  of  three 
other  cantons  are  administered  on  a  different  system,  but  leaving  much 
to  be  desired  in  the  way  of  imi^rovements  ;  3,  nine  cantons  have  prisons 
of  medium  excellence,  some  of  which  are  advancing  toward  the  first 
rank;  4,  four  cantons,  Argovie,  Baleville,  Neufehatel,  and  Tessin,  have 
penitentiaries  of  a  higher  grade  of  excellence,  into  which  has  been  in- 
troduced, in  different  degrees  and  under  various  modifications,  the  pro- 
gres'sive  Crofton  system. 

The  system  of  congregate  imprisonment  predominates ;  but  etfort  is 


22  INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

made  to  introduce  cellular  separation,  especially  at  ni^ht.  There  is  a 
general  agreement  that  the  system  of  association  is  favorable  to  indus- 
trial labor,  and  not  unfavorable  to  disci i)line,  but  that,  when  extended 
to  the  dormitories  as  well  as  to  the  workshops,  it  is  obstructive  to  the 
moral  education  of  the  prisoners. 

Penitetitiary  training,  it  is  held  in  Switzerland,  imperatively  requires 
cellular  separation,  at  least  in  the  initial  stage;  and  it  is  on  this  sole  con- 
dition that  the  prisoners  can  effectively  enter  into  communion  with 
themselves,  a  process  which  would  be  impeded  by  the  contact  and  influ- 
ence of  some,  at  least,  of  their  fellow-prisoners. 

After  the  cellular  stage,  it  is  considered  expedient  to  allow  those 
prisoners  to  work  together  who  furnish  ground  of  hoi^e  that  a  moral 
reformation  has  been,  or  may  be,  accomplished  in  them.  It  is  under 
these  conditions  that  associated  labor  is  found  in  recently-constructed 
penitentiaries. 

The  public  opinion  of  Switzerland  shows  itself  more  and  more  favora- 
ble to  the  progressive  Croftou  penitentiary  system,  with  conditional  and 
revocable  liberation.  The  exclusively  cellular  system  should  be  reserved 
(so  it  is  thought)  for  houses  of  preliminary  detention,  and  for  them  it 
should  be  the  only  system  in  use. 

A  methodical  classification  of  prisoners  exists  only  in  the  more  re- 
cently constructed  prisons,  which  are  conducted,  as  far  as  circumstances 
permit,  on  the  general  principles  of  the  Crofton  system.  There  are, 
liowever,  no  intermediate  prisons  in  Switzerland,  and,  consequently, 
wherever  the  Crofton  system  has  been  introduced,  its  application  is 
carried  out  in  one  and  the  same  establishment.  The  financial  resources 
of  no  single  canton  would  permit  the  realization  of  such  a  system,  wiiich 
could  be  applied  only  by  a  uniou  of  funds  of  several  cantons  directed  to 
that  end.  Besides  which,  public  opinion,  more  or  less  imbued  with  the 
old  ideas  of  intimidation  and  vengeance,  is  not  yet  ripe  for  such  a 
change. 

Tiie  treasury  of  each  canton  covers  the  deficit  resulting  from  the  dif- 
ference between  the  total  expenditure  and  the  special  receii)ts  of  its 
jirisons,  which  receipts  are  composed  of  the  i)roceeds  of  the  prisoners' 
labor  and  moneys  paid  by  cantons  that  place  their  convicts  in  tlie  peni- 
tentiaries of  other  cantons  of  the  confederation.  In  several  of  the  can- 
tons, where  the  ])risons  are  best  organized  and  industrial  labor  best 
managed,  the  in<lustries  yield  an  income  ai)])roaching,  ami  in  one  or 
two  instances  covering,  the  current  expenses  of  the  establishments,  not 
including,  however,  the  salaries  of  officers,  the  cost  of  repairs,  or  the 
yccAilinin  paid  to  the  prisoners. 

Pensions  are  granted  only  in  exceptional  cases  to  pul)li(;  functionaries, 
■when  they  become  incajjacitated  ibr  further  service.  This  rule  applies 
to  prison-officers,  as  to  all  others. 

§  12.  Tln'iearein  Sweden:  l,cellulaT  i)enitentiary  prisons  in  each  prov- 
ince; 2, central  prisonson  the  associated  system — some  for  women, others 
foi' men  ;  .'{,  houses  of  arrest  in  certain  small  (owns  and  districts. 

Tile  cellnhir  jnisons  are  used  for  1h<'  accused  during  tlu»  i)reliminary 
proceedings,  for  prisoners  sentenced  to  hard  labor  for  two  years  and 
under,  for  jirisoners  sentenced  only  to  I'eebision,  and  for  tliose  who, 
not  having  tlie  means  to  pay  the  fines  im]»osed  on  them,  an>.  recpiired  to 
reuih-r  an  e(|ui\'alent  in  tin',  foi'm  of  imprisoinnent  on  bread  and  water. 
Some  jM-isons  on  tlie  associatcMl  |)lan  are  used  for  jxMSons  sentenced  to 
hard  lal)or  for  life,  and  oMiers  for  those  sentenced  to  hai'd  labor  for  ai 
term  exeeeding  twoyeais. 

The  results  of  cellular  im[)risoument  for  those  awaiting  trial  and  for 


PRISON    SYSTEMS SWEDEN UNITED    STATES.  23 

sentenced  j)risoDers  released  at  furthest  after  two  years'  imprisonment 
have  been  favorable.  Congregate-prisons,  siicli  as  they  still  exist  in 
Sweden,  having  dormitories  in  common  for  forty  to  one  hundred  and 
thirty  prisoners  each,  are  regarded,  iu  spite  of  the  strictest  supervision, 
as  nurseries  of  vice  and  crime.  In  those  associated  prisons  where  a 
separation  takes  place  at  night,  and  in  which  the  prisoners  work  in  small 
groups  in  common  workshops  by  day,  the  results  are  found  to  be  favorable. 
The  official  report  on  the  prisons  of  Sweden  was  drawn  up  and  is 
signed  by  Mr.  Almquist,  director  general  of  prisons  for  that  kingdom, 
who  says:  "Of  all  known  penitentiary  systems,  it  appears  to  me  that 
the  most  excellent  is  the  Orofton  or  progressive  system,  adopted  in 
Ireland,  with  its  special  stages,  through  which  the  prisoners  are  required 
to  pass." 

No  classification  of  prisoners  exists,  beyond  that  of  separating  the 
sexes,  and,  as  far  as  possible,  young  prisoners  from  the  older  and  more 
hardened  ones,  in  the  common  dormitories  of  the  associated  prisons. 

Prisoners  not  yet  sentenced  and  those  sentenced  simply  to  recluswn 
are  not  compelled  to  work.  They  spend  their  time  as  they  like,  work- 
ing, reading,  &c.  They  may  procure  better  food  and  more  comforts  than 
the  prison  sup[)lies,  provided  they  do  not  thereby  interfere  with  the 
order  and  security  of  the  prison.  Prisoners  sentenced  to  hard  labor 
must  do  the  work  set  them,  and  are  restricted  rigidly  to  the  prison  fare. 

On  attaining'  the  age  of  fifty  five,  prisou-ofticers  have  the  right  to 
retire  from  the  service  on  a  pension  of  two-thirds  of  their  salary ;  those 
who  serve  till  they  are  sixty-five  generally  receive  from  the  Parliament 
a  pension  equal  to  their  whole  salary. 

§  13.  The  North  American  Republic  is  composed  of  nearly  forty  States 
with  local  self  government,  and  a  dozen  dependencies  hot  yet  elevated 
to  the  rank  of  States.  These  fifty  jurisdictions  are,  in  matters  of  crime 
and  punishment,  independent  of  each  other,  and  very  little  controlled  by 
the  National  Government.  They  vary  in  antiquity  from  Virginia,  New 
York,  and  Massachusetts,  which  have  been  inhalnted  by  the  Indo-Euro- 
pean races  for  more  than  two  centuries. and  ai  half,  to  the  new  Territories 
of  Dakota  and  Montana,  which  ten  years  ago  were  occupied  only  by 
roving  savage  tribes ;  and,  consequently,  almost  ever^^  variety  of  social 
condition  prevails  in  this  vast  area,  larger  than  half  of  Europe  and  more 
populous  at  this  moment  than  any  European  nation  except  Russia. 

As  a  nation,  the  United  States  have  existed  for  nearly  a  century,  their 
sei)aration  from  the  British  Empire  being  coeval  with  the  first  improve- 
ment of  prisons,  resulting  from  the  labors  of  John  Howard.  Conse- 
quently, the  prison  system  of  America,  like  all  the  modern  systems, 
dates  no  further  back  than  1784,  when  the  old  Walnut  Street  prison  of 
Philadelphia  was  built,  and  the  first  organized  effort  to  improve  prison 
discipline  in  the  United  States  was  made  by  the  Pennsylvania  Society 
for  alleviating  the  Miseries  of  Public  Prisons,  of  which  Dr.  Franklin  was 
one  of  the  founders,  in  1787.  The  National  Government,  as  now  estab- 
lished by  the  Federal  Constitution  of  1787,  dates  from  the  same  period  ; 
but  it  has  never  much  concerned  itself  as  a  Government  with  the  prison 
system  of  the  country,  its  first  step  iu  that  direction  being  the  appoint- 
ment of  the  undersigned  in  1871,  as  a  commissioner  to  the  International 
Prison  Congress  of  London.  Whatever  hafe  beeu  done,  therefore,  has 
been  the  work  of  the  separate  States  of  the  Union,  and  almost  wholly 
within  the  present  century.  The  oldest  penitentiary  now  iu  use  is  [)rob- 
ably  that  of  Massachusetts,  at  Charlestown,  uear  Boston,  which  was 
begun  iu  1800  and  first  received  convicts  in  1805.  Among  the  county- 
jails  there  are  jprobably  a  few  older  than  this,  but  the  greater  number, 


24  INTERXATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

both  of  state  and  county  prisons,  have  been  built  since  the  begiiiniug 
of  the  world-wide  controversy  between  the  advocates  of  the  celiuhir  or 
Penusylvauia  system  and  tiie  silent  or  Auburn  systeia,  now  generally 
known  as  the  separate  and  the  congregate  systems  of  prison  management. 
This  controversy,  opened  in  America  about  half  a  ceutury  ago,  took  a 
concrete  and  practical  form  with  the  opening  of  the  Auburn  and  Sing- 
Sing  penitentiaries  in  the  State  of  New  York,  built  on  the  congregate 
l)lan,  with  separation  at  night  in  single  cells,  and  the  two  penitentiaries 
of  Pennsylvania,  at  Philadelphia  and  at  Pittsburgh,  built  on  the  separate 
plan,  with  cellular  imprisonment  day  and  night  for  each  convict.  New 
Jersey  and  Rhode  Island,  in  imitation  of  the  eastern  and  western  peni- 
tentiaries of  Pennsylvania,  introduced  the  cellular  system  into  their 
state-prisons,  respectively;  but  those  States  abandoned  the  system 
years  ago,  and  more  recently  it  has  been  given  up  at  the  western  peni- 
tentiary of  Pittsburgh.  So  the  result  of  the  controversy  in  the  United 
States  is  that  cellnlarisin  exists  only  at  the  Cheriy  Hill  prison,  or  east- 
ern penitentiary,  in  Philadelphia;  In  some  of  the  county-jails  of  Penn- 
sylvania ;  in  the  Suflblk  County  jail  in  Boston  ;  and  possibly  a  few  other 
prisons  of  the  same  class.  The  proportion  of  prisoners  confined  on  the 
separate  plan  in  the  whole  United  States  is  about  one  to  thirty,  or  in  the 
neighborhood  of  3  per  cent.  It  is  therefore  evident  that  the  system  of 
association,  as  opposed  to  that  of  cellularism,  is  the  one  which  prevails 
in  the  United  States.  Nevertheless,  it  is  believed  that  the  enlightened 
friends  of  prison  reform  in  this  country  very  generally  prefer  the  system 
of  complete  separation  for  all  prisons  of  preliminary  detention,  and, 
moreover,  that  they  w^ould  prefer  thfe  restriction  of  all  detention  prisons 
to  the  purpose  of  safe-keeping  alone,  while  minor  oftenses,  they  hold, 
might  better  receive  their  punishment  in  district-prisons,  forming  a 
middle  class  of  penitentiaries  between  the  detention-prison  and  the  state- 
prison,  in  which  reformatory  principles  and  processes  might  be  more 
ho])i'rully  ai)plied  than  they  are  now  or  ever  can  be  in  the  county-jails. 
Tilt'  broad  distinction  of  American  ])risons  is  that  stated  above,  viz, 
into  state-prisons  and  county-jails.  States  are  the  Federal  unit  of  the 
American  republic,  and  ot  these  there  are  thirty-seven ;  but  the  units 
of  each  State  are  the  counties,  numbering,  in  the  whole  country,  about 
2,100.  In  each  of  these  counties  there  is,  or  nmy  be,  a  county-prison, 
and  in  some  of  them  there  are  two,  three,  or  four.  In  the  thirty-seven 
States  there  are  now  thirty-nine  state-prisons  and  two  state  work- 
liouses;  the  latter  in  Massachusetts  and  Phode  Island.  In  two  States, 
Floiida  and  Delaware,  there  are  as  yet  no  state-i)risons;  in  Pennsyl- 
vania ai'd  Indiana  there  are  two  each,  and  in  New  York  there  are  three. 
IN'ckoning  about  forty  state-prisons  in  all,  the  average  number  of  their 
inmates,  Ibi-  tlu?  last  year  or  two,  has  been  about  1(!,(!(>0;  but  for  the 
last  y<'a)'  the  number  has  been  increasing.  Of  this  average  number, 
th(!  Stat(!  of  New  York  has  I'urnished  about  2,700  in  its  three  great 
jjrisons;  Illinois,  1,.'!()0  in  its  one  prison;  Ohio,  a  little  moi-e  than  1,000; 
J'ennsylvania,  a  little  less  than  1,000;  JMassaehusetts,  (including  the 
workhouse  convicts,)  nearly  t)00;  Califoiiiia,  almost  800;  and  Missouri 
nearly  000 ;  so  that  tliese  seven  Stat(!S  supi)ly  about  one-half  the  convicts 
of  the  higiier  grades  of  crime.  The  same  is  true  ot  the  inmates  of  the 
(;ity,  county,  and  district *i)risons  of  all  grades,  who,  in  these  seven 
Stafi'S,  average  now  probably  nearly  10,000,  out  of  a  total  in  the  whole 
country  of  perhaps  22,000,  These  numbers  are  nothing  nu)re  than 
careful  «'stimat('s,  wliile  the  average  in  the  state-prisons  is  <piite  exactly 
(romputcd,  the  fact  l)eing  that  nobody  knows  ]))'ecisely  tlie  number  of 
the  county-jails  in  the  United  Stales,  jnuch  less  the  average  of  their 


PRISON    SYSTEMS ENGLAND IRELAND.  25 

inmates;  nor  is  tlie  number  of  the  town  and  city  prisons  known,  nor 
the  average  of  their  inmates.  The  district-prisons— intermediate  be- 
tween the  state  and  connty  prisons— are  few  in  number,  and  are  very 
well  known.  These  four  classes — municipal,  (town  and  city,)  county 
district,  and  state-prisons — include  all  places  of  confinement  in  the 
United  States,  except  for  juvenile  offenders. 

In  all  these  prisons,  of  all  classes,  when  the  last  census  was  taken, 
(June  1,  1870,)  the  number  reported  in  confinement  was  32,208,  but  this 
is  known  to  have  been  too  small.  The  true  number,  even  at  that  season 
of  the  year — the  summer — when  the  fewest  persons  are  in  prison,  was 
not  less  than  35,000,  and  iu  the  winter  of  the  same  year  it  no  doubt 
rose  to  more  than  40,000,  with  an  average  number  through  the  year  of 
at  least  38,000.  If  we  suppose  the  same  to  be  the  average  number  in 
confinement  during  1871,  and  16,000  to  be  the  average  number  of  state- 
prison  convicts,  (neither  being  far  from  the  true  number,)  it  is  probable 
that  8,000  of  the  remaining  22,000,  and  perhaps  even  half  that  number, 
(which  would  be  11,000,)  are  held  iu  jail  awaiting  trial  or  sentence, 
while  from  11,000  to  14,000  are  under  sentence  in  the  minor  prisons  of 
counties  and  districts,  for  offenses  of  less  criminality  than  are  punished 
iu  the  state-prisons.  As  for  the  sex  of  these  prisoners,  if  we  confine 
ourselves  to  general  statements,  we  shall  be  within  bounds  in  saying 
that  not  more  than  one  in  six  of  the  38,000  persons  mentioned  as  the 
average  prison-populatiou  of  the  whole  United  States  are  women. 
The  proportion  is  much  less  than  this  iu  prisons  of  the  highest  grades ; 
that  is  to  say,  the  state-prisons. 

§  14.  Prison  management  has  been  made  a  subject  of  study  and  dis- 
cussion in  England  for  more  than  a  century.  An  interesting  and  able 
review  of  the  progress  of  things  in  this  department  of  the  public  serv- 
ice is  given  by  Major  Du  Cane,  chairman  of  the  directors  of  convict- 
prisons,  iu  the  report  which,  by  directiou  of  the  British  government,  he 
submitted  to  the  penitentiary  congress.  It  would  occupy  too  much 
space  to  give  even  the  most  condensed  summary  of  this  history,  and 
the  undersigned  limits  himself,  therefore,  as  in  the  case  of  other 
countries,  to  a  brief  exposition  of  the  actual  penitentiary  system  of 
England  as  applied  in  the  convict  or  state  prisons,  and  set  forth  in  the 
paper  of  Major  Du  Cane. 

The  Euglish  convict-system  is  devised  witli  a  view  to  combine  the 
principle  of  deterrence  with  that  of  refornnition.  While  the  importance 
of  the  latter  of  these  principles  is  admitted,  the  former  is  held  to  be 
l)aramouut,  because  punishment  (such  is  the  theory)  is  designed  primarily 
to  prevent  crime  by  the  warning  thereby  held  up  to  those  who  might, 
but  for  such  deterrent  influence,  fall  into  it. 

The  sentence  to  penal  servitude  in  England  is  divided  into  three  prin- 
cipal stages.  The  first  stage  is  passed  at  Pentonville  or  Millbauk,  and 
lasts  nine  mouths  in  all  cases.  During  that  period  the  prisoner  passes 
his  whole  tinu^,  except  the  periods  allotted  to  prayers  and  exercise,  alone 
iu  his  cell,  working  at  some  employment  of  an  industrial  or  remuner- 
ative character.  The  second  stage  is  passed  iu  a  prison  in  which  he 
sleeps  and  has  his  meals  in  a  separate  cell,  but  works  in  associatiou  un- 
der a  close  supervision.  The  third  period  is  that  during  which  he  is 
conditionally  released  from  prison,  but  is  kept  under  the  supervision  of 
the  police,  and  made  liable  for  any  infraction  of  the  conditions  of  his 
release,  the  consequence  of  which  is  that  he  is  to  be  returned  to  prison, 
there  to  fulfill  the  whole  of  the  remitted  portion  of  his  sentence.  A  stage 
intermediate  between  the  second  and  the  conditional  release  is  applied 
to  women,  who  may  be  sent  to  "  refuges"  for  six  mouths  before  their  re- 


26  INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

lease  on  license.  The  refuges  are  establisliments  managed  by  privafe 
persons  who  interest  tlieiuselves  in  preparing  the  women  for  discharge 
and  in  procuring  suitable  situations  for  them. 

Cellular  seclusion  for  long  periods  has  been  found  in  England  to  liave 
an  enfeebling  effect  upon  the  prisouer.  "When  the  system  was  first  es- 
tablished, the  duration  of  the  time  of  separation  was  fixed  at  eighteen 
months  ;  but  snch  resnlts  followed  that,  after  various  experiments,  the 
present  period  of  nine  months  has  been  fixed  upon  as  the  longest  to 
which  prisoners  can,  with  advantage,  be  subjected  to  this  stage  of  the 
discipline.  A  stage  of  separate  imprisonment  is  held  in  England  to  be 
indispensable  to  the  best  effects  of  convict  treatment.  It  is  not  only  in 
itself  a  severe  penal  discipline,  but  the  mind  of  the  convict  is  thereby 
thrown  in  upon  itself;  he  becomes  accessible  to  lessons  of  admonition 
and  warning  5  religious  influences  act  upon  him  with  greater  foi-ce,  aiul 
he  is  put  into  a  condition  in  which  he  is  likely  to  feel  sorrow  for  the 
past  and  to  welcome  the  words  of  those  who  show  him  how  to  avoid 
evil  in  the  time  to  come. 

There  are  eleven  convict-prisons  in  England,  eight  of  which  are  ex- 
clusively for  males,  two  exclusively  for  females,  and  one  mixed.  The 
aggregate  capacity  of  these  prisons  is  :  males,  8,7(34 ;  females,  1,239 ; 
total,  lo,003,  exclusive  of  infirmary  and  punishment  cells.  The  average 
except  for  number  of  prisoners  is  7,833,  of  whom  1,100  are  women. 

Two  of  the  convict-prisons,  and  parts  of  two  others,  are  on  the  sepa- 
rate plan,  but  separate  cells  are  provided  for  all  prisoners  at  night, 
invalids  of  certain  classes  and  some  of  the  women. 

In  all  but  two  of  the  convict-prisons — Pentonville  and  Millbank — the 
prisoners  work  in  assotaation. 

The  pensions  granted  to  retiring  prison-officers  are  regulated  upon 
the  same  general  principles  as  those  accorded  to  other  civil  ofifi(3ers. 

The  whole  number  of  borough  and  county  jails  in  England  is  one 
hundred  and  twenty-two,  of  which  thirty-five  belong  to  the  first  class 
and  eighty-seven  to  the  second.  There  is  no  difference  between  these 
two  classes  of  prisons,  except  that  the  county-prisons  are  governed  by 
the  county-magistriites,  and  the  borough-prisons  by  the  borough-mag- 
istrates. The  aggregate  capacity  of  both  classes  is  27,109.  Tlie  aver- 
ago- period  of  imprisonment  is -less  than  one  month.  Three-fouiths  of 
the  prisoners  have  terms  under  a  month  and  tlie  remaining  one-fourth 
under  six  months.  Less  than  one  in  a  thousand  have  an  imprisonment 
exceeding  the  last-named  period. 

As  a  rule  all  jnisoners  are  se[)arated  at  night.  In  many  prisons  they 
work  to  a  certain  extent  in  association,  but  under  such  supervision  as 
th(5  governors  consider  sufficient  to  prevent  comnuinication. 

§  If).  The  world — that  is,  the  part  of  it  interested  in  i)enitentiary 
questions — may  almost  be  said  to  know  the  Irish  convict-prison  system 
by  heart.* 

This  system  consists  of  three,  or,  including  the  period  of  provisional 
liberation,  four,  stag(!S. 

'I'he.  liist  stage  is  that  of  celliilni'  imi»iis(>nment.  lis  duration  varies 
from  i'ight  to  niiii'.  months,  ueeording  to  the  eonduet  of  the  i)risoner. 
Diwing  this  (list  stage  the  imprisonment  has  a  elnuiu^ter  intensely  penal. 
The  work  refpiired  is  lude  and  uninteresting,  and  the  rations  furnished 
are  moderate  in  (plant ity  an<l  coarse  in  (pialit-y.  The  aim  of  this  rigor 
is  to  cause  the  prisoner  to  enter,  as  it  were,  into  himself,  and  to  produce 

"TIiIh  Iia.s  licrcfofm-c,  Ih-'cii  coMinioiily  known  jis  I  lie  Irisli  inistMi  system,  Itiih  is  now 
(Miniin;;  lo  1)c  (lcsi;^ii!itn(l  as  Mh'  Croi'dtn  KyHtcin,  in  conqjiiniont  to  tin;  (iiiiiucnt  man  wiio 
devised  aiitl  lirst  ]iiil  it,  in  iiiiicticc. — JO.  C  W. 


PRISON    ADMINISTRATION AUSTRIA BELGIUM DENMARK.     2 7 

upon  liis  soul  a  lasting:  imprecision.  Tlie  prisoner,  however,  (lnrin,i>'  this 
initial  sta^e,  is  made  tlioroui^bly  acquainted  with  the  whole  system  and 
with  all  the  advantages  that  will  accrue  to  him  in  his  progress  toward 
liberty,  if  he  takes  kindly  to  it  and  is  uuiformerly  well-behaved  and 
attentive  to  all  his  duties. 

The  second  stage  is  passed  in  a  congregate  prison,  with  separation  at 
night  and  associated  labor  during  the  day.  The  prisoner  is  here  sub- 
jected to  a  much  milder  treatment,  and  his  condition  is  improved  more  or 
less  rapidly  according  to  his  conduct.  He  receives  each  month  a  certain 
number  of  marks  which  determine  his  advance  from  one  class  to  another, 
for  the  essential  principle  of  this  second  stage  is  that  of  a  progressive 
classitication,  based  on  good  conduct  and  merit.  There  are  four  classes. 
Each  class  marks  a  change  in  the  prisoner's  situation  and  a  mitigation 
of  his  punishment.  On  reaching  the  fourth  class  he  no  longer  wears 
the  prison-garb ;  he  is  employed  on  special  works ;  he  enjoys  many 
privileges;  and  lie  may  almost  be  said  to  approach  the  state  of  liberty. 
It  is  this  second  stage  which  really  characterizes  the  system.  It  is  so  ar- 
ranged and  adjusted  as  to  becoinean  effective  trial  of  the  prisoner.  If  he 
is  steadfast  in  his  good  resolutions  and  good  conduct,  he  passes  on  froui 
class  to  class ;  if,  on  the  contrary,  he  is  ill-disposed  and  disobedient,  he 
is  degraded  to  an  inferior  class,  even  to  the  lowest,  if  his  conduct  be  such 
as  to  merit  such  severity.  The  convict  who  has  successfully  passed 
through  this  series  of  trials  is  adjudged  to  be  prepared  for  a  state  of 
comparative  freedom,  and  he  is  consequently  admitted  into  the*  inter- 
mediate prison. 

This  constitutes  the  third  stage  in  the  Crofton  system.  Here  the  im- 
prisonment is  little  more  than  moral.  The  prisoner  wears  the  dress  of  a 
freenuin,  works  on  a  large  farm  with  his  fellows,  attends  the  village  church, 
and  is  subjected  to  little  more  restraint  of  any  kind  than  an  ordinary'  free 
laborer.  This  is,  in  effect,  a  probationary  stage,  and  is  designed  to  test 
the  genuineness  of  his  reformation.  It  is,  for  him,  so  to  speak,  the  ap- 
prenticeship and  prelude  of  liberty.  If  he  hold  out  to  the  end  in  a 
good  course  of  conduct,  he  receives  a  ticket  of  license  and  becomes 
conditionally  free.  The  duration  of  his  imprisonment  may  thus  be 
shortened  to  the  extent  of  a  fourth  part.  But  if,  on  the  other  .hand,  his 
conduct  is  evil,  he  is  remanded  to  the  associated,  or  even  to  the  cellular 
l^rison,  to  work  his  way  up  again  by  the  same  painful  and  painstaking 
process  as  before. 

The  fourth  stage  of  the  Crofton  system  is  that  of  conditional  or  pre- 
iminary  liberation,  which  need  not  be  particularly  described.  It  will 
thus  be  seen  that  Sir  Walter  Crofton  has  devised  a  complete  system  of 
peiuil  treatment;  one  which  has  a  beginning,  a  middle,  and  an  end,  and 
"which  is,  at  one  and  the  same  time,  penal  and  reformatory. 


CHAPTER    II. 

PRISON  ADMINISTRATION. 

§  1.  All  the  prisons  of  Austria  are  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  min- 
istry of  justice,  which  shares  its  i)0wers  of  administration  with  two  other 
classes  of  authority — local  and  intermediate.  All  matters  of  minor  im- 
portance, which  are  naturally  the  most  numerous,  are  attended  to  by 
the  local  authorities,  and  those  of  a  graver  character  by  the  intermedi- 
ate authorities.  It  is  only  questions  of  the  highest  im[)ortance  that  are 
submitted  to  the  decision  of  the  ministr3"  of  justice.    The  ministry  of 


28  INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

justice,  as  the  central  autliority  over  all  prisons,  is  by  law  empowered 
to  a[)poiut  an  official,  from  its  own  office,  as  the  representative  of  the 
minister,  and  to  entrust  him  with  the  supervision  and  guidance  of  all 
jtrisons.  But,  since  1867,  an  inspector-general  of  prisons  has  been  ap- 
pointed. 

The  ministry  of  justice  appoints  the  directors  of  male  prisons,  the  in- 
spectors of  female  prisons,  the  chaplains,  the  book-keepers,  and  the 
financial  and  medical  officers.  The  subordinate  officers  are  named,  in 
certain  prisons,  by  the  local,  and  in  others  by  the  intermediate  author- 
ities. The  tenure  of  office  is,  as  with  all  the  servants  of  the  state,  with- 
out limit,  tliat  is,  during  good  behavior. 

§  2.  In  Belgium,  as  in  Austria,  the  ministry  of  justice  has  all  pris- 
ons under  its  jurisdiction.  The  penitentiary  of  Louvain  has  a  commis- 
sion charged  with  the  inspection  and  supervision  of  that  establishment. 
There  are  also  commissions  charged  with  the  general  supervision  of  the 
other  prisons,  and  constituting  administrative  boards,  invested  with  the 
right  of  investigating  and  redressing  abuses,  of  proposing  and  introduc- 
ing reforms  to  tlie  advantage  of  the  service,  of  granting  to  the  employes 
leave  of  absence  for  five  days,  and  of  imposing  upon  them  certain  dis- 
ciplinary punishments.  The  a|)pointnient  of  the  directors  and  assist- 
ant directors  is  by  royal  decree.  The  other  functionaries  and  employes 
of  the  prisons  are  named  by  the  minister  of  justice.  Tliere  is  no  limit  to 
the  teyure  of  office  ;  it  belotigs  to  the  government  to  judge  whether  the 
functionary  onglit  to  be  retained  or  dismissed. 

§  3.  No  infV)rmation  is  given  in  the  report  from  Denmark  concern- 
ing the  prison-administration  of  that  country,  except  what  is  contained 
in  the  single  brief  statement  that  "  a  director  of  prisons  has  tlie  control 
of  all  the  prisons."  It  is  to  be  presumed  that  there  are  some  limitations 
to  his  powers;  but  what  they  are,  the  undersigned  is  unable  to  state. 

§  4.  The  prisons  of  France,  except  those  of  Paris,  depend  upon  a 
central  power,  which  is  rei)resented  by  the  minister  of  the  interior,  and, 
under  him,  by  the  director  of  the  administration  of  prisons. 

The  central  power  exercises  its  control  by  means  of  general  inspec- 
tions, made  by  special  functionaries — namely,  inspectors-general  of 
l)risons.  B(\si(les  tliis  direct  and  most  imj)()rtant  control,  there  is  a  local 
control  of  the  prefects  for  all  the  prisons  ami  penitentiary  establish- 
nuAiits;  of  th(^,  mayors  and  commissions  of  supervision  for  the  houses  of 
arrest,  of  justice,  and  of  correction;  and,  liually,  of  thecouneil  of  sui)er- 
vision  foi'  the  colonies  of  correctional  education  of  juvenile  delinquents. 

The  director  of  the  administrDtiou  of  prisons  is  chargiMl  with  admin- 
istering, under  tlui  aut]u)rity  of  the  minister  of  the  interior,  th(^  ])ris()ns 
and  penitentiary  establishments  of  every  class  in  France.  Under  him, 
and  as  a  deliberative  consultative  board,  is  found  thecouneil  of  insi)ect- 
ors-general  of  prisons,  whi(;h  Is  calked  ni)on,  in  the  interval  of  their 
tours  of  inspection,  to  give  advi(;e  on  the  more  important  questions  of 
the  service.  Th(5  instructions  and  regidations  (Muanating  from  the  (!en- 
tral  administration  are  addressed,  through  the  intervention  of  the  pre- 
feets,  who  r(q>re.sent  the  (\\(!cutive  power  in  the  departments,  to  the  di- 
jcetors  of  the,  diffiTent  establishments.  At  tlu»  hea<l  of  each  central 
]>rison  is  found  a  director.  Jlis  action  extends  to  all  parts  of  the  serv- 
ice. ITe  is  Hpcfjially  charged  with  (U)iiductingth(M',on<'Sj)ondenee  with 
the  minister  of  the  interior,  to  whom  he  addresses  his  reports  on  the 
financial,  industrial,  and  <lisciplinai-y  condition  of  the  establishnuMit, 
through  the  agency  of  tln^  prefects,  except  in  urgent  ami  (vxtra ordinary 
ca  cs.  I)ire(!tors  of  the,  hoirs(^s  of  arr<^st,  of  justice^,  and  of  (;ori(M;tion 
ai(  chained  with  the  administration  of  those  establislnnents  in  one  or 
nil  re  (lc|>a!  t ments.     In   liie  prisons  situated  at  the  [)la(;e  of  their  resi- 


PRISON    ADMINISTEATION FRANX'E BADEN BAA^AKIA.        29 

(lence  their  action  makes  itself  felt  directly,  like  that  of  tlie  director  of 
a  ceutral  prison,  on  all  parts  of  tlie  service,  and  in  the  other  prisons 
indirectly  tlirongli  the  agency  of  the  principal  keepers,  who  receive 
their  instructions  and  are  required  to  address  to  them  frequent  reports. 
An  important  part  of  their  functions  has  reference  to  the  economical 
administration  of  the  prisons,  to  purchases,  to  the  verification  of  ex- 
penses, to  the  control  of  the  accounts,  cash,  and  material;  in  short,  to 
the  preparation  of  the  various  financial  documents  which  they  send  to 
the  central  administration.  The  principal  keepers  are  the  agents  charged 
with  the  care  and  supervision  of  the  houses  of  arrest,  of  justice,  and  of 
correction. 

In  the  central  prisons  and  other  similar  establishments  the  function- 
aries, employes,  and  agents,  to  whichever  department  of  the  service 
they  may  be  attached,  are  named  by  the  minister  of  the  interior. 

A^  regards  the  houses  of  arrest,  of  justice,  and  of  correction,  the  func- 
tionaries and  em[)loyes  proposed  for  the  administration  are  named  b}' 
the  minister,  and  the  emi)loyes  of  the  other  services  are  named  by  the 
prefects,  as  also  the  agents  of  supervision  other  than  the  chief  keepers. 
Still,  these  appointments  do  not  become  definitive  till  they  have  received 
the  ministerial  approval. 

By  the  terms  of  the  law  of  the  5th  August,  1850,  relative  to  the  edu- 
cation of  juvenile  delinquents,  every  private  penitentiary  colony  is  gov- 
erned by  a  responsible  director,  approved  by  the  minister  of  the  interior. 
The  employes  placed  under  the  orders  of  the  director  must  be,  in  like 
manner,  ap[)roved  by  the  prefect. 

In  the  department  of  the  Seine,  where  the  prisons  are  managed,  in 
many  of  their  relations,  under  authority  of  special  provisions,  the  direct- 
ors are  named  by  the  minister  of  the  interior,  on  presentation  by  the 
prefect  of  police;  the  other  employes  are  named  by  the  prefect.  In 
etfect,  it  is  the  prefect  of  police  who,  in  Paris,  administers  the  iJeniteu- 
tiary  establishments. 

The  inspectors-general  of  prisons  and  penitentiary  establishments  are 
named  by  the  minister  of  the  interior. 

The  duration  of  the  functions  of  the  different  employes  composing  the 
personnel  of  the  penitentiary  service  is  not  limited  by  any  determinate 
time.  The  agents  who  have  not  been  gravely  derelict  in  the  exercise  of 
their  functions  continue  in  place  till  they  have  reached  the  age  at  least 
of  sixty  and  have  been  in  service  thirty  years. 

§5.  The  several  states  of  the  German  Empire  represented  in  the  con- 
gress report  as  follows: 

(1)  All  the  prisons  of  the  Grand  Duchy  of  Baden  are  under  the  control 
of  the  minister  of  justice  and  foreign  affairs,  who  exercises  over  them 
complete  administrative  power.  There  is,  however,  acouncil  of  inspection 
fur  all  the  larger  penitentiary  establishments.  This  council  decides  on 
the  complaints  of  prisoners  and  the  admissibility  of  administrative  pro- 
ceedings against  the  inferior  prison  officers  when  such  proceedings  are 
beyond  the  cognizance  of  tlie  director,  confirms  the  contracts  entered 
into  by  the  administration  for  the  supplies  of  the  prison,  and  gives  the 
necessary  order,  if  desirable  in  any  case,  to  substitute  collective  for  soli- 
tary imprisonment.  The  su[>eiior  officers  are  ai)pointed  by  the  grand 
duke,  the  inferior  olBcers  by  the  minister  of  justice;  their  ai)pointment 
is  for  life. 

(2)  All  the  prisons  of  Bavaria  are  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  min- 
istry of  justice.  The  direction  and  inspection  of  prisons  where  iinj)ris- 
onment  of  more  than  three  months  is  undergone  belongs  exclusively  to 
this  ministry,  without  the  action  of  any  intermediate  authorities;    the 


30  INTERNATIONAL    FENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

inspectiou  of  the  other  prisons  is  by  local  officers.  For  the  cellular 
prison  at  Xiirnberg,  there  exists  a  special  council  of  inspection,  consist- 
ing- of  state  officials,  judges,  district-attorneys,  and  prison-officials,  to- 
gether with  private  persons  belonging  to  Niiruberg.  The  directors  and 
administrators  are  appointed  by  the  King;  the  chaplains,  doctors,  teach- 
ers, stewards,  and  technical  instructors  by  the  ministry  of  justice;  the 
keepers  and  clerks  by  the  director  of  each  prison.  The  directors  and 
administrators  only  are.appointed  for  life,  but  the  other  officers  also  look 
upon  the  service  as  one  in  which  their  life  is  to  be  spent.  As  a  rule, 
officials  quit  the  prison  service  either  in  the  beginning,  when  their  incli- 
nations are  against  this  work,  or  when  it  becomes  apparent  that  they 
have  not  the  necessary  capacity,  or  on  their  being  appointed  to  higher 
posts. 

(3)  In  Prussia  there  is  no  central  authority  having  control  of  all  the 
different  classes  of  prisons.  The  local  prisons,  designed  exclusivel,y  for 
preliminary  detention  and  for  punishments  of  short  duration,  are  under 
the  control  of  the  minister  of  justice,  while  the  great  penitentiary  estab- 
lishments belong  to  the  jurisdiction  of  the  minister  of  the  interior,  who 
decides  upon  the  general  i)rinciples  which  are  to  regulate  the  economic 
administration  of  each  prison  and  the  treatment  of  the  prisoners  under 
the  relations  of  discipline,  religious  and  scholastic  instruction,  labor, 
clothing,  and  food.  He  causes  inspections  to  be  regularly  nurde  of  the 
several  peuitentiary  establishments  by  the  high  functionary  attached  to 
his  ministry,  who  is  speciall}'  charged  with  the  oversight  of  prisons;  and 
he  decides,  in  the  last  resort,  on  all  matters  of  complaint  presented  to 
him  either  by  prisoners  or  by  employes. 

All  other  matters  appertaining  to  the  control  and  administration  of 
the  })risons  are  attended  to  by  the  administrative  authorities  of  the 
jjrovinces.  To  these  especially  belong  the  i^ermanent  control  to  be  exer- 
cised over  the  emploj-uieut  of  the  moneys  assigned  to  each  establish- 
ment; over  the  details  of  the  economic  and  industrial  administration; 
over  the  treatment  of  the  prisoners,  wiiether  in  point  of  discipline  or  in 
other  respects;  and  over  the  conduct  and  fidelity  of  the  employes  of  the 
prison.  In  this  view,  every  establishment  is  inspected  by  memlxTs  of 
the  provincial  authorities  delegated  to  that  duty,  at  intervals  not  exceed- 
ing the  la))se  of  some  months. 

The  minister  of  the  interior  apppoints  the  directors  and  su])erior  offi- 
cers of  tlu-  ])risons  ;  the  subaltern  officers  are  a|)pointed  by  the  ])rovin- 
cial  authorities.  The  superior  officers,  after  a  certain  period  of  trial, 
are  appointed  for  life-.  The  subalterns  are  liable  to  dismissal;  yet, 
after  some  years  of  blameless' conduct,  the-y  also  are  appointed  for  life. 

(4)  'JMiere  exists  in  Saxony  no  one  central  authority  for  the  admin- 
istialion  of  tiie  penilentiaiy  system. 

Th<'  administrative  authority  rests,  except  in  prisons  belonging  to 
courts  of  justice  and  police,  in  the  hands  of  tlie  ministry  of  the  interior. 
The  ministry  of  justice  takes  cognizance,  by  commissioners,  of  the 
manner  in  wliich  the  sentciuM^  is  carried  out,  and  also  (U)ntrols  the 
domestic  aiiaiigements.  The  jtrisons  i»elongiiig  to  courts  of  justi<!e,  in 
which  im|»risonment  not  ex<'ee<iing  four  months  can  be  undei-gon<',  are 
sujx'rinlended  by  the  ministry  of  justice,  which  has  issued  I'cmarUable 
orders  i-elating  to  t lie  s])iritual  care  and  (he  industrial  occn]>ation  of  the 
l)risoneis.  Neilher  the,  text  nor  the  purport,  however,  of  these  orders 
is  given  in  tlie  rejiort  submitted  to  the  congress. 

(r>)  The  economic  and  corri'ciiona!  adininistration  of  all  the  ])risons 
of  \\'iirteml)erg  is  controlled  l)y  a  (;entral  authority,  which  also  ex- 
ercises su]ter\  ision  over  district-priKons  for  preliminary  detention  and 


PRISON    ADMINISTRATION PRUSSIA SAXONY,    ETC.  61 

minor  puiilsliments.  The  central  authority  is  subordinate  to  the  minis- 
ter of  justice.  It  is  composed  of  members  of  the  departments  of  justice, 
of  the  interior,  and  of  finance ;  it  has  likewise  atta(;hed  to  it  some 
skilled  ecclesiastical  members,  a  doctor,  an  architect,  ami  a  mercliant. 

The  directors  and  the  cliief  officers  of  the  administration  are  appointed 
by  the  King',  on  the  nomination  of  the  minister  of  justice,  who  first  con- 
sults the  commissioners  for  i)risons.  These  api)ointments  are  generally 
tor  life.  The  subordinate  ofticers  are  appointed  by  the  commissioners 
for  prisons. 

§  6.  The  whole  of  the  detention  and  penitentiary  administration  of  the 
prisons  of  Italy,  whether  as  regards  the  buildings,  regulations,  officers, 
discipline,  or  general  supervision,  is  superintended  by  one  central 
authority,  which  forms  the  general  prison  board  and  depends  on  the 
ministr}'  of  the  interior.  This  board  is  composed  of  the  director-general, 
four  inspectors,  and  three  departments,  one  of  which  is  intrusted  with 
the  supervision  of  the  directive,  sanitary,  and  religious  ofticers  and 
jailors,  another  attends  to  the  financial  administration ;  and  the  third 
regulates  whatever  refers  to  the  construction  of  the  buildings  and  the 
wants  of  the  prisoners.  Besides  this,  there  is  an  office  of  statistics,  a 
technical  officer  of  engineers,  and  a  copying-office,  each  of  these  having 
special  employes  and  special  work. 

All  these  branches  of  prison  administration  are  concentrated  in  the 
general  director,  who,  in  his  turn,  regulates  the  service,  seconded  by 
the  consultative  vote  of  a' council  of  administration  and  discipline,  com- 
posed of  at  least  two  central  inspectors,  and  the  director  of  that  de- 
l)artment  to  which  is  intrusted  the  special  subject  under  discussion. 
Nor  does  it  seem  possible  otherwise  to  direct  an  administration  so  vast, 
and  one  requiring,  as  an  indispensable  rule,  the  most  i)erfect  unison  in 
thought  and  regulation,  to  carry  into  effect  the  principle  that  "every 
citizen  is  equal  in  the  eyes  of  the  law." 

The  directors  and  officers  of  the  prisons,  "whether  central  or  local,  are 
named  by  royal  decree;  the  keepers  and  foremen  by  decree  of  the  min- 
ister of  the  interior,  on  the  jjroposal  of  the  director-general. 

The  tenure  of  office  for  the  higher  functionaries  is  for  life;  nor  can 
they  be  removed,  except  for  causes  which  would  render  them  unfit  for 
the  service  or  unworthy  of  a  place  among  the  officers  of  the  state.  The 
keepers  are  chosen  for  six  years.  As  to  the  foremen,  their  engagements 
with  the  penitentiary  administration  depend,  in  each  case,  on  special 
arrangements. 

§  7.  There  is  no  central  power  in  Mexico  which  controls  the  peniten- 
tiary administration  of  the  whole  country.  The  prisons  in  each  munici- 
pality are  under  the  care  of  a  commission.  The  prisons  of  each  state 
are  subject  to  inspection  by  the  governor  of  the  state.  In  Mexico  it- 
self, (city  and  district,)  the  governor  and  home  secretary  have  a  power 
of  inspeotion. 

§  8.  All  the  prisons  in  the  aSTetherlands  are  under  the  supreme  direc- 
tion of  the  minister  of  justice,  and  the  general  inspection  of  the  prisons 
is  made  by  an  insj^ector,  who  has  his  deputy  in  the  bureau  of  tlie  de- 
partment of  justice.  For  the  inspection  of  the  buildings,  an  engineer- 
architect  is  attached  to  the  same  department.  The  courts  and  tribunals 
are  also  required  to  cause  the  prisons  to  be  inspected,  from  time  to 
time,  by  members  assigned  to  that  duty.  The  reports  of  all  these  in- 
spections are  addressed  to  the  minister. 

The  administration  of  the  several  prisons  is  confided  to  administra- 
tive commissions  named  in  each  locality  where  a  prison  exists.  The 
members  of  these  commissions  are  named  by  the  King  from  among  the 


32  INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

notables  of  the  locality,  who  receive  no  salary.  Whatever  appertains 
to  the  local  administration,  to  the  internal  service,  to  the  discipline,  and 
to  the  execution  of  the  general  and  special  regulations  is  confided  to 
these  commissions  or  is  done  thi^jugh  their  agency.  They  are  in  offi- 
cial relation  with  the  minister,  either  directly  or  by  the  deputy  of  the 
royal  commissioner  (governor)  of  the  province,  their  immediate  superior 
and  their  honorary  president. 

The  directors  of  the  central  prisons  are  appointed  by  the  King,  the 
other  officers  by  the  minister  of  justice.  There  is  no  defined  tenure  of 
office.  Incumbents  hold  their  offices  until  they  are  displaced,  dismissed, 
or  voluntarily  retire  from  the  service. 

§  9.  The  department  of  justice  is  supreme  in  the  administration  of  the 
prisons  of  Norway.  This  department  is  charged  with  the  immediate 
administration  of  the  prisons  which  receive  prisoners  sentenced  to  hard 
labor ;  while,  under  it,  the  administration  of  the  inferior  or  district 
prisons  is  confided  to  the  prefects.  The  position  and  general  functions 
of  prefects  are  not  stated  in  the  report.  Every  prison  of  the  higher 
grade  has  also  its  local  administration,  which  makes  the  necessary  ar- 
rangements with  regard  to  jiinson  discipline,  economy,  &c.  5  always, 
however,  in  conformity  to  the  rules  laid  down  by  the  department  of 
justice,  or  having  its  approval  and  sanction.  A  director-general  of 
prisons  is  wanting.  The  special  directors  and  the  chaplains  of  the 
several  prisons  are  appointed  by  the  King ;  the  medical  and  financial 
officers  are  named  by  the  department  of  justice;  the  teachers  receive 
their  appointment  from  the  chaplains,  and  the  other  functionaries  from 
the  directors.  The  members  of  the  local  nuiuaging  boards  of  the  dis- 
trict, who  generally  receive  no  salary,  are  named  by  the  King,  being 
taken  from  among  the  judicial  or  administrative  otlicers  of  the  district. 
The  subordinate  officers  of  this  class  of  prisons  are  appointed  by  the 
prefects.     Tenure  of  office  is  not  for  a  fixed  time. 

§  lU.  The  jnisons  of  Russia  are  divided  into  two  classes,  military  and 
civil.  The  military  prisons  are  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  ministers 
of  war  and  of  the  navy  ;  the  civil  prisons  are  attached  to  the  ministry 
of  the  interior.  The  latter  are  further  placed  under  the  Imperial  Society 
for  the  Guardianship  of  Prisons.  This  society  was  established  in  1819, 
and  has  for  object  the  intrcjduction  of  a  move,  humane  treatnuMit  of 
prisoners.  In  1830  it  was  by  law  invested  with  fresh  powers  and  [)re- 
rogatives.  A  committee,  formed  by  a  central  committee  sitting  at  St. 
PetJn-sburg  under  the  i)residency  of  the  minister  of  the  interior,  is 
established  in  the  capital  of  ea(;h  province,  with  braiuihes  in  each  chief 
town  of  the  several  districts.  Tiiese  committees  are  com|)()sed,  ex  oJJU'io, 
of  the  officers  of  the  state  and  of  volunteer  and  benevolent  members, 
who  have  a  small  salary  and  certain  lionorable  prerogatives.  These 
committees  select  the  governors  and  direct  the  economic  manage- 
ment of  the  prisons.  A  considerable  sum  is  grantetl  for  this- i)urpose 
to  the  committees,  who  have  the  right  of  referring,  in  a  presinibed 
manner,  to  the  minister,  of  tlie  interior  under  his  double  office  of 
mini.xtcr  and  president.  This  system  not  only  lessens  the  expenses  of 
;idminisliation,  l)nt  has  led  to  considc^rable  gifts  and  the  formation  of 
;i  special  capital.  It  must,  however,  be  acknowledged  that  such  a  sys- 
tem of  iidniiiiistration  produces  a  cei'ta in  amonnt  of  carc^Iessness  nnd 
irresponsibility  in  the  exercise  of  power,  and  that  tln^  principle  of  phil- 
anthiopic  committees  and  tJK'ir  ]»artie.ipal  ion  in  the  manageiiu'nt  of 
l)risonei's  retpiire  important  mtxlifieiitlon  in  linssia. 

Outside  of  the  control  oftlu^  committ(M^s,  there  was  recently  estab- 
lished, when  municipal  laws  were  created  in  Itnssia,  a  new  mode  of  de- 


PRIS.    ADMN. MEXICO^-NETHERLANDS NORWAY,    ETC.        33 

tention,  named  arrest,  not  to  be  confounded  with  preliminary  arrest. 
The  jmnishment  of  arrest,  inflicted  by  justices  of  the  peace  for  slight 
violations  of  the  law,  cannot  exceed  three  months.  The  establishment, 
maintenance,  and  administration  of  these  new  local  prisons  are  under 
the  control  of  the  municipal  institutions  of  each  province. 

The  appointment  of  directors  and  of  members  of  committees  is  con- 
firmed by  imperial  decree.  The  other  officers  are  appointed  by  the 
minister  of  the  interior.    Their  tenure  of  office  is  not  limited. 

§  11.  All  the  prisons  of  Sweden  are  placed  under  the  control  and  ad- 
ministration of  a  central  independent  authority,  called  the  general 
administration  of  prisons.  Under  this  general  administration,  the  pro- 
vincial government  has  the  direct  inspection  of  the  cellular  prisons 
established  in  each  province.  The  general  administration  derives  its 
authority  from  the  government,  to  wliich  all  reports  are  made  through 
the  medium  of  the  minister  of  justice! 

The  directors  and  officers  of  all  the  prisons  of  the  state  are  named  by 
the  general  administration  of  prisons.  They  are  appointed  for  no  speci- 
fied time,  and  generally  they  retain  their  places  as  long  as  they  show 
themselves  competent  to  their  work. 

§  12.  The  Swiss  Confederatiou,  composed  of  twenty-two  cantons  and 
embracing  twenty-five  states,  does  not,  by  its  own  i)ower,  exercise  any 
control  over  the  administration  of  penal  justice  and  of  prisons,  or  over 
the  penitentiary  rSgime.  Military  and  political  penal  justice,  so  far  as 
it  is  called  upon  to  punish  offenses  against  the  constitution  and  the  fed- 
eral laws,  alone  comes  within  its  jurisdiction.  Each  canton  is  sovereigri. 
It  has  its  own  special  penal  system  and  its  own  places  of  imprisonment. 
Its  prisons  are  thus  placed  under  the  control  of  the  cantonal  executive 
authority  or  of  the  council  of  state. 

The  supervision  of  the  prisons  belongs  more  especially  to  one  of  the 
departments  of  the  executive  power.  In  certain  cantons  the  prisons 
are  placed,  wholly  or  partially,  under  the  supervision  of  the  department 
of  police,  in  others  under  that  of  the  department  of  justice  or  of  the 
interior,  according  to  the  stand-point  from  which  the  importance  of  this 
public  service  is  viewed.  In  the  cantons  in  which  recently-constructed 
penitefitiaries  are  found,  the  whole  or  a  part  of  the  supervision  is  con- 
fided to  the  director  of  justice,  or  to  a  special  department,  which  gives 
its  attention  not  only  to  prisons,  but  also  to  hospitals,  insane-asylums, 
&c.  This  department  associates  with  itself  a  commission  of  super- 
vision composed  of  three  to  seven  members,  selected  from  among  per- 
sons experienced  in  questions  of  i^euitentiary  reform,  of  industry,  and 
of  commerce.  In  the  cantons  where  this  machinery  exists,  an  official 
regulation  defines  the  functions  of  the  commission  of  supervision.  The 
detention-prisons  in  the  districts  and  places  of  detention  for  civil  penal- 
ties are  supervised  by  the  agents  of  the  council  of  state — prefects,  coun- 
selors of  prefecture,  &c. 

The  officers  and  employes  of  the  prisons  are  named  by  the  council  of 
state.  In  the  cantons  where  penitentiaries  of  recent  construction  exist, 
the  officers  are  proposed  by  the  department  of  justice  or  of  police,  which 
takes  the  advice  of  the  commission  of  supervision.  The  foremen  and 
overseers  are  appointed  by  the  commission  of  supervision,  on  the  nomi- 
nation of  the  director  of  the  penitentiary. 

In  some  cantons  the  officers  are  subjected  to  a  re-election  every  three 
years,  in  some  every  four  years,  and  in  others  the  tenure  of  office  is 
without  limitation. 

It  may  be  affirmed  that,  as  a  general  thing,  the  officers  of  the  Swiss 
penitentiaries  are  not  exposed  to  the  iufluence  of  political  changes,  and 
H.  Ex.  185^ 3  ' 


34  INTERNATIONAL    TENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

that  those  whose  position  may  have  been  endangered  by  IJae  victory  of 
a  party  have  been  effectually  shielded  by  a  public  opinion  which  appre- 
ciated their  merits  and  their  devotion. 

§  13.  The  General  Government  of  the  United  States,  as  was  observed  in 
the  preceding  chapter,  does  not  concern  itself  with  inisous.  It  has  not 
a  solitary  jail  or  penitentiary  under  its  jurisdiction,  but  imprisons  the 
few  criminals  convicted  under  its  laws  and  by  its  own  courts  iu  the 
States  where  the  conviction  takes  place.  Prison-administration,  there- 
fore, is  a  thing  relegated  to  the  governments  of  the  several  States.  But 
even  in  the  individual  States  there  is  no  central  authority  governing 
all  the  prisons,  although  the  last  ten  years  have  developed  a  tendency 
to  establish  such  a  central  bureau  in  several  of  the  States.  Generally, 
the  bureau  is  charged  with  the  inspection  of  prisons  only,  and  has  no 
power  to  reguhite  their  management  or  appoint  their  officers.  Such 
bureaus  exist,  under  the  name  of  boards  of  public  charities,  in  Penn- 
sylvania, Michigan,  Illinois,  Wisconsin,  and  Missouri;  and  similar 
boards  in  Massachusetts,  Ehode  Island,  and  North  Carolina  take  some 
part  in  j)rison  inspection,  or  management,  or  both.  In  New  York  the 
State  board  of  charities  is  expressly  excluded  from  any  direction  or 
even  inspection  of  the  prisons,  and  the  three  great  prisons  of  that  State 
are  placed  under  the  control  of  another  board,  known  as  the  inspectors 
of  State  prisons,  while  a  private  societj',  with  public  duties,  the  New 
York  Prison  Association,  of  which  the  undersigned  was  for  many  years 
the  secretary,  is  allowed,  and  indeed  required,  to  inspect  all  the  prisons 
of  the  State  and  the  counties.  Nothing  that  can  properly  be  called 
"central  rtWif/ior/if?/"  over  all  the  jn'isons  of  a  State  is  known  to  exist 
anywhere  in  the  Union  ;  but  wherever  there  is  the  nearest  approach  to 
this,  the  results  are  the  most  satisfactory.  Without  it,  there  is,  at  best, 
a  great  lack  of  method  and  of  the  highest  order  of  prison  discipline;  and 
often  gross  abuses  i)revail  in  many  of  the  local  prisons.  These  have 
been  revealed,  to  some  extent,  in  official  reports  within  the  past  five 
years,  notably  in  New  York,  Pennsylvania,  Ohio,  Michig-an,  Illinois, 
and  Wisconsin  ;  and  were  a  searching  investigation  to  be  made  in  other 
States,  even  those  most  noted  for  the  excellence  of  their  prison  admin- 
istration, no  doubt  such  would  be  revealed  iu  them  too.  As  a  riWe,  each 
city  and  couuty  manages  its  own  prisons;  and  where  a  city  or  county  has 
several  i)risons,  these  are  very  likely  to  be  under  distinct  officers  or 
boards  of  management,  which  have  little  acquaintance  with  each  other 
and  little  knowledge  of  the  general  system  of  prisons  in  the  State. 

Hence,  if  wclindiu'any  State  a  prison  exceptionally  ^^ell  managed, like 
the  Albany  penitentiary,  under  the  nuinageinent  of  General  Pilsbury,  and 
the  Detioit  house  of  correction,  under  that  of  Mr.  Prockway,  it  by  no 
iiicaiis  follows  that  the  other  i)risons  will  be  good  ;  and  it  may  happen 
that  a  spirit  of  envy  or  jealousy  will  pievent  the  managers  of  one  prison 
from  ado]»tiiig  the  imi)nn'ed  system  which  has  been  introduced  into 
another.  The  chief  (lefects  of  this  disoiganized  condition  of  ]>risou 
nianagnncnt  spring,  however,  from  a  mutual  ignorance  of  the  condition 
and  working  of  prisons  that  should  co-oi)erate  with  each  other ;  and 
one  great  advantage  derived  from  the.  meeting  of  the  Cincinnati  Prison 
Jieforni  (>ongi<'ss  was  a  better  acfpiaintance  of  i)rison  managers  with 
each  other,  aiul  a  wider  knowledge  gained  by  them  of  the  prisons  of 
their  own  and  other  States. 

§  14.  In  Great  Piitain  ;nid  Ireland  th(i  prison  system  is  far  from  being 
a  unit.  In  neither  country  is  there  any  such  tiling  as  a  central  and 
supreme  authority,  possessing  juiisdiction  overall  its  i)risons.  Por  the 
convict-prisons    alone,    there   is    in    each    a.    central    and    controlling 


PKIS.    ADMN. SWITZERLAND UNITED    STATES,    ETC.  35 

power,  w'hicli  sits  at  the  lielm,  and  which  has  within  its  jurisdiction  the 
entire  administration  of  the  system.  But  as  regards  county  and  borough 
prisons,  both  in  the  larger  and  smaller  island,  the  government  has  little 
power  beyond  that  of  inspection.  Each  prison  has  its  own  board  of  vis- 
iting justices,  supreme  withiu  its  own  domain,  but  with  no  bond  of  union 
between  them,  and  no  power  capable  of  giving  unity  and  symmetry  to 
tlie  whole  circle  and  system  of  prisons  and  their  administration. 


CHAPTER    III. 


PRISON  DISCIPLINE. 


§  1.  The  agencies  employed  in  the  prisons  of  Austria  as  a  stimulus  to 
obedience  and  industry  are :  1.  The  possibility  of  imperial  clemency. 
Prisoners  cannot  shorten  their  terms  of  sentence  according  to  any  fixed 
rule,  that  principle  not  having,  as  yet,  been  introduced  into  the  Aus- 
trian penitentiary  discipline.  But,  according  to  an  ancient  custom,  a 
number  of  prisoners  Avho  have  undergone  the  greater  part  of  their  sen- 
tences, and  who  have  given  .solid  proofs  of  improvement,  are  recom- 
mended periodically  to  the  Emperor  for  pardon.  2.  A  share  in  their 
earnings.  The  industrial  system  is  not  uniform  in  the  prisons  of  Austria. 
In  some  the  labor  of  the  prisoners  is  let  to  contractors ;  in  others,  it  is 
utilized  on  account  of  the  state.  In  the  former  class  of  prisons  the 
convicts  receive  one-half  of  the  proceeds  of  their  work  after  deducting 
certain  exjienses,  not  very  clearly  explained  in  the  report.  In  the  latter 
class  they  receive  a  share,  regulated  by  a  fixed  tariff,  which  amounts  to 
about  the  same  as  that  received  by  ijrisoners  who  work  on  contract. 
What  is  said  above  relates  to  prisons  on  the  associated  plan.  In  the 
partially  cellular  prison  of  Gratz,  each  prisoner  has  his  daily  task. 
Here  the  progressive  system  has  been  introduced;  according  to  the 
measure  of  his  industry  and  the  class  to  which  he  belongs,  each  prisoner 
has  placed  to  his  credit  daily  a  sum  varying  from  two  to  six  kreutzers, 
and,  at  the  end  of  the  month,  the  value  of  whatever  overwork  he  may 
have  done  during  the  month. 

Besides  the  above-mentioned  rewards,  the  privilege  is  accorded  to  the 
prisoners  of  spending  one-half  of  what  stands  to  their  credit  (not  ex- 
ceeding, however,  a  florin  and  twenty  kreutzers  a  w  eek)  in  the  purchase  of 
additional  comforts,  as  milk,  coffee,  wheaten  bread,  cold  meats,  wine,  beer, 
tobacco,  &c.  ;  or  they  may  spend  it  in  support  of  their  families  or  in 
buying  such  clothes  as  they  will  need  on  their  discharge.  These  arrange- 
ments, the  report  states,  have  worked  well. 

The  most  frequent  violation  of  prison-rules  are  disobedience,  rude- 
ness to  ofiQcers  or  comrades,  refusal  to  work,  and  negligence  in  the 
performance  of  the  assigned  tasks. 

The  disciplinary  punishments  employed  are  :  Admonition ;  coarse  and 
unproductive  work  ;  temporary  withdrawal  of  privileges  ;  a  bread-and- 
water  diet — not  given,  however,  oftener  than  on  three  alternate  days 
in  the  week  ;  irons,  (only  used  in  extreme  cases  ;)  hard  bed,  (either  sack- 
ing or  bare  boards,)  but  not  more  frequently  than  bread  and  water;  im- 
prisonment in  a  cell,  with  employment,  and  at  least  two  visits  a  day 
from  an  officer,  but  not  exceeding  a  month,  nor  to  be  repeated  till  a  full 
month  shall  have  passed  ;  removal  to  another  part  of  the  prison  ;  and 


36  INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

coufiiiemeut  in  a  dark  cell,  uot  exceeding  three  weeks,  after  which  a 
week  must  elapse  before  the  i)risoiier  can  be  returned  to  it. 

An  exact  record  is  made  of  all  punishments  inflicted,  and  they  are 
also  inserted  in  a  memorandum-book  kept  by  each  prisoner. 

§  2.  Prisoners  cannot  shorten  their  sentences  in  Belgium  by  any  fixed 
rule ;  but  this  may  be  done  by  act  of  royal  clemency  in  the  case  of  pris- 
oners who  are  thought  to  deserve  it,  on  the  recommendation  of  the  ad- 
ministrative boards,  or  boards  of  prison  inspection.  They  receive  a 
portion  of  their  earnings  according  to  the  following"  tarifl::  Prisoners  " 
sentenced  to  hard  labor  receive  three-tenths,  those  sentenced  to  reclu- 
sion  four-tenths,  and  those  sentenced  correctionally  five-tenths.  This 
proportion  cannot  be  increased.  Other  rewards,  accorded  to  good  con- 
duct, to  diligence,  to  zeal  and  progress  in  school  and  labor,  and  to  mer- 
itorious actions  of  whatever  kind,  are  as  follows:  Admission  to  places 
of  trust,  to  domestic  service,  and  to  certain  exceptional  labors ;  an  in- 
crease of  the  privilege  of  visits  and  of  correspondence ;  jiermission  to 
make  use  of  tobacco,  in  the  form  of  snutt'  or  by  smoking  it  at  proper 
times;  the  grant  of  certain  diversions  and  alleviations,  sudi  as  the  gift 
of  books,  engravings,  tools,  useful  objects,  &c. ;  propositions  of  clemency 
and  of  reduction  of  punishment. 

The  most  frequent  violations  of  prison  rules  are,  in  the  cellular  pris- 
ons, communications  or  attempted  communications,  verbal  or  written. 
In  the  congregate  prisons  they  are  infractions  of  the  rule  of  silence  and 
traffic. 

The  following  are  the  disciplinary  punishments  in  use  :  Privation  of 
work,  reading,  gratuities,  the  cantine^  visits,  correspondence,  and  other 
indulgences  granted  in  pursuance  of  the  reguhitions ;  a  diet  of  bread  and 
water ;  confinement  in  a  special  cell,  or  in  a  dark  cell,  with  or  without 
the  bread-and-water  diet ;  the  withdrawal  of  rewards  which  might  other- 
wise have  been  granted. 

All  disciplinary  punishments  are  recorded  in  a  special  register,  to- 
gether with  the  causes  for  which  they  were  inflicted.  The  oflenses  com- 
mitted and  the  punishments  administered  are  also  placed  in  the  moral 
account  opened  with  each  prisoner. 

§  3.  The  report  for  Denmark  states  that  the  discipline  is  intended  to 
be  reformatory.  For  the  cellular  prison  is  established  a  sort  of  pro- 
gressive system.  In  the  associated  prisons  the  inmates  occupy  sepa- 
rate sleeping-cells.  The  convicts  work  in  divisions  separate  from  each 
other.  Ko  complete  progressive  system  has  as  yet  been  ado[)ted  ;  but 
such  a  system  is  in  contemi)lation.  The  punishments  for  breach  of  dis- 
cipline are  determined  bylaw.  Corporal  punishments  are  among  them. 
Tlie  most  cilicacious  means  of  awakening  and  jireserving  hope  are,  in 
the  cellular  prisons,  the  promotion  to  a  higher  class;  in  the  associated 
prisons,  wages  paid  for  labor.  Conditional  release  does  not  take 
l)lace. 

§  4.  The  principle  of  abbreviating  the  sentences  of  prisoners,  as  consti- 
tuting at  once  a  stimulus  and  a  leward  of  good  conduct,  has  not  yet  been 
intiodnecd  into  the  Frencli  ]>('nit«'nliary  disc-ipliiie.  Tliis  can  only  be 
doiK^  tluoiigh  the  exercisi;  ol"  the  i>ar(h)ning  po\v<'r.  b'ixed  rules  are 
laid  down  to  h(^  followed  in  ai)i)ii(;at  ions  I'or  cUMnrMcy,  wliich  is  generally 
dispensed  in  concert  with  the  adniinistrativ<>  and  judicial  authorities, 
and  may  tliereloie  be  i)r<'suMied  to  l)c  done  intelligently  and  on  the 
ground  of  merit. 

In  the  central  juisons  tli(>  product  ol'  the  labor  is  <livi(led  into  tenths. 
A  portion  of  these  tenths  is  assigned  to  the  convi(*ts,  and  takes  the 
name  of  ])rcuJiinn.     The  quota  of  tenths  granted  to  the  convicts  is 


PRIS.    DISCIPLINE AUSTRIA BELGIUM DENMARK,    ETC.       37 

determined  by  the  nature  of  the  punishments  and  the  number  of  con- 
victions incurred.  The  assij>'nment  is  adjusted  between  the  three  classes 
thus:  Correctionals,  tive-teutlis;  reclusionaries,  four- tenths ;  those  sen- 
tenced to  hard  labor,  three-tenths.  The  part  assigned  to  prisoners 
sentenced  on  relapse  is  reduced  one  tenth  for  eacli  previous  convic- 
tion, down  to  the  limit  of  the  last  tenth,  which  is,  under  all  circum- 
stances, paid  to  the  convict.  The  pecuUiim  is  divided  by  moieties 
into  i)ecuUum  disposable  and  peculmm  reserved.  The  first  is  at  the 
disposition  of  the  convicts  during  their  imprisonment  for  certain 
authorized  uses,  and  especially  for  the  inirchase  of  supplementarj-  pro- 
visions and  supplies,  for  the  relief  of  their  families,  and  for  voluntary 
restitutions.  It  also  furnishes  reserves  for  fines,  punishments,  breaking 
prison,  or  damages  to  the  prejudice  of  the  state  or  the  contractor.  The 
peculimn  reserved  was  established  in  view  of  securing  to  liberated  pris- 
oners some  resources  for  their  first  necessities  on  their  discharge  from 
the  penitentiary.  The  number  of  tenths  allowed  to  convicts  may  be 
increased  on  account  of  their  good  conduct  and  diligence.  There  may 
be  granted  to  them,  in  consideration  of  these  qualities,  even  six-tenths. 
Other  rewards  accorded  to  convicts  are :  designation  for  employment 
as  foreman  of  a  workshop,  monitor  in  the  school,  overseer  of  a  dormitory, 
and  other  positions  of  trust,  such  as  hospital  attendants,  store-keepers, 
secretaries,  &c. ;  also  a  place  on  the  roll  of  honor. 

The  moral  ofi'enses  most  frequently  exhibited  are  theft,  assaults,  and 
indecencies.  As  regards  the  infractions  of  disciplinary  rules,  more  than 
half  the  cases  in  the  central  prisons  consist  of  violations  of  the  law  of 
silence.  In  most  of  the  penitentiary  establishments,  next  to  that  just 
named,  the  most  frequent  infractions  are  refusal  to  work,  the  secret  use 
of  tobacco,  gambling,  trafiicking,  and  the  unlawful  possession  of  money. 

Order  and  discipline  are  reported  as  maintained  in  all  establishments 
dependent  upon  the  penitentiary  administration,  without  the  necessity 
of  a  recourse  to  coercive  measures  of  an  excessive  severity.  Acts  of 
rebellion  and  violence  take  place  to  only  a  limited  extent,  thanks  to  the 
vigorous  enforcement  of  the  rules  intended  to  insure  a  strict  but 
equitable  distribution  of  disciplinary  justice.  The  punishments,  so  far 
as  the  central  prisons  are  concerned,  are :  Confinement  in  a  cell,  with  or 
without  irons;  the  hall  of  discipline;  dry  bread  for  three  days  or  more; 
deprivation  of  the  cantine  or  of  the  ordinary  ration  ;  the  reduction  of  the 
tenths;  fines;  privation  of  correspondence  and  of  visits;  and  sometimes 
the  loss  of  an  honorable  position,  such  as  that  of  foreman,  overseer  of  a 
dormitory,  monitor  in  the  school,  «&c.  The  convict  who  has  incurred  dis- 
ciplinary punishments  cannot  be  i)laced  on  the  roll  of  honor.  Corporal 
punishments  are  expressly  forbidden. 

Every  day  (Sundays  and  feast-days  excepted)  the  director  of  a  central 
prison,  assisted  by  his  assessors,  holds  a  tribunal  of  disciplinary  justice, 
at  which  are  required  to  appear  prisoners  reported  on  the  previous 
evening  as  having  committed  some  infraction.  Each  case  is  fully  heard 
and  fairly  considered.  It  belongs  to  the  director  to  pronounce  judgment, 
and  his  decisions  are  immediately  inscribed  in  a  register  kept  for  the 
purpose.  Minutes  are  kept  of  the  proceedings  of  each  session.  The 
punishments  adjudged  are  inscribed  by  the  schoolmaster  on  the  bulletin 
of  the  moral  statistics  of  the  convict.  In  the  houses  of  arrest,  of  justice^ 
and  of  correction,  the  punishments  are  inflicted  by  the  director  or  the 
chief  keeper,  and  are  inscribed  on  a  special  register,  which  is  subject  to 
the  inspection  of  the  prefect  and  the  mayor. 

§  5.  The  German  states  report :  The  principle  of  provisional  libera- 
tion has  been  adopted  in  the  penal  code  of  the  German  Empire. 


o8  IXTERNATIOXAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

(1)  In  Baden  actual  imprisonment  may,  by  good  conduct,  be  reduced 
one-fourth,  provided,  however,  that  a  full  yearshall  have  been  passed 
in  confinement.  The  holder  of  a  license  may,  at  any  time  before  the 
expiration  of  his  sentence,  have  it  revoked  for  misconduct  or  an  infrac- 
tion of  its  terms,  in  which  case  the  time  intervening  between  his  pro- 
visional liberation  and  his  re-arrest  is  wholly  disregarded,  and  the  pris- 
oner is  required  to  serve  out  his  entire  sentence  as  if  he  had  not  been 
released  at  all. 

For  the  i:>erformauce  by  the  prisoner  of  the  daily  task  required, 
which  is  equal  to  the  average  work  of  a  free  laborer,  the  sum  of  three 
kreutzers  is  placed  to  his  credit.  For  additional  work  this  sum  may  be 
increased  to  six  kreutzers.  To  this  reward  diligence  and  the  result  of 
efficient  work  alone  contribute,  good  conduct  not  being  considered. 
Other  rewards  are  special  gratuities,  the  privilege  of  spending  a  xjai't 
of  their  pecuUum  in  procuring  increased  comforts,  better  prison  fare, 
such  occupation  as  they  like,  and  school  prizes. 

The  offenses  most  common  are  forbidden  communications  with  their 
fellow-prisoners. 

The  disciplinary  punishments  in  use  are :  Eeprimauds ;  withdrawal  of 
privileges ;  solitary  confinement,  with  or  without  light ;  privation  of  bed  ; 
diminution  of  food  and  drink ;  aiid  coercive  chair,  (the  prisoner  being 
bound  to  a  solid  chair.)     A  full  record  is  kept  of  all  punishments. 

(2)  The  same  rule  in  regard  to  the  shortening  of  i)ri$on-sentences  by 
good  conduct  holds  in  Bavaria  as  in  Baden. 

The  proportion  of  their  earnings  allotted  to  prisoners  varies  from  two 
to  four  kreutzers  a  day.  In  this  award  regard  is  had  to  good  behavior  as 
well  as  to  industry  and  capability.  Other  rewards,  given  to  act  as  an 
incentive  to  good,  are:  Permission  to  buy  or  receive  extra  articles  of 
consumi)tion ;  permission  to  receive  more  frequent  visits  and  conduct  a 
more  extensive  correspondence  ;  formal  praise  or  recognition  ;  receiv- 
ing better  and  more  lucrative  work;  school  prizes,  (presents  of  books;) 
rewards  for  work,  (presents  of  money  up  to  four  florins.) 

The  prison  regulations  oftenest  violated  are  those  which  arise  out 
of  intercourse  with  other  prisoners,  namely :  Exchange  of  articles  of 
food  and  snuff";  disobedience  and  brutality,  such  as  opposition  to  offi- 
cials, attacking  fellow-prisoners,  refusal  to  work,  swearing,  noisiness, 
and  quarreling. 

The  discii)linary  i)unishmeiits  are  :  Reproof;  non-payment  for  labor  up 
to  four  weeks;  reduction  of  rations  for  a  term  of  from  eight  to  fourteen 
days  ;  arrest,  with  or  without  work,  to  a  period  not  exceeding  four  weeks; 
imprisonment  in  a  dark  cell  for  a  term  not  exceeding  ten  days;  and 
wearing  of  irons,  but  in  such  a  manner  as  not  to  prevent  the  prisoner 
from  walking.     Corporal  ])unishment  is  strictly  forbidden  by  law. 

livery  ]»nnisliinent  is  entered  in  a  book  kei)t  for  the  i)urpose  ;  an  ex- 
tract from  it  is  added  to  the  dcjcuments  furnished  to  each  i)risoner. 

(.">)  'J'Im;  same  icgulation  in  regard  to  [uovisional  liberation  has  place 
in  I'rnssiii  as  in  Baden  and  Bavaiia. 

Piisoncrs  may  icccivc  a  i>ait  of  tlnir  earnings,  but  never  more  than 
one-sixtli.  Tlur  cxac^t  proportion  dcitcixls  n[>()n  their  good  or  bad  con- 
duct and  tlie  greater  or  less  zeal  they  have  sliown  at  their  work.  They 
may  disj>ose  of  one-half  of  this  share  in  increasing  their  ])ris()n  com- 
forts; the  other  lialf  is  giNcn  to  them  on  their  release.  Beyond  the 
HJxth  of  tlieii-  earnings  no  other  special  rewards  are  granted  to  pris- 
oners. 

The  most  common  infractions  of  ])rison  rules  in  J'russia  are :  1. 
»Slighl  olfeiises  against  diseij>line,  as  neglecting  to  keep  silence,  disorder, 


PRISON    DISCIPLINE GERMAN    STATES.  39 

untidiness,  and  quarreling  with  fellow-prisoners.  These  infractions, 
in  1869,  were  57  per  cent,  of  the  whole.  2.  The  violations  of  regu- 
lations are — improper,  insolent,  and  rebellious  conduct  toward  the 
officers.  These  were,  in  18G9,  24  per  cent.  3.  Those  infractions  of  rules 
which  consist  in  avoiding  and  escaping  from  work.  These,  in.  1869, 
were  19  per  cent. 

The  disciplinary  punishments  are :  Degradation  to  the  second  class  of 
prisoners ;  privation  of  the  right  of  disposing  of  any  part  of  their  earn- 
ings ;  privation  of  the  better  treatment  accorded  on  holidays ;  solitary 
imprisonment  in  punishment-cells,  accompanied  by  various  degrees  of 
rigor;  and  whipping,  only  inflicted  on  men,  with  a  limitation  to  thirty 
lashes. 

An  exact  register  of  all  punishments  is  kept. 

(1)  Prison  discipline  in  Saxony  has  a  twofold  object:  the  satisfac- 
tion of  justice  and  the  reformation  of  the  prisoner.  Above  all  things, 
effort  is  made  to  revive  and  cherish  hope  in  the  heart  of  the  criminal, 
the  hope  of  improving  his  condition  in  the  prison,  the  hope  of  shorten- 
ing the  term  of  imprisonment,  the  hope  of  a  complete  moral  amendment, 
and  the  hope  of  regaining  a  respectable  place  in  society.  The  adminis- 
tration thinks  that  the  church,  the  school,  and  Sunday's  instructions 
are  the  best  means,  in  the  hands  of  a  sensible  officer,  for  effecting  moral 
reformation.  It  aims  at  making  the  prisoner  understand  that  he  can 
make  progress  neither  in  prison  nor  in  civil  life  without  radical  and 
real  amendment.  The  question  whether  a  discipline  founded  on  rewards 
or  punishments  is  the  more  successful,  is  deemed  almost  superfluous,  for 
it  depends  much  on  the  individual  character  of  the  prisoner.  By  an 
order  dated  March  10,  1861,  in  consequence  of  the  favorable  results  of 
experiments  made  during  the  previous  ten  years,  disciplinary  punishments 
were  greatly  reduced,  and  now  consist  in  diminution  of  food,  more  or  less 
severe  imprisonment,  and  in  withdrawing  the  recompense  for  work  done. 
Corporal  punishment  with  a  rod  or  thin  stick,  up  to  thirty  strokes,  or 
punishment  on  laths,  (the  former  only  used  against  criminals  of  the 
lowest  class  of  discipline,)  is  used  under  certain  restrictions,  and  can 
only  be  applied  after  mature  consideration  and  deliberation  on  the  part 
of  the  officers.  It  is  seldom  used,  and  has,  for  example,  not  been  applied 
in  the  penitentiary  of  Zwickau  for  the  last  ten  years.  Diligence  is  re- 
warded by  a  higher  allowance,  and  good  conduct  i)laces  the  i^risoner  in 
a  higher  class  of  discipline,  or  obtains  for  him  a  place  of  trust.  A 
remission  of  part  of  the  imprisonment  is  regarded  by  the  i^risoners  as 
the  highest  reward.  The  administration  makes  it  the  termination  of  the 
three  stages  of  discipline.  The  remission  of  part  of  the  sentence  has 
proved  excellent  in  its  results,  for  down  to  January  1,  1872,  of  415  pris- 
oners dismissed,  only  11,  or  2,65  per  cent.,  relapsed. 

(5)  Probationary  liberations  have  been  introduced  into  Wlirtemberg 
since  the  enactment  of  a  jienal  code  for  the  German  Empire.  In  cases 
where  a  question  of  the  full  pardon  of  a  prisoner  arises,  his  conduct  is 
especially  taken  into  consideration. 

Industrious  prisoners  receive,  for  their  application  and  good  conduct, 
a  part  of  their  earnings ;  this  part  is  fixed  by  the  administration  at  one- 
fourth  ;  but  if  their  earnings  exceed  eight  kreutzers  per  day,  they  can 
receive  only  two  kreutzers.  Prisoners  who  are  distinguished  for  good 
conduct  are  encouraged  by  being  placed  in  a  higher  class,  by  receiving 
more  agreeable  and  more  profitable  employment,  by  being  allowed  more 
frequent,  communication  with  their  friends  and  more  liberty  to  make 
purchases  out  of  their  earnings,  and  by  being  recommended  for  i^ardou. 

The  chief  disciplinary  punishments   are :   restricted  communication 


40  INTEKNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

with  their  relatives  and  friends ;  withdrawal  or  diminution  of  the  part 
of  their  earnings  usually  granted  to  them  ;  diminution  of  food  ;  isolated 
imprisonment ;  and  imprisonment  in  a  dark  cell.  In  prisons  for  reclusion, 
rons  are  also  applied;  corporal  punishment  is  excluded.  An  exact 
register  of  punishments  is  kept. 

f  G.  The  end  aimed  at  in  the  administration  of  penitentiary  discipline 
in  Italy  is  so  to  direct  punishment  that,  without  allowing  it  to  lose  its 
necessary  characteristic  of  deterrence,  it  shall  also  possess  the  other 
equally  essential  requisite  of  reforming  the  delinquent.  Nothing  there- 
fore is  omitted  to  obtain  this  desirable  end.  While,  on  the  one  hand,  it 
is  instilled  into  the  mind  of  the  prisoner  that  he  will  be  enabled,  by  good 
conduct,  to  ameliorate  his  condition  ;  on  the  other,  the  end  aimed  at  is 
to  raise  his  sense  of  manly  dignity,  that  he  may  not  become  a  hypocrite. 
In  the  penitentiaries  those  who  distinguish  themselves  by  their  good 
conduct  enjoy  special  advantages,  such  as  being  intrusted  with  domes- 
tic work,  being  recommended  to  mercy,  &c. 

In  the  bagnios  there  has  been  established  a  system  of  progressive 
classification,  under  which  prisoners,  like  the  mercury  in  a  thermometer, 
ascend  and  descend  according  to  their  deserts.  Each  class  has  its  dis- 
tinctive badge  and  special  privileges.  Those  prisoners  who  have  distin- 
guished themselves  by  good  conduct  in  the  penitentiaries,  aiid  have 
worked  out  at  least  one-half  their  term,  are  removed  to  the  agricultural 
colonies  of  Piauosa  and  Gorgona. 

The  administration  is  at  present  occupied  in  the  study  of  a  plan  for 
sending  to  the  island  of  Capraja  (Tuscan  Archipelago)  those  prisoners 
who  have  continued  in  their  good  conduct  during  their  sojourn  in  the 
islands  of  Pianosa  and  Gorgona.  The  prisoners  on  reaching  Capraja 
will  enjoy  a  semi-liberty  within  the  island,  without,  however,  being  quite 
free  from  certain  disciidiuary  restraints.  This  is  the  Crofton  intermediate 
prison. 

The  disciplinary  system  in  the  two  classes  of  prisons  noticed  below,  va- 
rying according  to  the  nature  of  the  sentences  to  be  worked  out  in  them,^ 
differs  somewhat.  In  the  penitentiaries  the  jiunishments  in  use  are : 
admonitions,  privation  of  food,  solitary  cells,  fetters  at  the  longest  for 
twenty-four  hours,  solitarj'  confinement  from  one  to  six  months  ;  while 
in  the  bagnios,  besides  admonitions,  separate  cells,  and  privation  of 
food,  there  is  also  arrest,  with  or  without  fetters,  the  hard  seat,  &c. 

The  rewards  in  the  penitentiaries  are:  the  appropriation  for  the  ben- 
efit of  the  i^risoner  of  a  <{uota  of  the  profits  arising  from  his  labor;  a 
more  generous  diet ;  the  privilege  of  a  less  interrupted  family  corre- 
spondence ;  the  right  of  dis})osing  of  a  portion  of  the  funds  accruing  from 
his  w<nk  ;  admission  into  the  schools;  domestic  employment;  and  rec- 
omiiiciidation  to  Jiiercy.  The  rewards  in  the  bagnios  are:  advancement 
from  a  lower  to  a  higher  class;  elevation  to  positions  of  trust  and 
responsibility ;  exem|»tion  from  tlie  fetters  customarily  worn  in  this 
class  of  prisons;  and  for  those  alone  who  have  reached  the  highest 
class,  recom inundations  to  tlu^  royal  clemency  for  a  full  })ard()n. 

It  is  diCliciiIt  to  decide  (so  the  report  declares)  which  class  of  discip- 
linary punislnnciits  is  most  edicacious,  the  effect  depending  on  many 
individual  cin-iimstanceH,  which  cannot  bo  known,  much  less  stated,  iu 
advance.  Solitary  conlincment  gencially  reduces  to  order  and  quiet- 
ness even  the  most  obstinate,  and  tbis  because  the  ijidi\'i<lual  so  ])un- 
isbed  is  withdrawn  IVoni  tlie  ovcr-excitcnient  produced  l>y  tlie  recurrence 
of  tbc  si)('cta<;Ui  in  whicb  be  is  both  actor  an<l  witness.  Corporal  pun- 
ishment is  for])idden.  lly  the  r<'gulations  of  ]8L'(;,  flogging  was  a 
punishment  assigned  to  a  lew  grave  inisdeniea!U)rs;  but  tbis  regulation: 


PRISON    DISCIPLINE ITALY MEXICO NETHERLANDS.  41 

was  modified  in  1803,  and  since  then  flogging  has  not  been  iullicted  in 
a  solitary  case. 

The  local  director  has  authority  to  inflict  the  minor  punishments;  for 
heavier  ones  it  is  necessary  to  have  the  approval  of  a  special  council ; 
the  ofl'ending  prisoner  must  be  heard,  and  an  official  report  must  be 
drawn  up.  The  more  serious  cannot  be  inflicted  without  notice  being 
previously  given  to  the  central  direction. 

For  the  protection  of  the  prisoners  there  exist  the  following  provis- 
ions :  A  visiting  commission  (especially  for  the  detention  jails  ;)  an  au- 
thorized direct  correspondence  between  the  prisoner,  the  minister  of  the 
interior,  the  director-general,  the  central  inspector,  and  the  magisterial 
authorities ;  and  a  systematic  inspection  of  the  prisons  by  the  local 
authorities  and  by  the  central  inspectors. 

No  special  discipline,  it  is  held,  can  be  applied  to  incorrigible  con- 
victs ;  but,  as  they"  may  be  kept  in  solitary  confinement  for  the  space  of 
six  months,  they  become  impotent  to  disturb  the  discipline  of  the  estab- 
lishment. The  central  administration,  however,  fully  recognizing  the 
many  benefits  which  would  accrue  from  such  a  plan,  proposes  to  set 
apart  a  penitentiary,  where  so  stringent  a  discipline  can  be  exercised  as 
to  render  superfluous  any  extraordinary  coercive  measures,  and  therein 
to  gather  together  that  class  of  convicts  which,  by  subtle  art  oftener 
than  by  open  rebellion,  encourages  and  prompts  discontent  among  the 
prisoners,  and  thus  foments  a  perpetual  irritation,  so  obstructive  to  the 
quietness,  confidence,  and  subordination  which  are  the  primary  elements 
of  a  genuine  moral  rehabilitation. 

§  7.  It  is  provided  in  the  new  criminal  code  of  Mexico  that  offenders 
sentenced  to  ordinary  imprisonment,  or  to  reclusion,in  an  establishment 
of  penal  repression  for  two  years  or  more,  and  who  have  uniformly  be- 
haved well  during  a  period  equal  to  half  the  time  their  confinement  is 
to  last,  have  the  remaining  period  of  imprisonment  remitted  condition- 
ally. In  this  way  offenders  can  not  only  obtain  a  diminution  of  their 
punishment,  but  also  receive  a  free  i)ardon,  if  they  have,  by  their 
good  conduct,  shown  themselves  worthy  of  it.  Any  punishment, 
whether  of  ordinary  imprisonment  or  of  reclusion,  in  an  establishment  of 
penal  repression,  for  two  years  or  more,  is  to  be  converted  into  close 
confinement,  in  case  the  offender  should  have  misbehaved  himself  dur- 
ing the  second  or  third  portion  of  his  time. 

All  proceeds  of  the  work  of  the  prisoners  is  given  to  them  if  they 
have  been  condemned  for  political  offenses  or  if  they  are  detained  for 
minor  offenses  against  the  law  ;  but  in  the  case  of  those  condemned,  for 
misdemeanor  or  felony,  to  imprisonment  or  reclusion,  they  have  25  per 
cent,  of  their  earnings,  if  the  punishment  lasts  more  than  five  years,  - 
and  28  per  cent.,  if  the  time  is  less.  To  the  above  percentages  5  i^er 
cent,  more  is  added  when  a  criminal  has  obtained,  by  good  conduct, 
his  preparatory  liberty.  Moreover,  if  he  supports  himself  by  his  work 
out  of  the  establishment,  another  5 percent,  is  added;  and  this  may  be 
increased  until  the  allowance  reaches  75  per  cent,  of  the  total  amount. 
The  advantage  of  this  system  is  that  prisoners  are  thus  encouraged  to 
support  themselves  by  their  work,  and  that  they  maintain  with  free 
persons  an  intercourse  which  may  be  useful,  when  they  recover  their 
liberty,  in  enabling  them  to  earn  their  livelihood  without  returning  to  a 
career  of  crime. 

Besides  the  favors  above  enumerated,  prisoners  can,  by  their  good 
conduct,  obtain  others.  They  may  enjoy,  during  the  days  and  hours  of 
rest,  any  amusement  which  the  rules  of  the  establishment  i)ermits. 
They  may  ajiply  one-tenth  of  their  reserve-fund  to  the  purchase  of  any 


42  INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

articles  of  furniture  or  comfort  which  the  rules  do  not  prohibit.  The 
kind  of  work  which  their  sentence  condemns  them  to  perform  may  be 
commuted  into  one  better  suited  to  their  education  and  habits. 

§  8.  iSTo  diminution  of  the  sentences  awarded  by  the  tribunals  can  be 
obtained  as  matter  of  legal  right  by  prisoners  confined  in  the  jails  and 
penitentiaries  of  the  Netherlands.  But,  agreeably  to  a  royal  decree  of 
1856,  the  administrative  commissions  of  the  central  prisons  submit  every 
year  a  proposition  for  pardons  or  remissions,  to  be  granted  to  prisoners 
who  have  distinguished  themselves  by  their  good  conduct.  These  proposi- 
tions, however,  include  only  persons  who  have  been  sentenced  to  more 
than  three  years,  and  who  have  undergone  at  least  one-half  of  their 
punishment,  and  the  remission  never  exceeds  six  months.  Besides 
this,  all  prisoners  have  the^  ordinary  resource  of  applying  to  the  King 
for  i)ardon  or  remission ;  and  since,  in  general,  a  decision  is  made  only 
after  a  report  from  the  commission  on  the  conduct  of  the  prisoners,  this 
conduct  has,  generally,  a  strong  influence  ui>on  the  decision. 

The  portion  of  their  earnings  allotted  to  the  prisoners  are :  To  civil 
prisoners  sentenced  to  reclusion  and  to  military  j)risoners,  40  per 
cent. ;  to  the  inmates  of  the  central  prisons,  50  per  cent. ;  and  to  those 
confined  in  other  prisons,  70  per  cent.  These  proportions  are  not 
increased  by  reason  of  the  prisoners'  good  conduct.  ]S"o  other  rewards 
are  given  to  prisoners  beyond  this  participation  in  their  earnings.  The 
distribution  of  premiums  has  been  abolished  for  some  time,  and  the 
industry  of  the  prisoners  finds  its  recompense  in  the  increase  of  profits, 
which  naturally  result  from  zeal  and  capacity.  Still,  the  re-establish- 
ment of  i)remiums  is  under  consideration  at  the  present  moment. 

The  kinds  and  frequency  of  the  violations  of  prison  rules  differ  sen- 
sibly in  different  prisons,  and  often  depend  on  the  more  or  less  intelli- 
gent administration  of  the  chiefs  and  the  employes.  Insubordination 
and  quarrels  may  be  regarded  as  the  most  frequent  infractions.  Isola- 
tion by  night  (which  is  not  yet  generally  introduced)  has,  in  this  respect, 
produced  good  fruits.  The  disciplinary  punishments  in  use  are:  Re- 
striction to  a  diet  of  bread  and  water  5  withdrawal  of  the  privilege  of 
writing  and  receiving  letters;  privation  of  books;  the  dungeon;  fetters; 
and,  iu  the  central  prisons,  isolation  in  a  cell.  All  these  xninishments 
are  recorded  in  a  register. 

§  0.  The  principle  of  provisional  liberation,  and,  by  consequence,  that 
of  the  i)ower  of  shortening  the  sentence  by  good  conduct,  has  not 
l)cen  introduced  into  tlie  criminal  jurisprudence  of  Norway.  Only  by 
royal  ])ardon  may  the  duration  of  a  fixed  sentence  be  abridged;  but,  iu 
dcciiling  on  the  question  of  pardon,  the  behavior  of  the  prisoner  during 
his  impiisonment  is,  as  a  matter  of  course,  taken  into  consideration, 

I'ri.sonos  do  not  receive  any  part  of  the  ])roceeds  of  their  labor. 
I-'oiiMcrly  a  certain  part  was  allowed  them,  but  the  system  was  aban- 
(belied  as  not  expedient.  However,  tlie  (piestion  of  introducing  the 
same,  syst(!m  to  a  grcalcr  or  less  extent,  and  in  an  altered  jnanner,  has 
again  been  raised.  In  regard  to  other  rewards  as  a  stimulus  to  self - 
conti'ol  and  sell'-exeition,  in  the  houses  of  correction  and  the  fortresses, 
an  extra  allowance  of  food  an<l  other  small  ])rivilegcs  arc  accorded  to 
th(^  well  behaved  and  deserving.  For  those  in  use  in  the  penitentiary, 
lefcrence  is  mad(!  to  what  Jjas  been  said  in  the  chapter  on  prisou- 
systems. 

Tiie  most  fre<juent  infractions  of  prison  rules  are:  In  the  cell-prisons, 
<*omtnnnieation  with  fellow-prisoners;  in  the  other  i)risons,  quarrels, 
illicit  labor,  attempts  to  esca])e,  and  laziness.  Oflenses  against  discip- 
line aie  piiiijsheil  with  bread  and  water,  conlin^Mnent  in  a  dark  cell,  or 


PRISON    DISCIPLINE NORWAY RUSSIA SWEDEN.  43 

with  privation  of  the  extra  allowance  of  food ;  in  the  prisons  exclu- 
sive of  the  penitentiary,  corporal  i>unishment  is  also  employed.  The 
I)unishments  are  always  inserted  on  the  records. 

§  10.  In  Eussia  the  discipline  of  the  prisons  seems  to  be  in  a  lax  and 
inchoate  state.  The  principle  of  an  abbreviation  of  sentence  by  means 
of  good  conduct  and  industry  has  been  admitted  only  in  imprisonment 
with  hard  labor,  and  even  there  awaits  a  regular  organization  and  a 
systematic  application.  Russian  law  prescribes  work  for  the  prisoners, 
and  grants  them  a  part  of  their  earnings,  according  to  the  particular 
class  of  prison.  But  this  law  still  remains  almost  a  dead-letter ;  it  has 
been  executed  only  in  rare  cases.  The  organization  of  industrial  labor 
is  regarded  as  lying  at  the  root  of  the  penitentiary  improvements  now 
under  consideration  by  the  government.  One  of  the  clauses  in  the  pro- 
ject of  reform  relates  to  the  proportion  of  earnings  granted  to  the 
prisoners.     Ino  system  of  rewards  has  yet  been  established. 

Drunkenness  is  reported  as  the  most  frequent  breach  of  prison  rules, 
and  as  having  been  often  encouraged  by  the  cupidity  and  want  of 
fidelity  of  the  employes. 

The  disciplinary  punishments  employed  are  the  dungeon  and  some- 
times castigation  or  irons.  In  the  better-regulated  prisons  a  record  of 
the  punishments  isiiept. 

§  11.  Good  conduct  produces  no  abridgment  of  the  time  of  imprison- 
ment in  Sweden.  The  King  exercises  the  right  of  pardon  almost  ex- 
clusively in  favor  of  prisoners  sentenced  to  hard  labor  for  life,  and  whose 
conduct  for  ten  years  has  been  unexceptionable. 

Prisoners  are  encouraged  by  being  allowed  a  share  in  the  gain  de- 
rived from  their  labor.  In  the  associated  prisons  the  amount  received 
daily  varies  from  one  to  seven  cents  of  our  money.  This  refers  to  the 
generality  of  prisoners  ;  but  those  who  act  as  foremen,  as  well  as  those 
Avho  are  distinguished  for  skill,  get  an  additional  sum  rising  sometimes 
as  high  as  sixty  centimes,  equal  to  twelve  cents. 

In  the  cellular  prisons  in  the  provinces,  in  which  the  director  procures 
both  work  and  materials,  the  earnings  of  the  prisoners  sentenced  to  hard 
labor  are  distributed  on  the  following  scale :  The  prisoner  receives  two- 
sixths;  the  director  for  inspection  and  furniture  two-sixths;  theofQcers 
who  exercise  surveillance,  one  sixth  ;  and,  in  order  to  provide  help  for  the 
prisoner  when  liberated,  the  remaining  sixth  is  put  in  a  savings-box. 
Any  prisoner  who  commits  in  prison  an  offense  liable  to  punishment 
loses  his  share  of  the  money  placed  in  the  savings-box.  Of  the  two- 
sixths  which  the  prisoner  receives  he  may  spend  two-thirds  in  buying 
additional  food,  as  bread,  beer,  cheese,  lard,  «&c ;  but  this  expenditure 
must  not  exceed  two  francs  i^er  week.  Those  who  work  in  the  open  air 
especially  rec^uire  this  extra  food.  There  are  no  other  rewards  to  stimu- 
late the  prisoners'  zeal. 

In  cellular  prisons  the  most  usual  offenses  are  attempts  to  communi- 
cate with  other  prisoners,  drawing  and  writing  on  the  walls,  and  neglect 
of  cleanliness.  In  the  collective  prisons  the  most  frequent  violations  of 
regulations  are  insults  in  words  and  actions  to  officers  and  prisoners, 
attempts  to  iirocure  spirits,  cheating,  and  thefts. 

In  cellular  prisons  the  punishments  consist  of  withdrawal  of  bed- 
clothes, diminution  of  nourishment,  or  imprisonment  in  a  dark  cell  for 
eight  hours  at  most.  This  punishment  is  inflicted,  on  request,  by  the 
X^rovincial  government.  In  the  associated  prisons,  besides  the  punish- 
ments just  cited,  there  are  added  imprisonment,  with  or  without  labor, 
and  for  very  grave  offenses  tlie  bastinado  on  men;  this  last  in  rare 


44  INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

cases.  Imprisonment  iu  n  cell  for  a  period  exceeding  a  mouth  can  only 
be  by  the  central  authority.  An  exact  record  is  kept  of  all  punishments. 

§  12.  In  all  the  cantons  of  Switzerland  prisoners  may,  by  their  good 
conduct,  obtain  an  abbreviation  of  their  punishment  by  applying  for 
pardon  to  the  legislative  authority,  (great  council,)  which  reserves  to  itself 
this  right.  Such  reduction  is  rarely  made  conformably  to  fixed  rules. 
In  many  of  the  cantons  complaint  is  made  that  chance  and  caprice  play 
too  cousTjieuous  a  part,  and  that  commissions  of  pardon  do  not  always 
take  account  of  grave  and  important  facts.  In  some  cantons  clemency 
is  exercised  readily  enough,  while  in  others  this  is  done  only  iu  excep- 
tional cases. 

In  certain  cantons  a  decree  of  the  legislative  authority  confides  to  the 
council  of  state,  or  to  the  department  of  justice,  or  even  to  the  police, 
the  right  of  remitting  the  latter  portion  of  their  punishment  (one-twelfth, 
for  example)  to  convicts  whose  conduct  has  been  good.  In  cantons 
where  penitentiary  reform  has  made  some  progress,  there  is  a  tendency 
to  bring  down  the  use  of  pardons  to  the  minimum,  and  to  substitute 
the  principle  of  conditional  liberation  ;  in  short,  to  confide  this  function 
to  the  direction  of  the  department  of  prisons,  which,  having  the  super- 
vision of  the  penitentiary  administration,  is  alone  capable  of  judging 
whether  or  not  the  re-entrance  of  a  prisoner  into  society  offers  any  danger, 
and  whether  a  probationary  liberation  may  be  safely  granted  him. 

In  most  of  the  cantons  the  prisoners  have  a  share  in  the  benefits  of 
their  labor.  As  a  general  thing  this  part  has  rather  the  character 
of  a  gratuity  than  that  of  lawful  wages.  The  proportion  varies  in 
different  prisons,  and  in  the  case  of  prisoners  in  different  classes  of 
the  same  prison,  from  5  to  25  per  cent.  It  is  proposed  by  some  of 
the  wisest  directors,  Mr.  Kiihne,  for  example,  of  the  penitentiary  of 
St.  Gall,  to  increase  the  proportion  beyond  25  per  cent,  to  the  worthiest 
of  the  prisoners.  Whatever  ma}'  be  the  scale  adopted  in  the  different 
establishments,  the  gratuity  is  granted  to  all  the  prisoners  who,  con- 
formably to  the  regulations,  have  rendered  themselves  worthy  of  it.  It 
is  adjusted  at  the  end  of  every  month  or  every  three  months,  and  is 
placed  to  their  credit  in  their  memorandum  of  savings. 

The  other  rewards  employed  to  stimulate  the  good  conduct  and  zeal 
of  tlie  prisoners  vary  in  kind  and  amount,  according  to  the  cantons  and 
the  degree,  more  or  less  advanced,  of  penitentiary  reform.  In  well- 
administered  establishments  there  are  granted  to  good  conduct,  to 
application,  to  zeal,  and  progress  in  labor  and  school  the  following 
r(;wards:  In  the  second  penitentiary  class,  liberty  to  choose  books  from 
the  library  and  to  attend  the  lessons  given  in  class,  the  use  of  tobacco — 
limitcMJ,  however,  to  tlie  hours  of  promenade  in  the  exercise-yard — and 
liberty  to  have  served  to  them  a  supplementary  or  extraordinary  ration 
of  food.  In  the  third  or  higher  class  there  are  added  to  the  above- 
mentioned  rewards  the  privilege  of  promenade  and  free  conversation 
with  their  fellow-prisoners  of  the  same  class,  liberty  to  wear  their  beard, 
to  work  in  their  free  hours  for  themselves  and  their  families,  to  adorn 
their  cells  and  to  have  plants  in  them,  the  use  of  a  patch  of  land  for  .a 
gard<!ii,  and  iidmission  to  i>laces  of  trust — such  as  that  of  fortMuan — to 
sn|)(u  iiit<'.nd  Wn'.'w  fcllow-iuisoners  in  learning  trades,  or  to  execute 
certain  exceptional  lahoi-i  in  the  administrative,  industrial,  and  domestic 
s('i'vi(!es. 

In  tho  cantons  where  the  old  convict-prisons  still  exist,  th(>  most  fre- 
quent o(fe,nses  against  disciiiline  an;  disolx'dience  and  insubordination; 
next  come  escapes  or  attempts  to  es'cape;  then  lies;  and  finally  immo- 
rality in  acts  and  words.     In   the  penitentiaries  iu  whi(;h  the   Auburn 


PRISON    DISCIPLINE SWITZERLAND UNITED    STATES.  45 

system  has  been  iutrodiiced  it  is  foimd  that  the  infractions  most  fre- 
quent are  disorder,  want  of  cleanliness,  and  viohition  of  the  hiw  of 
silence ;  in  the  penitentiaries  of  recent  construction,  the  want  of  pro- 
priety and  dignity,  lying,  idleness,  and  disobedience. 

The  disciplinary  punishments  in  use  may  be  divided  into  three  classes: 
In  the  prisons  whose  organization  is  imperfect,  and  where  the  reforma- 
tion of  the  prisoners  is  not  the  aim  of  the  imprisonment,  we  find  exist- 
ing the  dungeon  and  corporal  puDishmeuts  f  in  penitentiaries  on  the 
Auburn  system,  more  or  less  completely  organized,  corporal  punish- 
ments are  gradually  disappearing,  and  are  replaced  by  a  diet  of  bread 
and  water  and  by  confinement  in  the  dark  or  ordinary  cell;  in  the 
modern  establishments  there  is  coming  into  vogue  a  new  series  of  pun- 
ishments, of  a  moral  order,  among  which  figure,  by  the  side  of  the 
dungeon  and  the  diet  of  bread  and  water,  admonition,  privation  of 
work,  of  reading,  of  visits,  of  correspondence,  and,  in  general,  of  all  or 
a  part  of  the  diversions,  alleviations,  and  other  indulgences  above  men- 
tioned. Corporal  chastisements  are  passing  away,  and  in  their  place 
are  substituted  the  strait-jacket  and  the  cold-douche  bath. 

Those  who,  through  mischief  or  negligence,  destroy  or  injure  the 
effects,  objects,  instruments,  and  raw  material  placed  at  their  disposal, 
are  obliged  to  pay  the  value  of  the  damage  done. 

In  most  of  the  prisons  are  found  registers  in  which  the  punishments 
inflicted  are  fully  recorded.  These  registers,  in  the  modern  peniten- 
tiaries especially,  give  complete  information  as  to  the  occasion,  the  kind, 
and  the  nature  of  the  punishments  inflicted. 

§  13.  There  are,  perhaps,  in  the  United  States  a  thousand  prisons  large 
enough  to  have  the  word  "  discipline  "  applied  to  their  management; 
and  in  these  every  variety  of  discipline,  lack  of  discipline,  and  abuse  of 
discipline  are  found.  •  In  many,  little  is  sought  beyond  the  security  of  the 
prisoner  and  the  convenience  of  the  prison-keeper ;  in  many  others, 
the  discipline  is  intended  mainly  to  be  deterrent,  but  through  laxity  or 
severity  becomes  a  stimulus  to  crime ;  in  some,  it  is  really  deterrent 
without  being  reformatory  in  aim  or  result;  in  a  great  many,  the  nominal 
aim  is  reformation,  but  the  reasonable  means  thereto  are  neglected  ;  in 
a  few,  the  wise  combination  of  deterrent  and  reformatory  means  is  at- 
tempted, and  succeeds  (in  one  direction,  or  in  both,  according  to  the 
skill,  opportunity,  and  perseverance  of  the  prison  government.  But  the 
great  majority  of  prisons  in  the  United  States  are,  in  fact,  neither  deter- 
rent nor  reformatory  to  any  great  extent ;  sometimes  because  no  effort 
is  made  to  comply  with  the  laws — which  almost  everywhere  require  in 
terms  this  twofold  discipline,  though  they  do  not  often  furnish  suitable 
means — and  sometimes  because  the  best  agencies  are  not  employed,  or 
are  not  continued  persistently.  The  deterrent  agencies  are  solitude, 
silence,  hard  fare,  and  constant  labor ;  sometimes  also  severe  punish- 
ments are  employed.  The  reformatory  agencies  are  instruction — secular 
and  religious — industrial  training,  the  encouragement  of  shortened  sen- 
tences for  good  conduct,  &g.  By  some  of  these  means  "  it  is  sought  to 
plant  hope  in  the  breast  of  the  prisoner  and  keep  it  there ;"  and  to  these 
are  added  gratuities  for  work,  the  visits  of  pliilanthropic  persons  and 
of  the  prisoner's  own  family,  and  the  promise  of  help  in  leading  an  honest 
life  upon  his  discharge.  Conditional  pardon,  which  enters  so  largely 
into  the  Crofton  prison  system,  has  little  place  in  ours,  the  commutation- 
laws,  by  which  sentences  are  shortened  for  good  behavior,  being  almost 
the  only  feature  of  the  Crofton  system  much  in  use  here,  and  that  not 
very  systematically. 

Probably  punishments  are  more  relied  on  than  rewards  in  governing 


46  INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

the  prisous;  but  there  is  not  rnucli  variety  of  either  in  most  of  them. 
Flogging-  is  forbidden  by  law  or  nsage  in  most  of  the  States,  but  is 
practised  in  some  prisons  where  it  is  forbidden.  The  same  is  true  of  the 
iron  yoke,  the  shower-bath,  the  iron  crown,  suspension  by  the  thumbs, 
and  other  modes  of  torture.  Deprivation  of  privileges,  solitary  im- 
prisonment— often  in  a  dark  cell — and  wearing  a  ball  and  chain,  are  the 
most  common  punishments.  Of  rewards,  the  chief  is  a  shortening  of 
the  sentence  for  good  behavior;  this,  in  truth,  is  about  all  there  is  that 
exerts  much  effect.  The  other  rewards  are  petty  privileges,  such  as 
better  food,  the  use  of  tobacco,  a  light  in  the  cell,  &c.  There  is  no 
exact  mark-system,  so  far  as  is  known  to  the  undersigned,  in  any  Ameri- 
can prison,  but  there  may  be  examples  not  yet  made  public. 

§  li.  The  principle  of  conditional  release,  or  the  power  of  abbreviat- 
ing the  term  of  sentence,  is  fully  introduced  into  the  English  convict- 
prisons.  The  maximum  of  abbreviation  is  one-fourth  of  that  part  of 
the  sentence  passed  in  the  public  works  or  congregate  prison,  no  ac- 
count being  made  of  the  time  spent  in  cellular  separation.  This  remis- 
sion is  gained  by  industry  alone,  which  is  measured  by  marks,  a  certain 
number  of  which  are  accorded  daily  to  the  prisoner,  according  to  his  dili- 
gence. The  diligence  and  zeal  of  the  convict  are  further  stimulated  by  a 
system  of  progressive  classification,  whereby  he  may  pass  through  four* 
classes  during  his  term  of  sentence,  viz,  a  i)robation,  first,  second,  and 
third  class ;  and  certain  selected  prisoners  are  also  i^laced,  during  the 
last  year  of  their  sentence,  in  a  special  class.  The  minimum  stay  of  the 
convicts  in  each  of  the  three  lower  classes  is  one  year,  and  the  remainder 
of  the  sentence  may  be  passed  in  the  first  class,  unless  a  prisoner  is 
promoted  during  his  last  year  into  the  special  class.  Every  promotion 
is  followed  by  certain  privileges,  and  each  class  wears  its  own  badge. 
Though  limited,  these  privileges  offer  inducements  which  are  keenly 
felt.  They  are,  in  addition  to  remission  of  sentence,  more  frequent  com- 
munication by  visit  or  letter  with  their  friends,  greater  freedom  for  ex- 
ercise on  Sundays,  and  increased  gratuities  to  be  paid  them  on  their 
release. 

The  disciplinary  imnishraents  in  use  are  forfeiture  of  remission, 
degradation  to  a  lower  class,  the  loss  of  privileges  gained  by  industry, 
solitary  confinement,  reduction  of  diet,  corporal  punishment,  and  so  on. 

The  i)ower  of  punishing  a  prisoner  resides  only  in  the  governor  and  in 
the  director. 

The  limits  of  punishment  in  both  cases  are  laid  down  by  the  secretary 
of  state,  and  no  punishment  can  be  awarded  without  full  investigation 
of  the  charge  coM(lu<;ted  in  tlie  presence  of  the  prisoners.  The  governor 
has  ])o\vers  sufficient  to  deal  with  minor-  offenses,  and  every  ])unish- 
iiH'Mt  he,  orders  is  n'[)()rtcd  to  the  direct()r  with  a  statement  of  the  pris- 
oner's (((IV'iise. 

I'hc,  iliiector,  whose  functions  correspond  Avith  those  of  a  magistrate, 
awards  piinishuK-nts  for  offenses  of  a  grave  <'liaracter.  Only  the  director 
lias  power  to  award  corporal  punishment,  and  lu^  only  for  certain  offenses 
dfliiied  by  thcsccictary  of  state,  and  after  full  inquiry  on  oath  conducted 
in  the  most-  formal  mann<^r.  No  unusual  punishments  may  be  indicted. 
(liaiuH,  hatnlciiffs,  or  means  of  s[>ecial  restraint  may  not  be  made  use 
of  except  und(!r  <Mutain  defin(Ml  cir(;umstances  and  undei-  strict  regula- 
tions, and  the  use  of  them  is  always  reiK)rted  and  recorded  in  a  formal 
uiannei-.  No  officer  is  allow<ul  to  strike  or-  abuse  a  prisoru'r.  Should 
he  find  it  necessary,  on  account  of  the  violencie  of  itny  prisoirer,  to  make 
use,  of  his  weapons,  he,  is  always  (%illed  ni)oM    to  show  that  he  confiired 


PRISON    DISCIPLINE ENGLAND IRELAND.  47 

himself  strictly  to  the  necessities  of  the  occasiou,  or,  failiug  to  do  so, 
he  must  bear  the  consequemses. 

Every  prisoner  has  the  unrestricted  right  of  appeal  against  the  acts 
of  those  above  him  ;  he  may  lay  his  complaint  in  the  first  instance  be- 
fore the  governor,  who  is  bound  to  investigate  it  and  to  place  the  ap- 
peal on  record ;  or  he  may  appeal  to  the  higher  authority  of  the  director, 
who  can,  if  he  sees  fit,  reverse  the  decision  of  the  governor. 

The  director  not  coming  in  daily  contact  with  the  ofiicers  and  pris- 
oners, but  only  visiting  the  i)rison  magisterially  at  uncertaiu  intervals, 
it  is  of  course  felt  that  he  can  give  a  fresh  and  impartial  consideration 
to  any  question  or  complaint. 

Besides  this  the  prisoners  have  the  power  of  petitioning  the  secretary 
of  state.  They  exercise  freely  their  right  of  appeal  and  petition;  and 
the  effect  of  these  provisions  is  not  only  that  prisoners  feel  that  they 
cannot  be  unfairly  dealt  with,  but  the  officers  are  constantly  reminded 
that  they  are  liable  to  have  to  answer  for  any  act  which  they  may  per- 
form. 

The  plan  by  which  it  is  sought  to  bring  before  the  prisoner,  in  a  form 
easily  intelligible  to  him,  the  fact  that,  as  in  ordinary  life,  the  advan- 
tages held  out  to  him  as  an  encouragement  to  industry  are  directly  pro- 
portioned to  his  industry ;  that  he  cannot  be  idle  for  a  day  without  a 
corresponding  loss ;  that  good  conduct  is  necessary  as  well  as  industry, 
because  ill-conduct  will  deprive  him  of  the  advantages  he  would  gain 
by  his  industry — is,  as  has  already  been  remarked,  by  a  system  of  re- 
cording the  industry  by  marks. 

To  every  man  is^ssigned  the  task  of  earning  a  number  of  marks  pro- 
portioned to  the  length  of  his  sentence.  These  marks  may  be  earned 
either  at  the  lowest  rate,  in  which  case  he  must  serve  out  the  whole  of 
his  sentence;  or  at  the  highest  rate,  when  he  gets  about  one-fourth  of 
it  remitted  ;  or  at  some  iutermediate  rate,  by  which  he  earns  a  propor- 
tionate remission. 

The  record  by  marks  api)lies  not  only  to  the  amount  of  remission 
which  the  prisoner  can  gain  from  his  sentence,  but  also  to  every  step 
of  progress  made  during  his  imprisonment :  for  instance,  he  is  re- 
quired to  pass  at  least  a  year  in  each  class ;  but  during  that  time  he 
must  earn  a  definite  number  of  marks,  or  his  promotion  is  delayed ; 
and,  further,  the  gratuity  which  he  earns  in  each  class  is  calculated 
according  to  the  number  of  marks  he  earns. 

Every  prisoner  is  funished  with  a  card,  on  w^hich,  periodically,  his 
earnings  in  marks  are  recorded;  and  if  he  feels  himself  unfairly  dealt 
with,  he  has  free  right  to  complain,  and  his  grievances  are  investigated. 

In  this  manner,  day  by  day,  week  by, week,  and  year  by  year,  he  can 
count  and  record  the  progress  he  is  making  as  regards  promotion  from 
class  to  class  as  well  as  in  relation  to  the  accumulation  of  money- 
credits,  and  the  goal  of  all  his  endeavors — conditional  liberation.  He 
is  thus  made  to  see  and  feel  that  he  has  something  to  hope  and  work 
for  beyond  the  mere  avoidance  of  ijunishment. 

§  15.  In  Ireland,  discipline  is  maintained  chiefly  by  moral  forces,  viz, 
by  rewards  in  the  form  of  promotions  from  class  to  class,  increased 
freedom  and  privileges — as  merited  by  good  conduct — gratuities,  remis- 
sion of  part  of  sentence,  &c.,  and  by  punishments,  taking  the  shape  of 
degradation  from  a  higher  to  a  lower  class,  reduction  of  food,  and  the 
like.     Whipping  is  legal,  but  seldom  employed. 

All  punishments  are  made  matter  of  record. 

The  most  common  offenses  are  insolence,  inattention,  and  unnecessarv 
talk. 


48  INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

OHAPTEE    IV. 

MORAL    AND    RELIGIOUS    AGENCIES. 

§  1.  Ill  the  Austrian  prisons  of  all  kinds,  chaplains  and  religious 
teachers  are  provided  for  prisoners  of  every  sect,  of  which  the  number 
is  considerable.  As,  however,  the  greater  number  are  of  the  Eoman 
Catholic  faith,  every  prison  has  a  Roman  Catholic  chaplain,  and,  when 
the  number  of  prisoners  is  sufficient  to  require  so  many,  two  or  more. 
Besides  holding  divine  service  and  administering  the  sacraments,  the 
chaplains  are  under  obligation  to  visit  the  prisoners  individually,  to 
seek  to  awaken  the  moral  sense  within  them,  to  strengthen  them  by 
spiritual  counsel  and  exhortation  on  their  leaving  the  prison,  and,  in 
general,  to  labor,  in  season  and  out  of  season  and  by  all  suitable  means, 
to  reclaim  and  save  them. 

The  highest  importance  is  attached  to  the  labors  of  the  chaplains, 
since  religious  instruction  is  found  the  most  effective  means  to  acquaint 
them  with  the  principles  of  morality  and  to  lift  them  up  from  their 
moral  degradation.  Many  prisoners  have  lost  heart  and  have  fallen 
into  despondency  and  even  tlespair,  from  which  they  find  it  impossible 
to  raise  themselves  by  their  own  unaided  exertion.  As  a  consequence, 
they  have  become  callous  and  indifferent.  Eeligion  alone  is  capable  of 
reconciling  them  to  themselves,  to  society,  and  to  God.  It  alone  can 
restore  hope  to  the  criminal,  the  loss  of  which  has  been  the  chief  cause 
of  his  continuance  in  a  course  of  crime.  Eeligious  iftfluences  are,  there- 
fore, an  essential  agency  in  the  moral  improvement  of  prisoners. 

Formerly  volunteer  visitors  were  excluded  froui  the  prisons.  The  law 
of  April,  1S72,  permits  the  visitation  of  cell-prisons  by  members  of 
societies  which  occupy  themselves  with  the  care  and  improvement  of 
discharged  prisoners. 

There  are  no  Sunday-schools  in  the  Austrian  prisons,  in  the  Ameri- 
can sense  of  that  iustitution  ;  but,  on  Sundays  and  all  church-festival 
days,  lectures  are  delivered  to  the  prisoners  on  various  subjects  of 
scientific  and  popular  interest. 

The  frequency  with  which  letters  may  be  written  by  the  inmates  of 
the  Austrian  ])risons  is  not  stated.  They  write  and  receive  letters  by 
leave  of  the  director,  who  must  in  all  cases  read  and  countersign  them. 
The  correspondence  of  ])risoners  with  their  friends  is  found  to  have  an 
excellent  etlcct  upon  them,  keeping  up  family  ties  and  counteracting 
the  evil  inlluenccs  of  prison-life. 

Prisoners,  witii  the  consent  of  the  director,  ma^',  from  time  to  time, 
receive  the  visits  of  their  families  and  iViends,  ])rovided  these  latter  are 
of  good  repute,  and  otherwise  unobjectionable.  Visits  take  place  in  the 
conversation-room,  except  in  tlie  case  of  sick  i)risoners,  and  in  the  pres- 
ence of  an  official.  They  cannot  last  beyond  a  half-hour,  must  be  in  a 
langnage  undcjrstood  by  the  official  i)resent,  and  must  relate  to  matters 
approved  by  him.  Their  moral  effect  is  generally  favorable,  as  in  the 
case  of  corn'si)()ii<lence. 

§  2.  The  Belgian  governmcuit  attaches  the  highest  inqtortance  to  re- 
ligious instrnction  as  a  means  of  refonnjilion,  and  has  given  to  it  the 
most  conq)lete  organization  iM)ssibl(;.  Chaplains  are  pi'ovided  in  all 
])risonHand  ibr  all  religions,  an<l  the  rnles  re,(|uire  them  to  preside  at  the 
(exercises  of  winshij)  and  over  all  icligions  instrnction,  to  visit  the 
prisoners  in  their  cells  and  give  them  counsel  and  consolations;  to 
])ress  iq)on  tlieir  conscience  the,  diligent  ixMlbiMnance  of  all  religious  and 


MORAL  AGENCIES AUSTEIA BELGIUM DENMARK,  ETC.   49 

moral  duties,  to  direct  their  reading,  to  bear  their  confessions,  to  j,nve 
special  instructions  to  those  ignorant  of  the  essential  trutlis  of  religion, 
in  a  word,  to  fultill  toward  them  all  the  duties  of  their  ministry. 

Prisoners  sentenced  to  correctional  imprisoument  are  permitted  to 
write  letters  every  fortnight,  those  sentenced  to  reclusiououcea  month, 
and  those  sentenced  to  hard  labor  {travaux  forces)  once  every  two 
months.  Tlie  privilege  is  granted  oftener  in  urgent  cases.  The  effect 
is  evidently  good.  It  maintains  or  renews  the  ties  of  home  and  kin- 
dred, and  aids  the  officers  in  the  study  of  the  prisoner's  character- 
Prisoners  are  allowed  to  receive  the  visits  of  their  relatives — father, 
mother,  husband,  wife,  children,  brothers,  sisters,  uncles,  aunts — and 
guardians,  on  the  i^roduction  of  a  certificate  granted  by  the  local 
authority  of  the  places  where  they  reside,  authenticating  their  identity. 
K^o  other  visits  are  permitted  except  upon  a  written  order  of  the  supe- 
rior administration,  of  the  governor  of  the  province,  or  of  the  president 
or  one  of  the  members  of  the  commission  specially  delegated  to  this 
effect.  In  the  penal  prisons  more  particularly,  these  visits  tiwke  place 
in  the  conversation-rooms,  in  presence  of  a  keeper.  Tliis  officer  observes 
the  persons  of  the  prisoner  and  the  visitor,  without  interfering  with 
the  privacy  of  the  interview.  The  moral  intiuence  of  these  visits  is  gen- 
erally good.  The  cases  are  rare  (but  such  have  occurred)  in  which  the 
effect  has  been  unfavorable. 

§  3.  In  Denmark  a  clergyman  is  appointed  to  each  prison.  He  alone 
is  intrusted  with  the  religious  teaching  of  the  prisoners.  Volunteer 
visitors  are  not  permitted  to  labor  in  the  prisons  for  the  moral  improve- 
ment of  the  inmates. 

§  4.  In  the  suuiller  departmental  i^risons  of  France  some  parish  priest 
acts  as  chaplain,  but  in  the  larger  prisons  of  this  class,  as  well  as  in  all 
central  prisons,  the  chaplain  is  a  regular  officer  of  the  establishment, 
and  is  wholly  devoted  to  its  religious  service.  Liberty  of  conscience  is 
guaranteed  to  prisoners  of  all  religions.  On  his  entrance,  every  prisoner 
must  declare  to  what  faith  he  adheres,  which  declaration  is  verified  by 
an  administrative  information.  If  he  does  not  belong  to  the  Eoman 
Catholic  religion,  he  is  transferred,  whenever  it  is  possible,  to  a  prison 
designed  to  receive  persons  of  the  same  religious  faith  with  himself. 

In  the  large  penitentiary  establishments,  the  chaplains  consult  with 
the  directors  in  determining  upon  the  various  religious  offices  and  serv- 
ices. They  visit  the  infirmaries,  the  sick,  the  places  of  puuishment, 
and  the  solitary  cells.  In  the  sessions  of  the  tribunals  at  the  pretorium 
of  disciplinary  justice,  they  are  entitled  to  a  place  among  the  assessors 
of  the  director.  To  prisoners  who  are  prevented,  by  their  age  or  infirmi- 
ties, from  taking  part  in  the  labors  of  the  evening,  they  give  moral, 
religious,  or  instructive  readings.  They  are  called  upon  to  give  their 
advice  on  propositions  for  the  exercise  of  executive  clemency. 

ISo  volunteer  visitor  is  admitted  into  the  prisons  to  labor  for  the 
moral  regeneration  of  the  prisoners  without  a  special  authorizatian 
from  the  minister  of  the  interior;  but  there  exist,  for  the  departmental 
prisons,  commissions  of  supervision,  [surveillance^)  composed  of  men  held 
in  the  highest  esteem,  whose  mission  is  to  watch  over  the  entire  man- 
agement, and  particularly  over  everything  relating  to  the  reformation 
of  the  prisoners.  Commissions  of  this  sort  have  not,  hitherto,  per- 
formed any  services  in  the  central  prisons. 

No  Sunday-school,  properly  so  called,  exists  in  the  French  prisons. 
Yet,  with  a  view  to  avert  the  dangers  of  protracted  idleness,  the  heads 
of  a  number  of  penitentiary  establishments  have  organized  an  hour  of 
H.  Ex.  185 4 


50  INTERNATIONAL   P^ITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

school  on  Sunday,  and  the  administration  has  generalized  this  innova- 
tion. 

In  the  departmental  prisons  a  special  regulation  of  the  administra- 
tion determines  the  days  and  hours  on  which  attention  must  be  given 
to  correspondence.  In  the  central  prisons,  the  prisoner  has  the  privi- 
lege of  writing  once  a  mouth  to  liis  family.  He  can  correspond  only 
with  his  nearer  relatives  or  his  guardian.  The  director  is  charged  with 
the  duty  of  examining  the  correspondence  of  the  prisoners  both  ways. 

Beyond  cases  of  special  authorization,  convicts  can  receive  only  the 
visits  of  father,  mother,  wife,  husband,  brother,  sister,  uncle,  aunt,  and 
guardian.  During  the  visit,  which  does  not  ordinarily  exceed  twenty 
to  twenty-five  minutes,  an  officer  is  always  present. 

The  moral  effect  of  the  visits  received,  as  of  the  correspondence  car- 
ried on,  by  the  prisoners,  is,  in  general,  rather  good  than  bad. 

§  5.  The  German  states  reported : 

(1)  The  highest  value  is  attached  in  Baden  to  religious  instruction  in 
prisons.  Chaplains  are  provided  for  all  prisons  and  for  all  religions. 
They  hold  religious  service,  give  religious  lessons,  enter  into  religious 
conversation  with  the  prisoners,  inspect  the  prison  schools,  keep  an 
eye  on  the  prisoners'  occupations  during  their  relaxation,  and  corre- 
spond with  the  ministers  of  their  abode;  this  correspondence  gives  moral 
protection  to  the  prisoners  after  their  liberation.  It  is  their  duty  to 
give  particular  attention  to  sick  prisoners,  to  those  depressed  in  spirit, 
or  showing  any  tendency  to  insanity.  They  visit  the  sick  weekly,  and 
tlie  other  prisoners  at  least  every  fortnight.  It  is  their  duty  at  these 
visits  to  awaken,  so  far  as  possible,  moral  and  religious  feeling  in  the 
I)risoners,  and  to  further  their  reformation. 

No  volunteer  visiters  are  admitted  into  the  prisons  to  labor  for  the 
moral  benefit  of  the  inmates. 

Tiiere  are  no  Sunday-schools  in  the  prisons  of  Baden. 

Prisoners  have  liberty  to  write  to  their  friends  once  a  month  ;  but  cor- 
respondence with  inspectors,  the  minister  of  Justice,  and  the  superior 
courts  is  unrestricted.  Their  correspondence  has  generally  a  beneficial 
influence  on  the  prisoners,  none  being  allowed  which  can  in  any  way 
intorlere  with  the  punishment.  All  letters  sent  or  received  are  read 
by  the  director  or  the  chaplain. 

Visits  may  be  received,  of  right,  monthly,  and  oftener,  as  in  the  case 
of  correspondence,  by  special  leave  of  the  director.  They  take  jjlace  in 
the  ]»resence  of  an  officer,  the  visitor  and  prisoner  remaining  separated. 
Their  influence  is  found  to  be,  in  the  main,  beneficial. 

(2)  In  ]>avarin,  all  the  larger  prisons  have  chaplains  wholly  devoted 
to  the  duties  of  their  oflice;  in  the  district  and  police  prisons,  the  cler- 
gyman of  the  ])la(;e  ofli(!iiites.  The  regular  chaplain  is  bound  to  hold 
<liviii<'  servicer  in  the  foicnoon  of  every  Sunday  and  holiday  and  on  the 
King's  birthday,  and  in  the  afternoon  of  Sunday  to  give  one  hour's  read- 
ing or  exhortation,  and  to  hold  a  religious  service  on  one  week-day; 
to  administer  the  saerjiment  to  sick  jnisoners  when  they  demand  it, 
and  to  tlK)se  in  health  onee  every  three  months:  to  give  religious  in- 
Htrneti(»M  twi(;e  a  week  for  one  hour;  to  visit  the  piisoners  confined  in 
cells  at  h-ast  «'veiy  fortnight;  (o  correspond  with  the  clergymen  of  the 
jilaees  to  wliieli  the  prisoners  belong;  and  to  act  as  librarian. 

Volnnteer  Tcligioiis  workers  :\vo  not  admitted. 

Tlieic  are  no  Sini(la\  schools  in  the  piisons,  but  on  that  day  instruc- 
tion in  drawing  is  given  to  th(^  prisoners. 

There  appear  to  be  n(>  staled  jieriodsfor  writing  letters ;  theonly  con- 
dition would  seem  to  be  permission  by  the  director.     All  letters,  going 


MORAL  AGENCIES BADEN BAVARIA PRUSSIA — SAXONY.  51 

out  or  coming  in,  are  examined  by  the  director.  Their  correspondence 
has  a  beneficial  effect  on  the  prisoners.  If  the  ties  of  family  have  been 
broken,  they  are  thereby  re-knit;  if  otherwise,  they  are  made  stronger. 

Prisoners  may  receive  visits  at  any  time  by  leave  of  the  director. 
The  visits  are  not  to  last  nsually  beyond  fifteen  minutes;  they  must  be 
in  the  presence  of  an  oflicer,  und  must  be  carried  on  audibly,  and  in  a 
language  understood  by  him.  The  visitor  may  neither  give  nor  receive 
anything  from  the  prisoner. 

The  influence  of  these  visits  upon  the  prisoners,  like  that  of  their  cor- 
respondence, is  found  to  be  useful  rather  thnn  injurious. 

(3)  Chaplains  are  found  in  all  the  prisons  of  Prussia,  and  for  all  forujs 
of  worshi^j.  They  hold  divine  service  every  Sunday  and  once  during 
the  week  ;  administer  the  sacrament  to  the  prisoners  at  stated  periods ; 
give  religious  instruction  ;  superintend  the  primary  instruction  given  by 
the  schoolmasters ;  are  bound  to  labor  seriously  for  the  salvation  of  the 
souls  of  the  prisoners;  and,  with  this  aim,  must  visit  them  regularly  in 
their  cells  and  in  the  infirmary. 

In  all  instruction  given  to  adult  prisoners,  the  aim  is  not  so  much  to 
impart  new  knowledge,  either  useful  or  necessary,  as  to  teach  them  to 
rellect,  and  to  liberate  them  from  that  sad  brutishness  which  is  so  often 
the  chief  cause  of  their  crimes.  The  less  instruction  is  an  exercise  of 
mere  memory,  and  the  less  it  demands  a  mere  mechanical  activity,  the 
more  it  engages  the  attention  of  the  entire  man,  and  the  more  it  acts  at 
once  on  heart  and  intellect ;  and  to  that  extent  it  the  more  efficaciously 
fulfils  its  highest  purpose. 

It  is  held  in  Prussia  that  the  unchanging  truths  of  religion  and 
morality,  when  taught  in  a  worthy  and  striking  manner,  best  fulfil  the 
highest  aims  of  instruction  and  are  richest  in  satisfactory  results.  Such 
instruction  in  prisons  is,  therefore,  regarded  as  one  of  the  most  important 
means  for  the  moral  reformation  of  the  prisoners. 

Private  persons  who  are  known  to  have  great  interest  in  all  that  con- 
cerns prisons,  and  who  possess  a  high  moral  character,  may,  at  their 
request,  have  admission  into  the  prison,  with  a  view  to  labor  for  the 
moral  and  spiritual  well-being  of  the  prisoners. 

There  are  many  Sunday-schools  in  the  prisons  of  Prussia,  but  neither 
the  manner  of  conducting  them  nor  their  results  are  stated. 

Prisoners  must  have  special  permission  from  the  director  before  they 
can  either  write  or  receive  letters ;  but  such  permission  is  withheld  only 
in  exceptional  cases.  All  letters  are  read  by  the  administration.  The 
chaplain  generally  delivers  the  letters  addressed  to  the  prisoners;  he  takes 
this  occasion  for  acquiring  a  knowledge  of  their  relations  and  their  affairs, 
and  seizes  any  opportunity  he  may  thus  have  of  inducing  them  to  seek 
eternal  life.  Such  correspondence  with  their  friends  and  relatives  as  is 
permitted  has,  in  general,  a  beneficial  effect  on  the  [)risoners. 

Visits  to  prisoners  are  only  exceptionally  allowed,  and  when  the  vis- 
itor's character  is  above  suspicion.  Tliey  are  made  in  a  room  apjiropri- 
ated  to  the  purpose  and  in  the  presence  of  an  official  charged  with  listen- 
ing to  the  conversation.  Their  general  moral  effect  is  good,  and  both 
visits  and  correspondence  are  regarded  as  an  etiicacious  remedy  for  the 
despair  and  wretchedness  which  so  readily  take  possession  of  prisoners. 

(i)  In  Saxony,  the  religious  wants  of  prisoners  are  equally  regarded 
and  cared  tor,  whatever  their  creed  may  be.  Just  as  in  every  truly  re- 
ligious household  all  the  members  must  mutually  help  to  attain  what 
is  desired,  so  in  the  Saxon  prisons  (it  is  claimed)  everything  is  arranged 
for  the  purpose  of  promoting,  above  all,  moral  education  by  common 
worship  of  God  and  individual  care  of  the  soul.     Eut  the  use  of  extra- 


52  INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

ordinary  moral  agencies  is  not  allowerl.  It  is  alleged  that  tliey  have  been 
found  unpractical,  and  that  prisonersplace  little  conlidence  in  strangers. 
Consequently  casual  visitors  are  not  admitted,  even  though  their  pur- 
pose be  the  moral  improvement  of  the  prisoners. 

(5)  In  all  the  prisons  of  Wiirtemberg  there  are  Protestant  and  Catho- 
lic chaplains.  Their  duties  are  to  hold  divine  service  on  Sundays  and 
festival-days,  and  to  give  once  a  week  religious  instruction  to  the  prisoners 
of  their  respective  creeds  and  general  pastoral  counsel  on  all  suitable 
occasions.  For  prisoners  of  the  Jewish  faith  there  is  similar  provision 
for  religious  instruction.  The  labors  of  the  chaplains  are  declared  to 
be  most  valuable  and  beneficial  in  their  results. 

Permission  is  not  given  to  volunteer  laborers  to  enter  the  prisons  on 
missions  of  benevolence  to  the  prisoners. 

Prisoners  are  allowed,  under  certain  restrictions,  to  receive  visits 
from  their  friends  and  to  correspond  with  them.  The  regulations  and 
results  are  much  the  same  as  in  the  other  German  prisons  mentioned  in 
this  section. 

§  6.  Under  the  head  of  moral  and  religious  agencies,  the  supreme 
director  of  prisons  in  Italy,  in  his  report  submitted  to  the  congress, 
holds  the  following  language : 

No  one  will  deny  that  religion  lias  an  iranaeuse  influence  over  man  ;  but  to  exercise 
that  influence  it  is  necessary  that  religion  should  be  sincere  and  implanted  in  the 
heart,  and  it  is  in  no  wise  to  be  confotincled  with  superstition  or  prejudice.  There  is 
no  doubt,  therefore,  that,  with  those  prisoners  who  have  that  innate  religious  senti- 
ment, practical  acts  of  piety  and  the  exhortations  of  the  chaplains  have  weigiit;  but 
with  the  I'cmainder,  though  it  be  well  that  the  ministers  of  religion  should  do  all  in 
their  power  to  implant  religious  feeling,  and  though  the  administration  neglects  noth- 
ing which  seems  conducive  to  this  end,  yet  it  does  not  consider  moral  agencies  of  minor 
importance,  and  the  greatest  of  these  is  the  good  example  to  be  set  before  the  deliu- 
ijueuts  by  the  behavior  of  the  directing  officers  and  jailors. 

In  some  provinces  voluntary  or  semi-oflicial  visitors  were  formerly- 
admitted  into  the  prisons,  and  the  government  still  allows  such ;  but 
the  administration  does  not  deem  it  exi)edient  to  pass  an  opinion  as  to 
their  practical  usefulness  so  long  as  the  commission  for  penitentiary 
reform  is  still  deliberating  on  this  important  question. 

§  7.  All  the  prisons  of  Mexico  do  not  have  chaplains,  nor,  when  they  have 
such,  do  tlu'y  also  have  them  for  all  denon)inations.  Even  where  chap- 
lains are  ai)i)()iute(l,  they  have  no  well-detined  oihcial  duties  to  perform, 
exce[»t  so  lar  as  their  ecclesiastical  functions  are  concerned,  and  their 
duty  of  course  is  always  to  advise  and  comfort  the  pi'isoner  and  direct 
liim  toward  reformation.  Keligion  is  believed  to  be  the  most  valuable 
means  of  reforming  tln^  prisoner.  On  the  days  and  during  the  hours 
allowed  by  the  lules,  the  <loois  of  the  ])rison  are  open  not  only  to  the 
UHMiibers  of  the  protecti\'e  boards,  but  also  to  all  persons  who,  ac(;ovding 
to  the  Judgment  ol'  tlu^  council  of  vigilance,  {junta  de  vigilancia,)  are 
cai)abl(;  of  contributing  to  the  moral  improvement  of  the  prisoners. 
►Sunday-schools  exist  in  some  prisons,  in  others  not.  The  favor  of 
writing  aiul  n'.ceiving  letters  is  generally  limited.  The  results  of  this 
(Mjrr«'spoii([<'nce  are  not  very  satisfactory. 

i'ormeiiy  piisoneis  could  be  visited  by  all  their  fiien<ls  ;  iu)w  only 
those  piTsons  are  a«liiiitted  who  have  h'ave  of  the  (!ouiK;il  of  vigilance, 
when  they  are  belicAcd  by  the  meiidxTS  (jf  that  body  cai)ahle  of  ini- 
jnoving  the  moral  condidon  of  the  ]»iison<!rs  by  their  advice  and  their 
example.  In  that  ca.se  there  is  thought  to  be  no  necessity  to  employ 
any  one  to  listen  to  the  conversations. 

§  H.  'J'heie  are  no  chaplains,  as  such,  attached  (!xclusiv(^ly  to  any  of 
the  prisons  of  the  i^ietlierlands;   but,  in  all  thecentral  prisons,  in  all  the 


MORAL    AGENCIES WURTEMBERG ITALY MEXICO,    ETC.      53 

Louses  of  detention,  and  in  the  greater  part  of  the  houses  of  arrest,  the 
office  of  (ihaphiiu  and  the  religious  services  are  coutided  to  one  of  the 
parish  ministers  of  each  religion,  who  is  named  by  the  minister  of 
justice.  The  duties  of  the  chaplain  consist  in  performing  religious 
service  on  Sundays  and  feast-days,  in  making  pastoral  visits,  and  in 
imparting  religious  instruction.  Keligions  instruction,  given  with  in- 
telligence, is  considered  of  great  importance  as  an  agency  in  the  refor- 
mation of  prisoners.  In  some  prisons  there  has  been  introduced  the 
system  of  proverbs.  ThivS  consists  in  hanging  on  the  walls  of  the  corri- 
dors and  cells  pithy  moral  sentences,  and  in  changing  them  from  time 
to  time.  In  the  opinion  of  experienced  persons,  this  plan  deserves  to 
be  recommended  for  general  use. 

Persons  of  both  sexes,  outside  of  the  administration,  are  admitted 
into  the  prisons  to  labor  among  the  prisoners,  with  a  view  to  their  moral 
regeneration.  In  some  cities  there  are  private  associations  to  visit  the 
prisoners,  organized  by  the  National  Society  for  the  Moral  Amelioration 
of  Prisoners.  • 

Sunday-schools  have  not  been  established  in  the  prisons  of  the  in  eth- 
erlands. 

The  administration  of  each  prison  regulates  the  correspondence  of 
the  prisoners  as  it  judges  most  expedient.  There  is  no  general  rule  upon 
the  subject.  All  the  letters  received  or  written  by  the  prisoners  are 
subjected  to  the  inspection  of  the  directors,  and  are  withheld  when 
their  contents  are  improper.  There  is,  therefore,  no  ground  to  appre- 
hend injurious  effects,  and,  in  general,  the  correspondence  of  the  pris- 
oners is  attended  with  a  beneficial  influence. 

The  prisoners  are  permitted  to  receive  the  visits  of  their  friends  as 
often,  generally,  as  once  a  month.  A  grating  separates  the  prisoner 
from  his  visitor,  and  an  employe  is  always  present  to  supervise  the 
interview,  which,  as  a  general  thing,  may  not  exceed  a  quarter  of  an 
hour.  They  cannot  converse  privately.  As  in  the  case  of  the  corre- 
spondence, it  may  be  said  that  the  general  effect  of  these  visits  is  good. 

§  9.  Every  convict-prison  in  Norway  has  its  chaplain  of  the  Evan- 
gelical Lutheran  confession,  to  which  faith  almost  all  the  people  of 
Norway  belong.  In  the  minor  district  prisons,  spiritual  assistance  is 
generally  afforded  by  the  parish  minister  of  the  district  where  the  prison 
is  situated.  To  the  chaplains  it  belongs  to  conduct  divine  service  in 
the  prisons  and  to  labor  for  the  reformation  of  their  inmates  by  the 
further  agencies  of  personal  conversation,  admonition,  and  instruction. 

E,eligious  lessons  are  regarded  in  Norway  as  a  very  effective  agent  in 
the  reformation  of  imprisoned  criminals. 

Sunday-schools  exist  in  most  of  the  convict  or  hard-labor  prisons, 
but  .persons  outside  of  the  administration  are  not  admitted  for  moral 
labor  within  the  prisons. 

Correspondence  and  visits  are  permitted  to  the  prisoners  under  due 
restrictions,  and  the  moral  effect  in  both  cases  is  found  to  be  good. 

§  10.  In  all  the  large  prisons  of  Russia  there  are  chapels  and  chap- 
lains. Prisoners  of  all  the  different  creeds  receive  the  oiiices  of  religion 
from  ministers  of  their  own  faith,  even  Jews  and  Mussulmans. 

The  report  on  the  prisons  of  Russia,  as  already  stated  in  a  previous 
chapter,  was  drawn  up  by  Count  Sollohub,  president  of  the  imperial 
commission  on  prison  reform  for  that  empire.  On  the  subject  of  relig- 
ious instruction  in  prisons  the  distinguished  count  holds  this  language : 

In  the  present  condition  of  things,  the  duties  of  the  chaphiin.s  rest  rather  on  the  per- 
formance of  religions  ceremonies  than  on  the  giving  of  formal  iiistrnction.  Viewed  in 
its  relation  to  the  actual  state  of  things  iu  the  country,  I  iiud  no  disadvantages  in  this 


54  INTERNATIONAL   PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

arranrjement.  Ceremonies  speak  to  the  eye  and  the  heart.  Reli;j;ions  instruction  re- 
quires in  the  priests  who  uudertalje  it  the  largest  charity  and  a  hij^h  civilization.  The 
aggressive  principle  of  the  gospel,  when  disconnected  from  mattsrial  interests,  is  cer- 
tainly the  crown  of  the  servant  of  God,  but  this  work  would  require  a  special  clergy 
trained  for  the  purpose  of  this  particular  mission.  In  addition  to  the  education  of 
those  who  speak,  those  wlio  hear  must  likewise  be  educated,  that  they  may  under- 
stand as  well  as  listen.  It  is  impossible  to  deny  the  importance  of  religious  worship 
and  instruction,  but  I  think  in  all  things  excess  is  pernicious.  A  man  in  nu)re  favor- 
able conditions  than  a  prisoner  would  immediately  lose  patience  if  he  had  to  listen 
only  to  exhortations  to  virtue  and  repentance.  The  prisoner,  having  no  means  of 
resistance,  buries  in  his  heart  a  hatred  which  makes  repentance  impossible,  or  assumes 
a  hypocritical  garb  of  piety,  in  the  hope  of  gaining  something  by  it.  I  think  I  am  not 
mistaken  in  afiiruiing  that  the  desire  to  reform  ])risoners  has  often  been  wanting  in  an 
intelligent  com]nehensiou  of  human  nature.  Virtue  is  not  manufactured  by  formal 
methods;  such  methods  can  only  produce  the  absence  of  vice,  not  the  presence  of 
individual  morality,  which  is  able  to  withstand  all  the  assaults  of  temptation.  I  have 
found  out  by  experience  that  we  have  nniny  more  chances  of  s-uccess  when  Ave  appeal 
to  men  through  their  interests  than  through  merely  their  good  sentiments,  and  that, 
by  removing  from  them  the  opportunity  of  doing  evil,  we  naturally  lead  them  to  do 
vs'ell,  while  we  fail  to  turn  them  from  vice  by  wearying  sermons.  At  the  same  time  I 
should  rigorously  insist  on  attendance  at  divine  service  on  Sunday,  on  daily  prayers, 
and  on  religious  instruction  in  all  central  inisons.  But  I  think  that  religious  ref<u-mation 
should  not  be  the  declared  object,  but  left  to  develop  itself  in  proportion  as  hope  and 
confidence  re-enter  the  heart  of  the  criminal,  and  as  he  comes  to  see  that  his  own  welfare 
depends  on  his  reconciliation  to  society. 

It  would  ap[)ear  that  private  persons  are,  to  a  certain  extent,  permit- 
ted to  visit  and  seek  the  moral  regeneration  of  inisoners.  On  this  sub- 
ject the  count  says: 

There  are  few  persons  in  Russia  who  devote  themselves  to  the  moral  reform  of  pris- 
oners. Some  remarkable  exceptions  exist;  among  others,  Dr.  Hase,  vrho  has  left  behind 
Lim  a  touching  celebrity  fen-  his  effoi'ts  in  that  direction. 

There  are  no  Sunday-schools  in  Eussian  prisons,  such  as  they  exist 
among  us.  But  in  most  prisons  of  any  size,  discussions  on  scientific 
subjects  are  held  on  Sunday,  in  which  the  prisoners  take  a  lively  interest. 

As  regards  the  correspondence  of  prisoners,  it  is  pernntted  under  the 
necessary  limitations ;  but  since  the  greater  part  of  the  prisoners  can 
neither  read  nor  write,  the  matter  becomes  of  comparatively  little  con- 
sequence. 

Visits  from  relatives  are  permitted,  but  with  due  restrictions.  The 
effect  of  these  visits,  in  a  moral  point  of  view,  depends  on  the  morality 
of  tlie  visitors.     The  rei)orter  adds  : 

I  do  not  suppose  that  parents  coming  to  visit  their  children  could  injure  them- 
Moreover,  I  regard  that  degree  of  disciplinary  punishment  wliicli  susp«'uds  the  right 
of  receiving  all  such  visits,  without  exce[)tion,  as  unjust  and  unwise,  particularly  aa 
it  often  punislies  llie  visitors  much  more  tlian  it  does  the  prisoners. 

§  n.  Only  Lutheran  clmplains  are  emi)loyed  in  the  prisons  of  Sweden. 
Few  prisoners  are  found  in  them  of  any  otlu'r  religious  belief. 

The  duties  of  the  <;hai)hiin  are  to  hohl  divine  service,  administer  the 
Ha(;iaments,  and  give  religious  instnu'tion  ;  to  ascertiun  by  conversation 
the  .state  of  tlie  ])risoriers' minds,  and  seek  their  reformation;  to  take 
charge  of  the  library  and  churcli  registers,  in  which  latter  lie  enters 
ol>ser\:if ions  on  each  jtrisoner's  manner  of  life  and  coiuluct.  If  the 
eli;ipl;iin  is  e(|ii;il  to  ills  high  mission  and  /eidous  in  its  duties,  the  iacul- 
ti(^s  of  Mie  prisoners  are  considerably  dev»'lo|)(Ml ;  they  gain  a  ciear  i)er- 
cpption  of  justice;  and  many  of  tiiem  iir(^  h'd  to  form  a  firm  resolve  to 
Hve  iti  future  an   lioii(>st  bfe. 

Snmhiy-si'hoois  ure  found  in  a  few  prisons,  but  they  are  exceptions 
to  a  general  inle.      Where,  lliey  exist,  they  luive  a,  beii(>ficial  effcM-t. 

I'ersods  not  (;onnecle(i  with  llu' adminislration  e;ni  iiave  access  to  the 
j)risoiierH  only  by  special  permission.  Men  of  high  character,  and, 
known  to  be  prudent  and  capable  of  laboring  for  their  moral  reforma. 


MORAL   AGENCIES RUSSIA— SWEDEN— SWITZERLAND.  55 

tion,  are  readily  permitted  to  visit  them.  In  the  prisons  for  womeu 
Avell-kuowii  ladies  have  obtained  leave  to  visit  the  prisoners  on  Sunday 
to  iustrnct  them,  and  give  them  practice  in  singing. 

Th(;  privilege  of  correspondence  is  pretty  freely  granted  to  prisoners, 
particularly  with  their  nearest  relatives,  and  is  found  to  have  a  good 
influence  on  them. 

As  regards  visits,  prisoners  awaiting  trial,  and  those  sentenced  cor- 
rectionally,  have  a  large  license ;  but  those  sentenced  to  hard  labor  can- 
not see  even  their  nearest  of  kin  without  special  permission  from  the 
director.  Visits  are  always  made  in  the  presence  of  the  director  or  of 
an  officer  detailed  to  that  duty.  Duly  regulated,  they  have  no  bad 
effect. 

§  12.  Ministers  of  the  Eeformed  and  qf  the  Catholic  religion  act  a« 
chaplains  in  the  prisons  of  Switzerland.  The  rabbi  of  the  nearest 
locality  is  invited  to  visit  such  co-religionists  as  are  occasionally  found 
in  them. 

In  the  establishments  which  are  imperfectly  organized,  the  chaplains, 
for  the  most  part,  coutine  themselves  to  the  celebration  of  public  woi-ship. 
In  proportion  as  the  prisons  approach  the  category  of  penitentiaries  that 
aim  at  the  reformation  of  the  prisoners,  these  officers  are  seen  paying 
regular  visitts  to  them,  consoling  and  counseling  them,  superintending 
the  religious  instruction  of  the  juvenile  delinquents,  and  fulfilling  toward 
them  all  the  duties  of  their  ministry. 

Eeligious  instruction,  as  a  means  of  reforming  prisoners,  is  looked 
upon  in  Switzerland  as  of  the  highest  importance  and  as  exercising  the 
happiest  influence,  particularly  if  the  person  charged  with  it  possesses 
the  special  aptitudes  suited  to  the  high  mission  which  he  is  called  to 
fulfill,  and  throws  aside,  as  far  as  he  may,  mere  dogmatic  questions. 
Prisoners  in  whose  heart  the  religious  sentiment  is  not  extinguished  at 
the  time  of  their  entrance  are  easily  impressed  by  the  exhortations  of 
the  chaplains;  on  the  other  hand,  such  as  do  not  possess  it  offer  to  the 
instructions  of  religion  a  soil  arid  and  ungrateful.  Among  prisoners 
self-deception  and  hypocrisy  are  not  unfrequently  met  with  ;  yet  it  often 
happens  that  individuals  who  reject  or  are  ignorant  of  the  Bible  end  by 
finding  in  its  pages  the  consolation  of  which  they  are  in  pursuit. 

Sunday-schools,  properly  so  called,  do  not  exist  in  the  Swiss  prisons. 
At  Ziirich  the  chaplain  holds  a  catechetical  exercise  in  the  afternoon, 
and  afterward  an  instructor  gives  a  lesson  in  sacred  music. 

Persons  of  both  sexes,  not  connected  with  the  administration,  are 
admitted  into  the  prisons  to  labor  for  the  moral  improvement  of  the 
prisoners.  In  the  cantons  which  have  new  penitentiaries,  such  persons 
are  authorized  to  visit  the  prisoners  in  virtue  of  decrees  of  the  legisla- 
tive authorities.  This  is  especially  the  case  with  members  of  aid  societies, 
who  have  free  access  to  the  prisoners  whom  they  seek  to  succor. 

In  the  female  penitentiaries  iadxr  patronesses  are  frequently  met 
with,  especially  in  the  cities  which  were  visited  in  1839  by  Elizabeth 
Pry,  and  where,  at  the  instance  of  that  good  and  charitable  woman, 
ladies'  aid  societies  were  organized  to  console,  to  place,  to  watch  over, 
and  to  sustain  criminal  womeu.  At  Ziirich,  where  a  society  of  this  kind 
exists,  the  lady  patronesses  give  to  the  female  prisoners  in  the  peniten- 
tiaries regular  lessons  and  take  charge  of  their  religious  instruction. 

The  privilege  of  correspondence  with  friends  is  accorded,  but  under 
different  regulations  and  with  greater  or  less  frequency  in  different 
cantons. 

In  the  establishments  where  the  progressive  Crofton  system  has 
been  introduced, prisoners  of  the  middle  class  can  write  letters  every  two 


56  INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

months,  those  of  the  higher  class  every  month.  But  an  extension  of 
this  favor  is  often  granted,  especially  in  cases  where  the  (;orrespondence 
is  of  snch  a  character  as  to  draw  closer  the  ties  of  family,  to  exert  a 
good  inflnence,  and  contribute  to  the  moral  cure  of  the  ])risoner.  This 
powerful  means  of  moral  reformation  is  more  or  less  neglected  in  estab- 
lishments where  the  organization  is  imperfect.  As  the  letters  pass 
under  the  inspection  of  the  director,  his  eye  sometimes  detects  senti- 
ments which  have  their  taint  of  hypocrisy;  but,  in  spite  of  that,  the 
correspondence  of  the  prisoners  manifests  a  strong  family  afitection,  and 
awakens  tender  household  memories. 

The  visits  of  relations  and  intimate  acquaintances  are  permitted  the 
same  as  correspondence,  and  are  most  carefully  regulated  in  the  prisons 
where  penitentiary  education  receives  the  greatest  attention.  The  in- 
ternal regulations  of  different  penitentiaries  grant  the  indulgence  of 
visits  more  or  less  frequently,  but  the  average  is  about  once  a  month. 
As  in  the  case  of  correspondence,  an  extension  of  this  privilege  is  often 
accorded  when  the  visits  are  found  to  have  a  salutary  effect. 

§  13.  The  American  report  on  this  branch  of  the  general  subject  is 
exceedingly  meager,  and  appears  to  the  undersigned,  with  all  possible 
respect  to  the  eminent  and  noble-hearted  author,  not  quite  just  to  the 
chaplains  of  our  higher  prisons,  which  alone,  for  the  most  part,  of 
American  prisons,  have  an  officer  of  that  class.  There  is  scarcely  a 
county  jail  in  the  country  which  enjoys  the  services  of  even  a  nominal 
chai)lain,  and  it  is  doubtful  wliether  there  is  one  which  has  such  an  offi- 
cer exclusively  devoted  to  the  moral  and  spiritual  welfare  of  its  inmates. 
Most  of  the  state-prisons  have  chaplains,  but  few,  it  is  believed,  of  the 
prisons  holding  a  middle  ground  between  the  state-piison  and  the 
county  jail  have  them.  The  report  represents  indifferent  chaplains  as 
the  lule,  good  and  effective  ones  as  the  exception.  The  undersigned 
would  reverse  this  order.  He  has  had  personal  knowledge  of  many  of 
these  gentlemen,  and,  as  a  class,  he  cannot  help  regarding  them  as 
earnest,  devoted,  hard-working,  useful  prison  off;,cers,  and,  he  is  sorry 
to  ho  compelled  to  add,  very  ill  i>aid  for  the  work  they  do.  It  has  often 
been  matter  of  woiuler  to  him  that  men  so  competent  could  be  had  for  a 
comjxMisation  so  disproportioned  to  both  the  amount  and  the  value  of 
the  service  rendered.  He  has  known  instances  in  which  the  services  of 
chaj>laiiis  have  been  sought  by  wealthy  churches,  at  largely  increased 
rates  of  remuneration,  and  in  wliich  they  nevertheless  resisted  the 
tempting  call  and  icmained  in  their  humbler  position  of  prison  pastor, 
from  love  to  tlu^  Master  and  to  those  in  whom,  all  fallen  and  criminal 
as  they  are.  He  has  deigned  to  declare  that  He  is  Himself  visited  and 
minist(;red  to.  However  large  the  prison  may  be,  even  though  it  con- 
tain an  avenige  population  of  a  thousand  or  more  souls,  there  is  seldom, 
if  e\'er,  more  than  one  chaplain  ;  and  he  is  charged,  not  only  with  the 
H[)iritual  care  of  this  immense  multitude,  but  also  with  the  oversight  of 
the  pi'isoner.s'  correspon<ieiice  iind  wiMi  that  of  the  library,  superadded 
t;0  all  which  is  not  uiifVe(|iieiitly  the  giving,  or  at  least  the  su[)erintend- 
iiig,  of  seliohisfic  inshiict ion. 

Most  of  our  slate  ])ris()ns,  and  some  of  a  lower  grade,  have  Sunday- 
schools,  large  and  (louiishitig;  not  a  few  have  weekly  i>rayer-meetings, 
which  ar(^  atlciided  l»y  jjiisoneis  varying  in  niimlxM-  from  a  score  or  so 
to  several  IimimIkmI.  Into  most  of  our  prisons  workers  from  outside,  of 
known  jniidence  and  i>i<'ly,  are  freely  admitted  to  labor,  in  ai  vai'iety  of 
ways,  for  the  moial  and  spiiilual  benefit  of  the  conN'icts,  in  most  cases 
(not  in  all)  with  excellent,  elfcet,. 

Corj'es])ondence  and  visits  of  friends  are  perinitted  in  all  prisons,  but 


MORAL    AGENCIES UNITED    STATES ENGLAND IRELAND.     57 

nniler  a  variety  of  rein'nlatioiis  and  restrictioiis  too  luimerons  for  state- 
ment. The  general  testimony  of  wardens  and  chaplains- is  that  the  effect 
of  both  is  lieneficial  rather  than  otherwise. 

§  14.  In  England,  every  convict-prison  has  its  staff  of  ministers  of 
religion,  who  hold  two  religions  services  on  Sunday  and  morning 
prayers  daily,  besides  performing  all  the  ordinary  pastoral  duties  during 
the  week.  For  the  most  part,  tlie  chaplains  are  not  permitted  to  have 
any  other  occupations  than  those  appertaining  to  their  office,  thus  being 
left  free  to  devote  their  whole  time  to  the  improvement  of  the  prisoners 
placed  under  their  spiritual  care.  The  advantage  of  thus  inculcating 
religious  truth  and  seeking  to  awake  religious  feeling  is  held  to  be  in- 
contestible,  and  notwithstandiu'g  the  doubts  which  have  been  called  out 
by  injudicious  exaggeration  of  the  results  of  these  influences,  the  ad- 
vantages thus  afforded  are  much  appreciated  by  j)risoners,  and  the  exer- 
tions of  the  ministers  of  religion  bear  perhaps  as  much  fruit  as  in  the 
world  outside. 

Volunteer  working  visitors  are  not  admitted  into  the  convict-prisons. 

Periodical  letters  to  respectable  acquaintances  are  allowed,  the  fre- 
quency vai\ying  according  to  the  class.  The  same  is  true  as  regards  the 
receiving  of  visits.  Both  privileges  are  found  to  be  beneficial  in  their 
influence  on  the  convicts. 

All  county  and  borough  jails  in  England  are  provided  with  chap- 
lains. Their  duties  are  substantially  the  same  as  those  of  the  chaplains 
of  convict-prisons.  No  Sunday-schools  exist  in  these  prisons  and  no 
volunteer  workers  are  admitted. 

Letters  may  be  written  and  visits  received  by  prisoners  on  the  expira- 
tion of  the  first  three  months  of  their  imprisonment;  but  as  a  very 
small  proportion  of  the  inmates  remain  three  months,  and  not  one  in  a 
thousand  six  months,  it  would  seem  to  be,  in  regard  to  the  mass,  but  a 
barren  privilege. 

§  15.  The  regulations  and  usages  of  the  Irish  convict-prisons  are  sub- 
stantially the  same  as  those  of  England  in  all  that  relates  to  the  general 
subject-matter  treated  of  in  the  present  chapter. 

No  ofiBcial  report  was  made  to  the  congress  in  so  far  as  the  borough 
and  county  prisons  of  Ireland  are  concerned. 


CHAPTER  V. 

SCHOLASTIC   EDUCATION. 

§  1.  The  average  proportion  of  prisoners  unable  to  read,  in  Austria, 
on  their  commitment,  was,  during  the  years  1868,  1869,  and  1870,  38  j)er 
cent,  of  men  and  50  per  cent,  of  women. 

As  a  rule,  all  Austrian  imsons  are  provided  with  schools.  All 
prisoners  of  a  suitable  age  to  learn,  (thirty-five  years  and  under,)  and 
who  are  either  wholly  illiterate  or  of  defective  attainments,  are  required 
to  attend  the  prison  school. 

The  subjects  taught  are  the  common  primary  branches,  together  with 
composition,  the  elements  of  natural  history,  physics,  geography  and 
history,  and,  in  rare  cases,  drawing  and  geometry.  Besides  this,  in  all 
the  prisons  for  men,  instruction  in  vocal  and  instrumental  music  is 
given,  but  only  as  a  reward  of  merit  and  to  such  prisoners  as  possess 
musical  gifts.     The  progress  made  in  the  schools  is  satisfactory. 

Libraries  have  existed  in  the  j)risons  only  during  the  last  few  years. 


58  INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

The  works  selected  are,  besides  those  of  a  religious  character,  popular 
works  ou  history,  geography,  natural  history,  physics,  husbandry,  tech- 
nical subjects,  and  political  economy,  books  of  an  entertaining  and 
instructive  character,  as  biographies  of  celebrated  men,  accounts  of  trav- 
els, descriptions  of  customs  and  manners,  and  moral  tales.  The  use  of  the 
libraries  is  constantly  increasing.  Those  who  are  able  to  read  receive 
books  for  themselves;  for  those  in  associated  confinement  who  are  una- 
ble to  read,  readers  are  appointed.  Preference  is  generally  given  to  tales, 
travels,  and  biographical  sketches.  Only  prisoners  of  some  education 
ask  for  books  of  a  higher  standard.  The  influence  of  this  reading  is* 
exceedingly  good,  not  only  because  the  keeping  of  order  and  quietness 
is  thereby  greatly  assisted,  but  because  the  mind  of  the  prisoner  is  in 
this  way  withdrawn  from  his  every-day  life,  directed  to  new  objects, 
stirred  to  higher  and  better  thoughts,  and  thereby  unconsciously  enno- 
bled. 

§  2.  In  Belgium,  49  per  cent,  of  the  prisoners  when  committed  are  un- 
able to  read.  Every  prison  with  fifty  inmates  or  more  has  a  school  or  a 
teaching  lecturer.  At  the  penitentiary  of  Louvain,  attendance  is  obliga- 
tory on  all  prisoners;  at  Ghent,  it  is  obligatory  on  all  under  thirty  years 
of  age,  and  is  permitted  to  those  who  have  passed  that  limit.  In  other 
l)risons,  attendance  is  obligatory  on  all  juvenile  delinquents  and  ou  all 
adult  prisoners  who,  having  a  sentence  of  at  least  six  months,  are  under 
forty;  it  is  permitted  to  all  others.  The  instruction  given  in  the  peniten- 
tiary schools  includes  religion — which  is  taught  by  the  chaplains  or  un- 
der their  immediate  direction — morals,  reading,  writing,  arithmetic,  ele- 
mentary notions  of  grammar,  history  and  geography — particularly  the 
history  and  geography  of  Belgium — the  elements  of  geometry  and  linear 
drawing  in  their  relations  with  trades,  and  other  branches  of  a 
l)ractical  utility.  Great  progress  is  made  by  the  jmsouers  in  these 
studies. 

Libraries  are  found  in  all  the  prisons  of  Belgium.  They  contain  three 
classes  of  works,  which  meet  three  several  wants :  that  of  reforming 
the  i)risoners,  that  of  instructing  them,  and  that  of  diverting  their 
n)inds  by  the  reading  of  books  at  once  entertaining,  moral,  and  instruc- 
tive. 

The  prisoners  are  very  fond  of  reading,  and  spend  much  time  in  it. 
The  inliu(Mi(;e  of  these  readings  is  found  to  be  excellent,  and  the  forma- 
tion of  ])ris()n  lil)raries  (it  is  thought)  cannot  be  made  with  too  much 
care  and  disciimiiiation. 

§3.  In  Denmark  one  or  two  school-masters  are  appointed  to  each 
l)rison.  I'risoners  under  eighteen,  who  are  only  isolated  at  night, 
rec(;ive  a  sp(;cial  treatment,  with  two  or  three  hours',  instruction  a  day. 
In  cellMJar  i)ris()ns,  convicts  under  forty  receive  two  to  three  hours'  in- 
sLruction  ji  week.  In  the  associate  prisons,  instruction  is  only  given 
on  Sundays,     I<]very  jyrison  has  school-rooms  and  a  library. 

§4.  The  average  proportion  of  a<lult  jirisoners  unable  to  read  in  the 
Fren(jli  prisons  on  their  CDnimittal  is  50  per  cent.;  of  juvenile  prisoners 
81  per  cent,  are  foun*!  wholly  illiterate. 

The  organi/alion  of  primary  instruction  in  the  prisons  of  France 
dates  l>ack  to  LSI!*.  In  virtue,  of  a  (Ua^nie  of  December  UG  of  that  year, 
})rimary  instruction,  embracing  nsiding  and  the  first  elements  of  calcu- 
lation, was  required  to  l)e,  given  to  prisoiKUs,  following,  as  far  as  their 
nnnilxT  perniit  ted,  the  nietlnxl  of  mutual  instruction.  Since  that  time 
the  administration  has  eslabbshed  s<-,hools  in  all  the  inq)orLaiit  prisons. 
In  iSfit;,  tlie  minist<'r  of  tin;  inteiior  ()r(leic(l  that  a  gr«?ater  extension  be 
given  toprimaiy  instruction,  andrequircd  that  almost  the  entire  prison- 


SCHOLASTIC    EDUCATION — AUSTRIA BELGIUM,  ETC.  59 

population  should  be  made  to  share  in  it,  with  the  exception  of  old  men, 
invalids,  and  those  whose  perversity  requires  their  exclusion.  The  in- 
struction given  in  the  prison  schools  comprises  reading,  writing,  the 
first  four  rules  of  arithmetic,  and  the  legal  system  of  weiglits  and  meas- 
ures. To  this  list  of  branches  may  be  added  mental  calculation,  sur- 
veying, linear  drawing,  and  general  notions  on  the  geography  and  his- 
tory of  France.  The  administration  has  not  been  able,  thus  far,  to  al- 
low all  the  prisoners  to  participate  in  the  benefits  of  primary  instruc- 
tion. While  striving  to  give  a  stronger  impulse  to  instruction,  it  has 
"been  obliged  to  discriminate,  in  admitting  i^risoners  to  the  school,  by 
receiving  first  the  youngest,  afterward  adults,  and  among  the  latter 
those  whose  conduct  is  the  most  satisfactory. 

The  progress  made  by  the  j)risoners  is  generally  rather  slow,  owing  to 
the  little  aptitude  of  the  greater  part  of  them.  Many  who  entered  wholly 
illiterate  leave  the  prison  knowing  how  to  read,  to  write  passably  well, 
and  to  perform  the  simpler  operations  of  arithmetic;  but  a  complete 
elementary  education  is  rare.  The  administration  has  not  been  as  well 
satisfied  as  it  could  have  wished  with  the  results  of  the  instruction  given 
in  the  prisons;  and  it  is  at  this  moment  engaged  in  seeking  new  meth- 
ods of  instruction  and  a  better  organization  of  the  schools  in  the  peni- 
tentiary establishments. 

The  prison  libraries  include  works  for  Catholics,  Protestants,  and 
Israelites,  which  are  intended  to  serve  for  their  moral  and  religious  in- 
struction ;  also,  books  of  history,  accounts  of  voyages,  literary  works, 
treatises  on  ordinary  and  technical  science,  novels,  and  miscellaneous 
works.  These  books  are  examined  with  care  by  the  council  of  general 
inspection  of  the  prisons.  The  works  of  piety  admitted  by  each  relig- 
ion are  designated  only  on  the  recommendation  of  the  ministers  of  the 
different  religions.  The  catalogue  contains  special  indication  of  the 
books  more  particularly  adapted  to  men,  to  women,  and  to  children. 
At  this  moment  the  superior  administration  is  engaged  in  re-organizing 
and  enlarging  libraries  in  all  the  penitentiary  establishments. 

The  prisoners  are  generally  fond  of  reading.  Those  who  have  a 
knowledge  of  this  art  nearly  always  profit  from  the  practice  of  it.  They 
have  their  Sundays  for  reading,  and  on  week-days  they  read  during  the 
hours  of  rest  and  at)»meals.  In  some  establishments  there  are  readings 
in  common  to  convicts  who  are  unoccupied  and  to  others  during  the 
intervals  of  labor.  Sometimes  such  readings  are  given  during  meal- 
time in  the  refectory.  The  i)risoners  listen  to  them  with  interest,  but 
those  who  know  how  prefer  to  read  to  themselves.  The  distribution  of 
books  takes  i)lace  under  the  superintendence  of  the  instructor  or  the 
chaplain,  who,  in  his  selection,  has  regard  to  the  antecedents,  the  apti- 
tudes, and  the  conduct  of  each  prisoner ;  and  the  officers  charged  with 
this  duty  perform  it  in  such  manner  as  to  cultivate  a  taste  for  reading 
by  all  the  means  which  are  consistent  with  the  exigencies  of  the  service. 
Books  specially  written  for  pxisoners  are  not  those  which  they  prefer. 
They  read  with  greater  pleasure  books  of  history,  voyages,  novels,  and 
narratives  which  have  touches  of  the  marvelous,  of  elevated  sentiment, 
and  of  renowned  actions. 

Eeading  is  found  to  exert  a  happy  moral  influence  upon  the  prisoners. 
Those  who  contract  a  taste  for  it  during  their  imprisonment  are  gener- 
ally well  behaved.  Properly  directed,  reading  effects  a  salutary  revo- 
lution in  the  soul  and  imagination  of  the  prisoner.  Hence,  the  choice 
of  books  becomes  a  matter  of  great  importance.  Works  which  amuse 
by  the  interest  of  the  narrative  and  the  charm  of  the  style,  and  those 
w^hich  have  in  them  an  element  of  instruction,  contribute  to  enlighten 


60  INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

and  to  inform  the  prisoner  at  the  same  time  that  they  afford  to  him 
diversion  and  consolation.     They  serye  to  awaken  in  him  the  love  of 
home,  and  sometimes  predispose  him  to  the  duties  of  religion. 
§  5.  The  German  states  report  as  follows: 

(1)  In  Baden  only  4  per  cent,  of  the  prisoners  are  unable  to  read 
when  received.  Schools  are  organized  in  all  the  prisons.  Male  pris- 
oners under  thirty-five  are  required  to  attend,  women  till  they  are 
thirty;  beyond  the  ages  named,  tbose  attend  who  choose.  The  sub- 
jects of  instruction  are  the  same  as  those  in  good  primary  schools. 
With  few  exceptions,  the  prisoners  make  satisfactory  progress.  Every 
prison  has  a  good  library.  The  books  in  it  are  religious,  instructive, 
and  amusing.  The  prisoners  for  the  most  part  are  fond  of  reading. 
Books  written  expressly  for  prisoners  are  in  little  request.  Educated 
prisoners  prefer  descriptions  of  voyages,  biograi^hies,  and  technical 
books ;  those  less  educated  prefer  tales.  Suitable  reading  exercises  a 
beneficial  influence ;  it  instructs  and  relaxes  the  prisoners'  minds,  and 
thus  aids  their  reformation ;  it  favors  discipline  by  removing  the  feeling 
of  enmti  and  the  tendency  to  disorder. 

(2)  In  Bavaria  12  per  cent,  of  the  prisoners  on  commitment  are  illit- 
erate. Schools  are  established  only  in  houses  of  correction  and  the 
general  jirisons.  Attendance  is  obligatory  till  thirty-six;  after  that,  it 
is  optional ;  but  prisoners  under  thirty-six  who  are  already  sufficiently 
educated  are  excused,  if  they  desire  it. 

School  instruction  comprises  reading,  writing,  arithmetic,  geography, 
and  German ;  choral  singing  and  drawing  are  also  taught — the  two  latter 
subjects  being  optional.  Prisoners  who  attend  school  for  less  than  four 
months  make  no  great  progress ;  those  who  have  a  longer  term  make 
very  considerable  advance. 

The  libraries  consist  principally  of  treatises  of  a  religious  and  moral 
character,  of  books  which  are  generally  useful,  of  popularly-written 
works  on  natural  and  general  history,  and  of  popular  editions  of  German 
classics. 

Almost  all  prisoners  in  cells  read  a  great  deal  and  enjoy  it,  but  those 
undergoing  collective  imprisonment  prefer  conversation.  Eeading  ex- 
ercises a  good  influence  by  doing  away,  in  great  measure,  with  the  evil 
consequences  arising  from  idleness,  and  promotes  the  prisoner's  improve- 
ment by  the  cultivation  of  his  mind.  Simple  tales  and  entertaining 
books  are  ))referred — religious  books  least  of  all. 

(3)  Of  one  hundred  i)risoners  sentenced  to  hard  labor  in  Prussia, 
sevent<M'n  cannot  read  when  they  enter  the  prison.  In  other  prisons  a 
less  ))('rc,entage  are  illiterate.  Schools  exist  in  all  Prussian  prisons 
except  four  small  houses  of  arrest. 

All  prisoners  undcigoing  (jcllnlar  imprisonmen't  receive  instruction. 
Among  the  associated  |)risoners  i>reference  is  given  to  the  young  and 
to  those  whose  education  has  been  greatly  neglected,  and  whose  intel- 
lectual facidlies  give  promise  of  subsecpient  ])rogress. 

The  iirescrilted  subjects  of  instruction  are  sacred  history,  reading, 
writing,  arithmetic,  singing,  and  sometimes  drawing.  The  lessons  in 
reading  at  the  same  time  give  instruction  in  the  history  and  geography 
of  Prussia.  'J'lu»,  arithmetic  is  such  as  isuselid  in  daily  life.  The  prison- 
ers ai-e  iiiligent,  in  learning,  and  make  satisfactory  progress. 

The  prisons  have  libr;iiies  eonlaining  I'eligious,  inst  rMcti\'e,  and  (mter- 
taining  l)(»oks.  In  l.sii!)  the  total  nnmiter  of  hooks  in  these  liltraries  was 
]  tt,'llS:  12,210  enterluiiiiiig  and  instructive,  2;),7  lo  educational  books; 
the  remainder  were,  icligions  works. 

Most  of  the  prisoners  are  willing  and  dilig(^nt  readers.     They  all  show 


SCHOLASTIC    EDUCATION GERMAN    STATES ITALY,    ETC.      61 

a  marked  preference  for  histories  and  works  on  natural  science  written 
in  a  popular  style.  Such  reading  has  evidently  a  very  good  influence 
on  them. 

(4)  The  prisoners  in  Saxony  are  generally  sufficiently  instructed  in  the 
elementary  branches,  but  not  many  of  them  have  gone  much  beyond 
that  degree  of  education.  The  penitentiary  takes  especial  care  to  supply 
the  defect  of  the  elementary-  education  by  obligatory  weekly  instruction. 
The  general  and  special  preparation  for  their  calling  is  supplied  to  the 
prisoners  by  free  instruction  on  Sundays.  Such  instruction  is  not 
obligatory,  but  the  prisoner  has  a  claim  to  it  arising  from  good  behavior. 
It  is  voluntarily  given  by  the  officers,  and  not  by  the  clergymen  and 
teachers  alone.  The  library  in  the  penitentiary  of  Zwickau  contains 
5,000  volumes  of  religious,  instructive,  and  entertaining  books,  thus 
providing  for  all  the  mental  wants  of  the  prisoners  who,  under  the  care- 
ful assistance  of  the  teachers,  are  diligent  readers. 

(5)  Prisoners  unable  to  read  and  write  on  their  admission  to  the  prisons  of 
Wiirtemberg  form  a  rare  exception.  Out  of  1,317  prisoners  pi-esent  June 
30,  1871,  nine  could  neither  read  nor  write ;  eight  could  read  and  not 
write.  All  the  prisons  have  schools.  The  prisoners  must  attend  school 
till  thirty  years  of  age ;  prisoners  above  that  age  are  allowed  to  attend. 
The  prison  schools  are  as  efficient  as  good  primary  schools.  The  branches 
of  instruction  are  reading,  writing,  arithmetic,  moral  and  sacred  history, 
geography,  history  of  the  kingdom,  and,  in  some  prisons,  drawing. 
Those  sentenced  to  short  imprisonments  have  their  former  knowledge 
recalled  and  fixed  more  firmly  in  their  minds;  those  suffering  long 
imprisonment  have  it  extended,  and  thus  get  a  higher  education.  Atten- 
tive and  diligent  prisoners  are  muchideased  to  take  part  in  the  instruc- 
tion. In  all  the  prisons  there  are  libraries.  The  books  are  religious, 
instructive,  or  entertaining. 

§  6.  Both  scholastic  and  industrial  education  is  regarded  bj'  the  peniten- 
tiary administration  in  Italy  as  a  ])rincipal  agent  for  the  reformation  of 
prisoners.  To  judge  of  the  breadth  and  efficiency  of  the  former,  it  will 
suffice  to  compare  the  degree  of  instruction  possessed  by  those  who  enter 
and  those  who  leave  the  penitentiaries.  The  illiterate  among  those 
entering  are :  In  the  bagnios,  92  per  cent. ;  in  the  penal  establishments, 
64  i^er  cent, ;  and  in  the  establishments  for  minors,  GO  per  cent.  These 
l^ercentages  are  reduced  for  those  leaving  the  prisons  to:  In  the  first 
class  named,  73 ;  in  the  second,  46;  and,  in  the  last,  12  for  the  houses  of 
custody  and  3  for  the  reformatories. 

In  each  penitentiary  there  existsii  school,  to  which  is  admitted  the  largest 
possible  number  of  prisoners,  the  youngest  and  best  conducted  having 
the  preference.  In  the  houses  of  detention  and  the  reformatories,  the 
school  takes  a  wide  range,  as  it  admits  all  the  inmates  indiscriminately, 
and  in  these  are  specially  taught  drawing,  vocal,  and  instrumental  mu- 
sic, agriculture,  some  foreign  language,  &c.,  and  this  with  admirable 
results.  Every  prison,  whether  for  juveniles  or  adults,  has  a  small 
library  belonging  to  it,  the  formation  of  which  specially  occupies  the 
attention  of  the  central  direction.  The  greater  part  of  the  works 
composing  these  libraries  are  books  written  si)ecially  tor  prisoners,  and 
others  selected  from  educational  works,  written  in  a  pleasing  style  and 
l^resenting  clear  and  elementary  notions  of  the  national  history,  mechan- 
ics, moral  tales,  &c.  As  soon  as  the  prisoners  acquire  the  ability  to 
read,  they  show  a  great  inclination  to  it ;  but  almost  invariably  they 
seek  in  books  some  diversion  from  their  monotonous  life,  or  food  for  the 
imagination,  rather  than  a  fund  of  solid  knowledge ;  consequently  few 
of  the  books  read  by  them  are  of  a  didactic  character,  but  the  greater 


62  INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

part  are  novels  or  romances,  of  course  always  of  an  unimpeachable  moral 
tendency. 

§  7.  Schools  do  not  exist  in  all  the  prisons  of  Mexico.  Wherever  they 
do,  tbey  are  usually  frequented  by  all  illiterate  prisoners. 

The  education  imparted  consists  of  tlie  various  branches  of  primary 
instruction  and  of  religious  and  moral  teaching.  The  progress  made  is 
satisfactory. 

There  are  no  libraries  in  the  Mexican  prisons.  Generally  prisoners 
do  not  read  much,  as  they  belong  for  the  most  part  to  the  lower  classes 
of  society,  where  education  is  seldom  imparted.  Many  are  not  able  to 
read. 

§8.  Thirty-five  to  thirty-eight  in  the  hundred  will  indicate,  with  suffi- 
cient accuracy,  the  proportion  of  prisoners  in  the  Netherlands  who  are 
unable  to  read  and  write  at  the  time  of  their  entrance. 

Schools  exist  in  all  penal  establishments,  except  in  the  police  and 
cantonal  prisons.  In  the  cellular  prisons  the  instruction  is  given  in  the 
cells.  All  prisoners,  up  to  the  age  of  forty  years,  who  do  not  know  how 
to  read  and  write,  are  obliged  to  receive  that  instruction. 

The  branches  commonly  taught  are  reading,  writing,  and  arithme- 
tic. The  system  of  instruction  leaves  much  to  be  desired.  Reforms 
have  been  introduced  or  are  in  contem]ilation.  In  the  two  central 
prisons  for  juvenile  prisoners,  the  system  of  instruction  is  all  that  can  be 
desired. 

There  are  libraries  in  all  the  prisons,  which  include  books  on  morals 
and  religion,  histories,  travels,  &c.  The  books  are  specially  classified 
according  to  the  dift'orent  religions.  Most  of  the  prisoners  are  fond  of 
reading;  they  generally  prefer  books  of  history,  travels,  and  the  like. 
Their  reading  has  a  happy  effect  upon  them. 

§  9.  Only  about  one  in  the  hundred  of  persons  committed  to  prison  in 
!Norway  is  entirely  illiterate. 

Schools  exist  in  all  the  penal  prisons,  but  not  in  the  minor  prisons  of 
the  districts ;  yet,  even  in  these,  some  instruction  is  given  to  ignorant 
young  prisoners  who  remain  for  any  considerable  time.  Instruction  is 
given  in  religion,  reading,  and  arithmetic;  to  some  extent,  also,  in 
writing  and  music.  Generally,  the  prisoners  make  good  progress. 
Lil)raries  are  found  in  all  the  prisons.  Those  in  the  district  prisons 
contain  chieily,  though  nor  wliolly,  religions  books;  those  in  tiie  penal 
prisonsenibrace,  besides  religious  works,  histories,  travels,  &c.  Naturally 
the  prisoners,  especially  those  confined  in  the  cell-prisons,  apply  them- 
selves eagerly  to  reading,  and  evidently  ])rofit  by  it. 

§  10.  In  Russia  very  few  of  the  i)risoners,  when  received,  are  acquainted 
with  reading  and  writing.  Schools  are  giadnally  introducing  into  all 
the  prisons  of  any  size.  Attendance  is  optional.  As  regards  the  kinds 
and  dcgrco  of  instruction  imi)arted,  no  details  can  be  given,  as  j)eniten- 
tiary  educiition  is  still  in  its  infancy.  It  is  proposed,  when  fully  organ- 
ized, lo  iiiaUe  it  broad  and  comjtrehcnsivo.  Mr.  Savenke,  a  distinguished 
S|iecj;ilist,  has  already  made,  some  remarkable  expiu-iments  and  achieved 
extraordinary  icsults  in  this  department  of  prison  work. 

Lihiaries,  though  still  hut  poorly  supplied,  are  found  in  many  prisons. 
The  prisoners  are  fond  of  reading  and  of  having  books  read  to  them, 
wiieii  there  is  no  eonqudsion  in  the  case. 

§  II.  Neaily  all  the  prisoneis  eommitted  to  the  Swedish  prisons  can 
rea<l  an<l  mue.li  the  greater  part  write. 

Sehools  exist  in  the  associate  prisons;  in  the  cellular  prisons,  the 
iniuates  are  instrncted  in  their  cells.  All  the  illiterate  are  allowed  to 
attend  upon  the  lessons,  unless  they  are  too  old  to  profit  by  them. 


SCHOLASTIC    EDUCATION NETHERLANDS NORWAY,    ETC.      bS 

Instruction  is  limited  to  reading,  writing,  religion,  the  elements  of 
history  and  geograpliy,  orthography,  the  four  fundamental  rules  of 
arithmetic,  and  natural  history.  The  progress  is  about  equal  to  that 
made  \u  the  national  schools,  and  is  satisfactory. 

There  are  small  libraries  in  the  prisons.  The  prisoners  voluntarily 
spend  their  leisure  time  and  their  holidays  in  reading,  either  individ- 
ually or  in  classes.  In  the  latter  case  one  of  themselves  or  an  officer 
reads  aloud. 

They  prefer  religious  and  moral  books  or  accounts  of  voyages.  On 
Sundays  they  practise  sacred  music.  These  exercises  have  an  excellent 
eff"ect  both  on  the  minds  and  manners  of  the  prisoners. 

§  12.  The  degree  of  illiteracy  varies  in  the  different  cantons  of  Switzer- 
land. The  official  report  sent  to  the  congress  from  this  country  states 
the  gene'ral  average,  on  committal,  of  wholly  illiterate  prisoners  at  17  per 
cent.,  and  this,  notwithstanding  education  is  obligatory  in  Switzerland 
and  in  fourteen  cantons  is  also  gratuitous.  These  facts,  taken  together, 
show  how  prolific  a  source  of  crime  ignorance  is. 

Schools  are  organized  in  all  the  improved  penitentiaries,  and  in  many 
other  establishments  lessons  are  given  by  the  chaplain.  It  even  happens 
that  these  duties  are  confided  to  a  prisoner,  if  he  is  a  teacher  by  profes- 
sion, or  if  he  possesses  the  necessary  knowledge  and  aptitude.  In  peni- 
tentiary establishments  in  which  schools  are  opened,  all  the  prisoners, 
except  those  excused  by  age — above  forty-five — and  those  subjected  to 
the  cellular  regime^  attend  lessons  in  classes.  The  prisoners  receive,  on 
an  average,  from  four  to  five  hours'  schooling  per  week.  Those  who  are 
in  the  cellular  stage  are  visited  by  the  instructor  in  their  cells,  and 
there  commence  their  course  of  instruction.  Three  classes  are  formed 
in  the  best  organized  penitentiaries.  In  the  lower  class  the  elementary 
branches  only  are  taught ;  in  the  middle  class  progress  is  made  toward 
the  higher  branches  of  study ;  and  in  the  highest  class  are  studied 
mathematics,  physics,  technology,  and  linear  drawing,  so  far  as  these 
sciences  are  applied  to  arts  and  trades;  and  even,  in  some  cases,  foreign 
languages  are  taught. 

The  progress  made  differs  much  in  the  case  of  different  prisoners. 
Many  are  remarkable  for  their  zeal  and  ])ower  of  acquisition,  while  others 
advance  but  slowly.  The  organ  of  thought,  little  accustomed  to  being 
used,  has  lost  its  force.  The  power  of  memory  is  often  wanting,  and 
the  result  in  these  cases  is  a  stupefaction,  which  leads  to  indifference. 
Still,  the  average  progress  made  is  highly  satisfactory,  especially  in  the 
case  of  juvenile  delinquents. 

Libraries  are  found  in  all  the  prisons.  In  those  of  the  cantons  where 
prison  discipline  is  little  advanced,  the  number  of  books  is  limited,  and 
works  exclusively  religious  predominate.  In  the  penitentiaries  which 
are  better  organized  the  libraries  are  composed  of  moral  and  religious 
books,  of  works  of  general  history  and  the  history  of  Switzerland,  of 
biographies,  travels,  ethnography,  natural  history,  works  on  mechanics, 
agriculture,  belles-lettres,  &c.  K-omances  of  a  moral  cliaracter  are  not 
excluded. 

The  prisoners  read,  relatively,  a  great  deal  in  the  penitentiaries  where 
they  pass  Sunday  in  their  cells,  and  where  they  have  at  their  disposal 
a  variety  of  works.  They  generally  prefer  moral  tales,  narratives  of  voy- 
ages, biographies,  Swiss  and  general  history,  and  works  of  popular 
science.  Reading  is  found  to  have  a  very  beneficial  effect  upon  the 
prisoners.  It  enlarges  the  circle  of  their  general  knowledge,  and  by 
fuller  explanations  of  what  they  had  learned  iu  the  way  of  routine,  it 
developes  also  their  practical  knowledge.    It  is  by  keeping  their  minds 


64  INTERXATIOXAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

continually  occupied  by  labor,  or  by  moral  and  intellectual  recreations, 
that  that  self-respect  is  oftenest  awakened  in  prisoners  wbich  con- 
stitutes the  best  guarantee  against  secret  vice.  These  elevating  and 
noble  agencies  calm  an  ardent  imagination,  and  often  put  to  tligli^t  ideas 
inspired  by  base  passions  and  by  vicious  and  criminal  sentiments. 

§  13.  The  general  condition  of  prisoners  in  the  United  States,  in  point 
of  education,  is  low  as  compared  with  the  whole  population  of  the  country. 
Yet  it  differs  much  in  different  States.  In  Massachusetts,  for  a  period 
of  eight  years  past,  the  statistics  show  very  nearly  one-third  of  all 
prisoners  to  be  wholly  illiterate ;  yet  in  tlie  highest  prison,  at  Charles- 
town,  the  proportion  of  illiterate  convicts  since  the  beginning  of  1804 
has  been  scarcely  more  than  one  in  ten.  In  the  Philadelphia  prison, 
(eastern  penitentiary,)  out  of  7,092  prisoners  received  between  1829  and 
1872,  about  one-fifth  (1,418)  were  wholly  illiterate,  and  almost  a  sixth 
more  (1,124)  could  only  read.  In  the  western  penitentiary  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, at  Pittsburgh,  the  proportion  of  illiterate  convicts  is  less,  (42  in 
375,  or  one-ninth,)  while  those  who  can  read  only  is  still  smaller  (47  in 
375,  or  one-eighth.)  In  the  county  prisons  of  Pennsylvania,  more  than 
a  third  of  the  prisoners  are  illiterate,  and  the  same  is  true  of  New 
York;  but,  in  the  large  Western  States  of  Ohio,  Illinois,  Michigan,  and 
Wisconsin,  the  proportion  of  the  illiterate  is  smaller,  and  probably  does 
not  exceed  one-fourth.  Out  of  8,744  convicts  received  by  Mr.  Brock- 
way  in  Michigan,  2,100  were  wholly  illiterate;  but  in  the  Michigan 
vState-prison,  only  42  out  of  356,  or  less  than  one-eighth,  were  wholly 
illiterate,  though  only  28G,  or  three-fourths,  could  both  read  and  write. 
In  the  Iowa  state-prison,  34  out  of  21G  could  neither  read  nor  write  ; 
in  the  Kansas  state-prison,  61  out  of  303 ;  while  42  more  could  read 
indifferently,  but  not  write.  In  California,  226  convicts  in  the  state- 
prison  out  of  732  (nearly  one-third)  were  illiterate.  But  when  we  look 
at  the  late  slaveholding  States,  the  proportion  of  illiteracy  greatly  in- 
creases. Of  609  convicts  in  Maryland,  394,  or  nearly  three-filths,  could 
neither  read  nor  write;  of  389  in  North  Carolina,  264,  or  more  than  two- 
thirds,  can  neither  read  nor  write  ;  in  the  other  fourteen  Southern  States 
the  proportion  is  probably  about  the  same.  Practically,  then,  two-thirds 
of  the  prisoners  in  these  sixteen  States  are  illiterate,  while  in  the  rest 
of  the  Union  something  more  than  one-third  are  so,  probably  ;  so  that 
about  half  the  38,000  prisoners  now  in  conhnement  are  practically  with- 
out education,  and  a  large  proportion  of  the  remainder  possess  it  to  only  a 
very  limited  extent.  The  women  in  prison  are  not  so  well  educated  as 
tiie  men,  an<l  the  short-sentenced  convicts,  as  a  rule,  not  as  intelligent  as 
those  sent  to  liigher  prisons. 

Th(5  provision  made  lor  the  mental  imi)rovcment  of  prisoners  is  better 
now  in  most  of  the  States  than  it  was  a  few  years  ago.  Public  attention 
has  b(M'n  drawn  to  the  subject,  and,  in  a  few  prisons,  not  only  libraries 
and  schools,  but  lectures  have  been  establishetl,  with  a  view  to  the  gen- 
eial  cduciition  of  tlui  convicts  and  to  aid  in  their  reformalion.  The 
b(^st  instaiM-e  of  this  prison  instruction  in  the  United  States  is  ])robably 
found  in  the  Detroit  House  of  Corre(;tion,  where  a  school-systt'in  was 
established  in  IS(i9,  when  the  number  of  convicts  was  about  3()0 ;  on  the 
Jst  of  May,  1872,  it  was  402,  of  whom  296  were  men  and  106  women. 
During  tin*  year  1871  the  average  number  of  convicts  in  the  [)rison  was 
3S5j  in  school  219,  or  nearly  two-thirds  of  the  whole  number.  Of  this 
average,  141  were  men  and  78  women,  the,  schools  being  separate.  In 
Ills  last  leport,  Mr.  Hrockway  says  : 

Tliin  HVHtciii  was  iiitrodiici'd  iuiioiif^ilio  ])risoiHnH  to  aid  (Ikmi- reformat  ion,  and  is  now 
condiiclcd  for  tliis  |Hirpos(^;  not  ho  niucii  to  relievo  tin;  monotony  of  iniprisonnient  and 
to  iniiiart  tin,'  aliility  to  lead,  writt',  and   cipln  r,  loi-  the  convonlonco  of  tlicHo  accoiii- 


SCHOLASTIC  EDUCAflOX SWITZERLAND UNITED  STATES.       G5 

jtlishmouts,  us  to  discipline  the  miud  and  fit  it  to  receive  aud  to  evolve  iu  the  life  the 
thoughts  and  principles  that  constitute  their  possessors  good  citizens.  Attendance 
upon  the  school  is  made  obligatory,  and  the  intellectual  tasks  are  required,  as  are  the 
industrial.  The  sessions  of  the  general  school  are  two  and  one  half  hours  each,  on  two 
evenings  every  week,  and  are  for  recitations  chietly.  The  writing-school  is  also  held 
on  two  evenings  each  week  for  both  men  aud  women,  aud  the  men's  writing-class  is 
followed  each  evening  with  a  normal  or  teachers'  class,  iu  preparation  foi:  the  general 
school.  The  women  associate  a  singing-exercise  with  their  writiug-class  on  each 
evening.  All  prisoners  wlio  attend  school  are  supplied  with  a  light  tii  their  cell,  for 
study,  aud  all  draw  books  from  the  library.  Every  Saturday,  at  5  o'clock,  all  the 
prisoners  iu  the  institution  (numbering  uow  440)  assemble  in  the  cluipel  to  listen  to  a 
lecture.  This  is  the  crowning  feature  of  our  educational  effort ;  during  1871  we  had 
forty-six  lectures — carefully-prepared,  well-delivered  lectures — many  of  which  had 
been  delivered  to  first-class  audiences  of  citizens,  aud  were  worthy  of  a  place  iu  any 
lyceum-course. 

The  followiug  details,  given  by  the  teachers,  are  too  important,  as 
well  as  too  interesting,  to  be  omitted  : 

The  twenty-one  classes  into  which  the  school  has  been  divided  have  been  taught  by 
twenty-eight  teachers,  selected  with  a  single  exception  from  the  prisoners  themselves. 
The  changes  in  teachers  have  been  much  less  numerous  than  was  the  case  in  previous 
years.  It  has  been  noticed  that  men  sentenced  for  considerable  periods  make  the  best 
teachers,  not  simply  from  the  fact  that  they  take  a  greater  interest  in  what  must 
occupy  them  for  some  time,  but  because  they  have  more  force  of  character,  more  deci- 
siveness. Some  of  the  worst  men,  morally,  have  made  the  best  teachers.  From  the 
monthly  record  of  progress  which  has  been  kept,  it  appears  that  the  work  done  by  each 
of  the  prison  classes  in  arithmetic,  which  has  been  the  subject  in  reference  to  which 
chiefly  the  school  has  been  graded,  has  averaged  as  much  as  that  which  is  usually  done 
by  three  classes  of  corresponding  rank  iu  our  public  schools.  In  other  words,  a  year 
and  a  half  school- work  in  arithmetic  has  been  done  during  the  last  forty-five  evening 
sessions. 

The  song  of  opening,  the  brief  talk  upon  some  scientific  theme,  the  lessons  of  the 
evening,  have  been  listened  to  with  attention  and  entered  upon  with  avidity.  There 
is  evidence  on  cA^ery  hand  that  the  school  has  famished  the  themes  on  which  much 
thought  has  been  bestowed  iu  the  woi'k-shop  aud  in  the  cell.  The  pleasure  in  the 
business  of  the  school-room,  the  evident  delight  of  the  men  in  the  work  assigned  them, 
the  progress  they  have  made  in  manners  and  in  studies,  have  been  much  greater  than 
I  at  all  anticipated.  I  thiuk  no  one  before  the  trial  would  have  said  that  men  long 
unused  to  study,  or  who  had  never  known  it,  working  all  day  in  the  shops,  with  two 
evenings'  instruction  per  week  by  their  fellow-prisoners  a  little  in  advance  of  them- 
selves, would  iu  main  studies  make  two  or  three  times  the  progress  which  the  pupils 
iu  our  public  schools  make  under  the  most  favorable  circumstances;  and  yet  such  has 
been  our  constant  experience.  Three  years  ago  the  women's  school  had  bat  one 
teacher.  There  were  none  among  the  prisoners  competent  to  assist  iu  the  work  of 
teaching.  There  are  at  this  date  seven  regular  assistants  teaching  quite  successfully. 
They  have  been  educated  for  it  in  the  school ;  and  w^^hiie  they  are  teaching  others  they 
receive  also  [>ractical  instruction,  not  only  in  the  lessons  which  they  are  studying,  but 
in  methods  of  teaching.  The  school  is  now  very  well  graded  and  classified.  Nightly 
records  are  made  of  each  individual  in  school,  and  a  system  of  monthly  examinations 
aud  reports  is  in  operation,  which  not  only  tests  the  progress  of  the  pupils,  but  meas- 
ures the  success  of  the  teachers  also.  Hence  the  new  school-year  of  ld72  opens  very 
auspiciously. 

This  testimony  is  the  more  reliable,  especially  iu  what  relates  to  the 
comparative  progress  made  by  the  prison-students  and  by  the  pupils  in 
the  public  schools,  inasmuch  as  Mr.  Tarbell,  the  principal  of  the  male 
prison-school,  is  also  principal  of  one  of  the  most  important  of  the  public 
schools  of  Detroit,  and  hence  speaks  with  thorough  knowledge  of  both 
classes  of  schools  and  scholars. 

Mr.  Brockway  makes  this  frank  confession  aud  gives  this  sound  ad- 
vice : 

In  view  of  the  benefits  of  the  school  it  seems  incredible  that  1  conld  have  spent 
more  riiau  twenty  years  iu  the  management  of  prisoners,  aud  never,  until  I8iS,  have 
,  introduced  this  measure.  Let  me  urge  all  who  can  do  it  thi)roughiy  to  put  this  feature 
into  their  nniuagement,  as  indispensable  to  satisfactory  reformatory  results,  working 
and  waiting  for  such  changes  in  the  law  as  shall  enable  us  to  carry  the  educatiou  of 
every  prisoner  we  receive  to  a  point  promotive  of  liis  pecuniary  piosperiti',  his  cousciou-* 
self-respect,  aud  his  probity  of  deportment. 

H.  Ex.  185— J 


QS  INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

General  I'ilsbury,  of  the  Albany  penitentiary,  the  teacher  of  Mr. 
Brockway  in  general  prison  management  and  discipline,  is,  as  regards 
penitentiary  education,  nobly  following  the  example  of  his  distinguished 
pupil.  He  has  fitted  up  a  large  and  commodious  school-room,  giving  a 
desk  to  each  convict-scholar,  and  other  accommodations  equal  to  those 
afforded  in  the  best  public  schools  of  our  large  cities.  The  work  of 
instruction  is  ^gorously  prosecuted  and  is  yielding  satisfactory  results. 

Prison-schools  are  organized  or  instruction  is  given  at  the  cell- 
door  in  many  of  our  state-prisons ;  but  it  is  far  from  being  as  thor- 
oughly organized  or  as  effective  as  at  the  Detroit  House  of  Correc- 
tion. Of  the  1G,000  prisoners  in  the  state-prisons  of  the  Union  at  the 
present  moment,  from  4,000  to  0,000  may  be  receiving  scanty  instruction 
in  schools  of  some  sort.  Of  the  estimated  22,000  prisoners  in  common 
jails  and  houses  of  correction  it  is  safe  to  say  that  not  more  than  3,000 
are  receiving  any  scholastic  instruction  whatever.  We  have  already 
seen  that  about  20,000  of  the  38,000  prisoners  in  the  whole  country  are 
practically  illiterate,  and  certainly  less  than  8,000  of  these  are  under 
instruction  in  the  prisons.  Such  a  condition  of  things  calls  loudly  for 
reform,  and  it  is,  therefore,  a  cheering  circumstance  to  be  able  to  add 
that  the  number  of  prison-schools  is  constantly  increasing,  and  that 
their  character  improves  day  by  day. 

The  condition  of  penal  institutions  in  the  United  States  is  much  better 
in  respect  of  libraries  than  of  schools.  Most  of  the  state-prisons  and 
houses  of  correction  have  libraries,  some  of  them  large  and  excellent. 
Probably  the  aggregate  number  of  volumes  in  these  two  classes  of  prisons 
is  25,000.  With  the  exception  of  the  States  in  which  slavery  prevailed 
till  within  a  recent  period,  of  jirisoners  confined  in  the  state-prisons 
from  eight  to  nine-tenths  are  able  to  read  sufiliciently  well  to  be  enter- 
tained and  profited  by  it.  The  taste  for  reading,  thanks  to  the  good 
libraries  in  our  prisons,  has  become  quite  general  with  the  prisoners; 
and  there  is  a  singular  unanimity  among  the  ofUcers  of  prisons  as  to 
the  high  advantage  they  derive  from  the  indulgence  of  this  taste.  With 
one  voice  they  bear  testimony  to  the  value  of  the  libraries  in  communi- 
cating useful  knowledge  to  the  prisoners,  in  elevating  their  minds,  in 
beguiling  many  an  otherwise  tedious  hour,  in  making  them  cheerful  and 
contented,  in  aifording  material  for  profitable  reflection,  in  supydying 
good  topics  for  conversation  with  them,  in  improving  the  discipline^ 
and  in  constituting  one  of  the  most  elfective  of  reformatory  agencies. 

§  14.  The  dei>artment  of  education  in  the  English  convict-prisons,  in- 
cluding the  care  of  the  library  and  the  distribution  of  books  among  the 
l>risoners,  belongs  to  the  chaplain.  Jiooks  are  supplied  to  the  prisoners, 
])oth  of  a  i)ur('ly  religions  and  of  a  more  general  character;  and  those 
who  ai<i  uncdm-ated  are  taught  by  a  staff  of  schoolmasters  at  least  the 
elements  of  reading  and  wiiting;  those  wlio  liave  already  some  knowl- 
edge have  ()](|>ortiiniti('s  an<l  encouragement  in  improving  themselves. 
Asa  knowledge  of  reading  and  writing  atfords  soniuch  opportunity  for 
mental  and  moral  improvement,  and  may  have  so  im])ortant  an  elfect  on 
a  jjrisoner's  well  being  in  after-lii'e,  gr«'at  inducements  are  oflered  to 
prisoners  to  exi-rt  themselves  to  attain  it,  by  rendering  some  of  the  sub- 
sequent pri\ih'ges  they  may  gain  conditional  on  their  being  able  to  read 
and  vvrit(^  l''or  example,  no  t;()n\iet  can  be  i»romot«'d  to  the  first  class 
unless  he,  can  read  and  \\iit<;;  and,  alter  he,  has  been  under  instrnelion 
a  snUieient  t  ime,  he  is  «)bliged,  if  he,  wishes  to  «'ii  joy  (he  ])ri\'ilege.  of  com- 
iiinnicalirig  Wy  letter  with  liis  friends,  to  <lo  it  himself,  an<l  without  as- 
Kistanc<'.  C)f  eours<',  exceptions  to  this  rule  arc  made,  in  the  case  of 
men    who,    from    age    or   mental    in<'a|iaeity,   cannot   be    expected    to 


SCHOLASTIC   EDUCATION — ENGLAND — IRELAND.  67 

acquire  even  the  elemeuts  of  knowledge.  Half-yearly  examinations 
arc  held  to  ascertain  the  progress  made  by  each  prisoner,  and  the  result 
is,  in  the  main,  satisfactory.  Of  775  prisoners  discharged  from  the 
prisons  at  Chatham,  Portland,  and  Portsmouth,  the  158  who  could 
neither  read  nor  write  when  convicted  had  learned  to  do  both  while  in 
prison ;  and  most  of  the  remainder  had  made  advances  in  the  knowl- 
edge which  they  had  previously  possessed. 

Of  157,223  committed  to  the  county  and  borough  prii^ons  of  England 
in  1870,  34  per  cent,  could  neither  read  nor  write,  and  02  per  cent,  could 
do  one  or  both  imperfect!}-,  leaving  only  a  residue  of  4  per  cent,  who  had 
mastered  these  important  arts.  Most  or  all  of  these  prisons  have  schools 
and  libraries.  But  the  report  submitted  by  the  inspectors  to  the  con- 
gress affords  no  information  on  these  points  beyond  this  naked  state- 
ment. 

§  15,  Of  prisoners  committed  to  the  Irish  convict-prisons,  22  per  cent, 
of  males  and  03  per  cent,  of  females  are  wholly  illiterate. 

Libraries  exist  in  all  the  convict-prisons,  but  they  do  not  appear  to  be 
very  well  provided  with  books,  beyond  those  of  a  religious  character,  which 
are  chiefly  Bibles,  prayer-books,  and  catechisms  of  the  Episcopal  and 
Roman  Catholic  churches.  Schools  are  organized  in  all  the  prisons,  and 
the  work  done  in  them  is  highly  commended  by  the  inspector  of  public 
schools.. 


CHAPTER    VI. 
PRISON  LABOR. 

§  1.  Penal  labor,  as  such,  does  not  exist  in  the  prisons  of  Austria, 
although  difficult  and  disagreeable  work  is  sometimes  awarded  by  way 
of  disciplinary  punishment.  A  considerable  variety  of  trades  is  pursued  in 
the  Austrian  prisons.  Ko  less  than  twenty  are  named,  and  the  state- 
ment ends  with  an  et  cetera.  Besides  handicrafts  pursued  within  the 
prison-walls,  trustworthy  prisoners  who  so  desire  are  employed  in  open- 
air  work,  as  farmers,  gardeners,  masons,  bricklayers,  laborers  on  streets 
and  railways,  stone-breakers,  &c.  Latterly  prisoners  sentenced  by 
the  higher  courts  are  much  employed  in  out-door  work.  The  effect  of 
this  is  found  beneficial  in  two  ways :  1,  the  prisoners  so  occupied,  the 
greater  part  of  whom  are  serving  out  their  first  sentences,  are  thus  saved 
from  the  evil  effects  of  association  with  other  prisoners ;  and,  2,  their 
health  is  better,  and  hence  their  iiower  of  production  while  at  work  is 
greater. 

The  system  of  hiring  the  labor  of  the  prisoners  to  contractors  is  preferred 
in  Austria,  provided,  always,  that  contractors  of  a  suitable  character 
can  be  found;  otherwise,  the  prison-direction  manages  the  labor  on 
behalf  of  the  state.  The  contract-system  is  preferred  for  two  reasons  : 
first,  because  it  prevents  loss  and  damage ;  and,  secondly,  because  it 
enables  the  officers  to  devote  themselves  entirely  to  what  is  deemed  their 
proper  duty,  the  care  of  the  prisoners.  There  is,  nevertheless,  confessed 
to  be  a  grave  disadvantage  connected  with  this  system  in  the  fact  that 
an  outside  element  is  thus  introduced  among  the  prisoners  unfavorable 
to  their  moral  improvement.  Still,  it  is  believed  that  this  disadvantage 
may  be  reduced  to  a  minimum  by  a  careful  selection  of  contractors, 
foremen,  and  workmen.  The  average  proportion  of  prisoners  for  the  hist 
three  years  who  were  ignorant  of  a  trade  at  the  time  of  committal  was, 
in  the  higher  prisons,  men,  8  per  cent.  ;  women,  24  per  cent.  -,  in  regard 


/ 

68  INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

to  the  other  prisons,  statistics  are  wanting.  Every  such  prisoner  learns 
a  trade  in  prison,  if  he  is  sentenced  for  a  sufiiciently  long  time.  Pains 
are  taken  to  guide  the  prisoner  in  judging  of  his  own  capability,  that  so 
he  may  learn  to  value  it,  and  be  thereby  induced  to  earn  an  honest 
living.  Thus  he  is  taught,  not  only  how  to  work,  but  how  to  estimate 
the  worth  of  an  uiiright  life ;  and  he  is  quickened  in  his  industry  by 
receiving  a  portion  of  what  he  earns  during  his  incarceration. 

§  3.  Ko  distinction  is  made  in  the  prisons  of  Denmark  between  penal 
and  industrial  labor.  The  contract-system  is  in  use  here.  It  is  regarded 
as  the  best,  both  economically  and  with  regard  to  reformatory  effect. 
However,it  is  hedged  about  with  the  greatest  care,  and  all  intermeddling 
by  contractors  with  the  treatment  of  the  prisoners  is  completely  cut  off. 
Labor  is  regarded  not  merely  as  a  source  of  revenue,  but  rather  as  au 
essential  condition  of  the  due  execution  of  the  sentence,  and  as  a  neces- 
sary agent  in  the  moral  regeneration  of  the  prisoner.  The  profit  derived 
from  it  does  not  meet  the  current  expenses  of  the  prisons,  since  these, 
including  the  administration,  amount  to  $70  a  year  j^er  capita,  while  the 
profit  of  the  prison  labor  is  only  about  §40. 

§  2.  Penal  labor,  as  distinguished  from  industrial,  does  not  exist  in 
the  prisons  of  Belgium.  The  report  enumerates  thirty  industrial  occu- 
l^ations  as  those  in  which  the  i>risoners  are  engaged.  The  employments 
introduced  into  the  prisons  are  chosen,  preferably,  from  among  those 
most  likely  to  afford  the  prisoners,  after  liberation,  the  means  of  an 
honest  livelihood.  It  is  held  in  Belgium  that  labor  ought  not  to  be  im- 
posed as  a  punishment,  since  the  first  necessity  of  man  is  labor,  and  the 
first  sentiment  to  be  developed  in  him  is  the  love  of  labor.  The  liberated 
prisoner  ought  not  to  carry  with  him,  on  his  discharge,  the  idea  that 
w^ork  is  a  i)unishment  in  this  world,  and  that  he  has  suffered  it  long 
enough  during  his  imprisonment  to  hasten,  at  the  hour  of  his  deliver- 
ance, to  free  himself  from  its  chains.  Labor  should  be  exhibited  to  him 
in  tlie  prison  (as  it  is  in  society)  as  the  source  of  the  physical  and  moral 
elevation  of  man.  He  ought,  in  all  things,  so  to  identify  the  life  of  man 
with  the  necessity  and  the  attraction  of  labor  that  even  in  captivity  it 
should  be  still,  if  not  the  image  of  happiness,  at  least  a  solace  attached 
to  its  exercise  and  an  idea  of  punishment  from  its  privation.  In  a  word, 
if  labor  ought  to  enter  as  a  penal  element  into  penitentiary  imprison- 
ment, it  is  not  in  the  use  but  the  privation  of  it.  Undoubtedly,  labor 
ill  penitentiary  imprisonment  ought  to  be  obligatory;  but  it  ought  not 
to  l)e  inii)osed  on  the  i)risoner  under 'the  empire  of  constraint,  but  as  an 
obligation  to  wliich  his  reason,  his  interest,  his  necessities,  everything, 
oiigiit  to  urge  him.  I'enal  labor  is,  therefore,  repudiated  in  Belgium  as 
inconsistent,  in  its  very  nature,  with  the  fundamental  idea  of  a  true 
prison  discipline. 

Two  systems  of  labor  are  found  in  the  Belgian  prisons,  namely,  that 
of  letting  the  labor  to  contractors  and  that  of  working  it  by  the  state. 
ICadi  of  thes(!  systems  is  thought  to  have  its  special  advantages  and 
<lisadvantag<'S.  Tiie  former,  it  is  claimed,  yields  the  largest  revenues 
and  oilers  facilities  for  diversify ijig  the  lalK)rof  the  juisonersand  afford- 
ing them  f)ccupations  suited  to  their  special  aptitudes,  while  the  latter 
(itlcrs  certain  ad\aiilages,  (though  it  is  not  stated  what  they  are,)  when 
it  is  a  f|ucstion  of  labor  of  easy  execution  or  of  the  creation  of  products 
for  tiie  usti  ol  the  administration  itself,  dare  is  taken  to  state  in  the 
r<'f)ort  sent  in  l)y  Belgium  that  the  contractors  are  [)lace(l  under  the 
ininie<liate-  supervision  of  the  directors,  a  statement  which  is  tanta- 
mount to  an  a<lmission  that  the  system  is  extJemely  o[>en  to  abuse,  and 
n<'i  ds  to  be  guarded   ;ind  wjitclicd   with  the  greatest  circumspection. 


PEISON    LABOR AUSTEIA BELGIUM DENMARK,    ETC.  69 

Only  one  system  of  lettiug  the  labor  prevails — tliat  of  awarding  it  to 
contractors  who  offer  remunerative  prices  and  adequate  guarantees  of 
solvency  and  moralit3\  All  the  prison-keepers  are  required  to  be  arti- 
sans, and  they  are  charged,  not  only  with  the  supervision  of  the  i)ris- 
oners  belonging  to  their  several  sections,  but  also  witii  instructing  the 
prisoners  in  the  trades  which  they  are  learning.  From  60  to  70  per  cent, 
of  the  prisonei^  have  no  regular  business  or  assured  means  of  support 
when  committed.  It  is  looked  upon  as  a  point  of  the  greatest  import- 
ance to  impart  to  them,  during  their  imprisonment,  the  art  of  self-help 
by  teaching  thera  some  regular  business  and  training  them  to  the  love 
of  work ;  the  more  so,  as  it  is  believed  that  ignorance  of  a  business 
and  aversion  to  labor  are  among  the  chief  causes  which  impel  men  to 
the  commission  of  crimes  against  property.  Hence  special  effort  is  made 
to  give  to  the  prisoner  a  clear  perception  and  strong  realization  of  the 
necessity  of  mastering  a  business  while  undergoing  his  punishment,  so 
that,  after  his  release,  he  may  be  able  to  work  for  his  food,  his  bed, 
his  clothing — in  a  word,  to  assure  the  satisfaction  of  his  essential 
wants. 

§  4.  In  the  prisons  of  France  there  is  no  x^eual  labor,  as  that  expres- 
sion is  commonly  understood.  The  penal  system  is  no  longer  founded, 
as  formerly,  on  suffering  and  terror.  Corporal  punishments  have  dis- 
appeared from  it.  What  is  desired  at  present  is  to  punish  the  criminal; 
what  is  sought  as  the  end  of  that  punishment  is  his  reformation.  There- 
fore, industrial  labor  alone  is  found  in  the  prisons,  obligatory  in  the 
case  of  those  under  sentence,  permitted  in  the  case  of  the  arrested  and 
the  accused.  It  is  thereby  sought  to  prevent  the  dangers  of  idleness 
and  to  form  the  taste  and  the  habit  of  labor.  In  the  smaller  prisons 
there  i«  difficulty  in  organizing  the  labor.  In  the  central  prisons  the 
labor  is  thoroughly  organized  ;  if  any  are  without  occupation,  it  is  the 
exception,  and  not  the  rule.  Large  industrial  workshops  in  these  estab- 
lishments continually  present  a  scene  of  busy  toil.  Different  industries, 
to  the  number  of  fifty  or  sixty,  have  been  introduced  into  the  male  cen- 
tral prisons.  The  principal  are  shoe-making,  the  manufacture  of  hosiery, 
weaving,  button-making,  cabinet-work,  lock-smithing,  the  manufacture 
of  hardware,  tanning,  &c.  There  are,  besides,  three  establishments 
in  Corsica  and  one  in  Belle  Isle,  in  which  the  prisoners  are  engaged 
in  agricultural  labors.  Sewing,  which  can  be  applied  to  very  different 
kinds  of  work,  is  almost  the  only  industry  pursued  in  the  female  cen- 
tral prisons.  Piece-work  is  the  general  rule.  With  a  view  to  avoid  the 
competition  of  prison  labor  with  free  labor,  the  rates  of  payment  for  the 
work  done  have  to  be  studied  and  regulated  by  the  administration, 
which  carefully  considers  before-hand  the  different  interests  involved. 
The  rates  must  be  the  same  as  those  paid  to  free  industry  for  the  same 
kinds  of  labor. 

The  contract  system  of  labor  prevails  in  most  of  the  prisons  of  France, 
and  is  the  one  to  which  the  administration  gives  its  j)reference. 

Of  the  men  committed  to  the  central  prisons,  5  per  cent,  had  no  reg- 
ular calling  or  business  i:)rior  to  commitment ;  of  the  women,  12  per 
cent.  Evidently  this  cannot  mean  that  so  large  a  proportion  had 
learned  trades  and  become  artisans.  The  administration  exerts  itself, 
as  far  as  possible,  to  cause  to  be  taught  to  the  prisoners  previously 
without  a  regular  business  some  calling  which  will  enable  them  after 
liberation  to  gain  an  honest  living. 

§  5.  Germany  reports :  There  is  no  merely  penal  labor  in  the  prisons  of 
any  of  the  German  states. 

(1.)  In  the  Grand  Duchy  of  Baden,  the  labor  of  the  prisoners  is  not  let 


70  'international  penitentiary  congress. 

lb 

to  contractors,  but  is  managed  by  tlie  administration  itself.  This  sys- 
tem is  preferred  because  it  enables  the  authorities  to  observe  the  state 
of  each  prisoner  and  to  exclude  all  outside  elements  prejudicial  to  dis- 
cipline and  reformation.  It  is  sought  to  introduce  variety  of  trades,  so 
tliat  too  many  may  not  be  employed  on  any  one  to  the  injury  of  private 
industry.     An  extensive  market  and  the  highest  prices  are  sought. 

Forty  per  cent,  of  the  jn-isoners  are  ignorant  of  a  trade  on  entry.  To 
impart  to  these  a  trade  and  the  power  of  self  help,  if  they  have  the 
requisite  ability  and  stay  long  enough  in  prison,  is  the  principal  work. 
This  result  is  arrived  at  by  improving  the  prisoner's  morals,  by  scholas- 
tic and  industrial  instruction,  and  by  the  whole  prison  treatment. 

(2)  The  several  industries  in  the  Bavarian  prisons  are  conducted  by 
their  respective  administrations.  When  prison-labor  is  given  to  con- 
tractors, another  authority  is  placed  between  the  administration  and 
the  prisoner,  which  cares  only  for  making  the  greatest  profit  out  of 
the  prisoner's  work.'  Not  only  is  discipline  thereby  interfered  with;  but 
the  character  of  the  iiunishment  is  changed  and  its  purpose  is  placed  in 
jeopardy.  From  the  disciplinary  and  penitentiary  ])oiut  of  xiew,  the 
giving  of  prison  labor  to  contractors  is  condemned  in  Bavaria,  even 
though  the  profit  derived  therefrom  maj-  be  greater  than  if  the  adminis- 
tration carried  it  on. 

■  The  i)roportiou  of  prisoners  who,  on  entering  prison,  are  ignorant  of  a 
trade  is  29  per  cent.  It  is  made  a  special  ol)ject  to  impart  a  trade — and 
so  to  teach  the  art  of  self-help — to  all  j>risoners  who  have  the  necessary 
capabilities  and  whose  terms  of  sentence  are  long  enough  to  permit  it. 

(3)  In  the  i)risons  of  Prussia  more  than  fifty  diftereut  trades  are  car- 
ried on  by  the  men  and  ten  by  the  women;  a  portion  of  the  male  pris- 
oners are  also  occupied  in  farm-work. 

The  plan  commonly  adopted  in  the  i)risous  of  utilizing  the  labor  of 
the  convicts  is  that  of  letting  it  to  contractors;  what  work  shall  be 
given  to  contractors  is  settled  by  the  administration.  It  has  absolute 
control  in  the  selection  of  prisoners  for  the  performance  of  the  work  and 
over  its  execution.  It  is  deemed  important  to  have  such  a  number  and 
variety  of  trades  that,  in  allotting  prisoners  their  work,  due  regard  may 
be  had  to  their  trades  before  admission  and  also  to  their  capacity.  Each 
particular  branch  of  industrial  labor  is,  by  the  regulations,  given  to  one 
contractor;  the  system  of  "general  contracts''  lias  no  existence  in  Prus- 
sia. The  contracts  are  so  made  as  to  exclude  all  direct  relation  between 
the  prisoner  and  the  contractor.  It  is  conceded  that  the  state  loses 
financially  by  this  system,  but  is  claimed  that  it  simi)lities  the  adminis- 
tration. 

About  /i  per  cent,  of  the  inmates  have  knowledge  of  some  trade  on 
entry.  As  it  is  considered  highly  important  for  a  prisoner  during  his 
imprisonmont  to  Icaiii  how  to  lielp  himself  on  his  liberation,  it  is  made 
a  spj'ciiil  object  to  teach  hitn  a  trade,  if  he  had  not  learned  one  before. 
In  addition  to  scliool  instruction  and  ai)prenticeshii)  to  a  trade,  he  is 
bound,  in  order  to  learn  tlie  art  of  self-help,  to  keep  himself  strictly 
clean,  take  due  e;ii<'.  of  his  clothes,  see  to  the  cleanliness  Of  his  cell  and 
all  utensils,  and  lo  the  ])i'o]>er  oi'der  of  his  bed. 

(1)  Saxony,  om-  of  Hk^  most  industrial  (;ountiies,  i)roduces  in  her  i)ris- 
ons  almost  all  the,  din'erent  articles  of  industry  and  trade.  'J'he  work  is 
]»artly  given  to  contractors,  avIio  are  entirely  dependent  on  the  adminis- 
tration of  the  ]>enitentiary,  and  is  ]>artly  managed  by  the  latter  itself  on 
its  own  a(;count.  The  system  of  giving  the  work  to  contractors,  who 
are  in  entire  dependence  on  the  administration,  has  the  preference,  be- 
cause, as  it  is  thought,  the  oflieeis  camiot  be  at  the  same  time  good 


PRISON   LABOR GERMANY ITALY MEXICO,    ETC.  71 

tradesmen  and  good  officers,  and  because  the  interests  of  the  two  would 
be  opposed  and  conflictiug.  The  profits  of  the  prisoners'  worlc  cover 
from  about  one-third  to  one-half  of  all  the  prison  expenses. 

(5)  Besides  the  necessary  work  done  for  the  prison  itself,  there  are 
carried  on  in  the  prisons  of  Wiirtemberg  some  fifteen  to  twenty  different 
trades  by  the  men,  and  eight  or  ten  by  the  women.  Both  industrial  sys- 
tems find  place — that  of  letting  the  labor  to  contractors  and  that  of 
directing  it  by  the  administration.  The  opinion  is  held  that  preference 
should  be  given  to  the  one  or  the  other,  according  to  the  nature  of  the 
work. 

More  than  half  the  prisoners,  when  received,  have  a  knowledge  of 
some  trade.  As  far  as  possible,  the  prisoner  is  put  at  the  same  trade  in 
l)rison  at  which  he  worked  before,  or  he  is  taught  some  other,  selected  by 
himself,  of  those  carried  on  in  the  prison.  The  same  is  true  of  those 
who  had  not  learned  a  trade  before  their  imprisonment. 

§  0.  In  the  penitentiary  system  of  Italy  there  is  no  labor  bearing  an 
exclusively  penal  character.  It  is  sought  to  give  to  the  industrial  edu- 
cation of  the  prisoners  the  turn  which  seems  best  suited  to  them,  and 
to  impart  the  trade  most  easily  mastered.  Labor  has  no  other  aim  in 
the  Italian  prisons  than  to  overcome  the  natural  propensity  to  idleness 
in  the  criminal,  to  accustom  him  to  a  life  of  activity  and  hardshix), 
and  to  giv^e  him  the  means  of  obtaining  an  honorable  livelihood. 

The  industrial  arts  mostly  practised  in  the  penitentiaries  are  those  of 
the  shoemaker,  carpenter,  blacksmith,  and  weaver,  and  in  the  bagnios 
the  prisoners  are  made  agriculturists,  laborers  in  the  salt-deposits,  and 
workers  in  cotton,  hemp,  &c.  Until  1808,  the  industries  of  the  prisons 
were  managed  by  the  administration.  Since  that  time,  as  an  experi- 
ment, the  contract-system  has  been  introduced  into  eleven  prisons. 
The  question,  Which  is  the  best  of  these  two  systems?  is  so  compli- 
cated and  difficult  that  the  administration  is  unwilling  to  pronounce 
an  opinion  till  it  has  made  further  trial  of  each. 

§  7.  Penal  labor  does  not  exist  in  Mexico.  The  sentiment  of  the  com- 
missioners who  prepared  the  report  for  the  congress  is  opposed  to  such 
labor,  first,  because  it  does  not  contribute  to  the  moral  improvement  of 
the  prisoners ;  and,  secondly,  because,  to  render  it  effectual,  it  would 
be  necessary  to  use  actual  violence,  which  always  humiliates  and  de- 
grades those  who  suffer  it. 

The  contract-system  is  not  found  in  the  prisons  of  Mexico. 

It  is  considered  very  important  that  during  their  confinement  prisoners 
should  learn  some  trade  that  may  enable  them  to  earn  their  livelihood, 
as  the  chief  reason  why  they  relapse  into  crime  is  that,  after  they  have 
served  their  time,  they  do  not  find  any  work ;  and  the  want  of  this  re- 
duces them  to  miserj^  and  leads  them  to  commit  fresh  offenses. 

§  8.  In  the  penitentiary  establishments  of  the  Netherlands  unpro- 
ductive or  merely  penal  labor  is  unknown.  Industrial  labor,  the  only 
kind  in  use,  is  everywhere  directed  by  the  administration.  But  both 
systems  of  labor,  the  contract-system  and  the  system  by  which  the  labor 
is  utilized  on  account  of  the  state,  have  place. 

Taking  the  whole  country  together,  it  is  believed  that  about  one  in 
four  will  correctly  represent  the  proportion  of  prisoners  without  a  trade 
at  the  time  of  commitment.  It  is  regarded  as  a  matter  of  the  highest 
importance  to  impart  to  prisoners  during  their  incarceration  the  power 
of  self-help,  and  this  result  is  diligently  sought  by  teaching  them,  to 
the  utmost  extent  possible,  some  useful  calling. 

§  9.  Industrial  labor  alone  is  pursued  in  the  prisons  of  Norway,  and 
it  is  managed  exclusively  by  the  administration.     Many  prisoners  learn 


72  INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

a  trade  while  in  prison.  Eflort  is  made  to  train  them  to  liabitvS  of  in- 
dustry, and  it  is  constantly  set  before  them  that,  of  all  the  causes  of 
crime,  idleness  is  one  of  the  most  prolific. 

§  10.  In  Russia,  a  marked  difference  between  different  kinds  of  labor 
is  beginning  to  show  itself.  Industrial  work,  which  scarcely  existed  in. 
times  past,  is  now  making  great  i^rogress,  owing  to  the  advantages  it 
offers  to  the  prisoner,  who  sees  that  he  can  thereby  best  escape  relapse. 
Penal  labor  alone  cannot,  it  is  held  in  liussia,  have  a  beneficial  influ- 
ence. This  is  clearly  proved  in  Siberia,  where  the  number  of  escapes  is 
counted  by  thousands.  An  intense  hatred  of  the  authorities  and  a  strong 
desire  of  vengeance  are  the  result  when  penal  is  not  accompanied  by 
industrial  labor,  which  latter  is  the  sole  means  of  reformation.  Industrial 
labor  has  produced  good  results  in  Eussia  oidy  when  let  to  contractors. 
It  is  now  a  question  whether  penal  labor  shall  npt  be  let  in  the  same  way. 
It  is  held  that  the  administration  shou-ld  not  interfere  with  its  direct 
duties  by  the  care  of  commercial  undertakings. 

A  thoroughly  organized  bureau  of  statistics  has  but  just  been  estab- 
lished by  the  ministry  of  justice.  It  is  therefore  impossible  at  present 
to  give  the  exact  proportion  of  prisoners  who  are  without  a  trade  when 
committed  5  but  it  is  certainly  more  than  one-half.  To  impart  the 
knowledge  of  a  trade  to  prisoner  ignorant  of  such  knowledge  is  a 
special  point  in  the  reforms  now  projected.  To  give  him  the  power  of 
self-help  is  regarded  as  of  the  very  highest  importance,  since  peniten- 
tiary science,  in  its  whole  scope  and  essence,  is  but  a  struggle  against 
the  tendency  to  relapse. 

§  11.  There  is  no  penal  labor  in  the  prisons  of  Sweden  as  contradis- 
tinguished from  that  which  is  industrial.  In  the  associate  i)risons  for 
men,  most  of  the  prisoners  are  occupied  in  cutting  granite  for  build- 
ings, for  pavements,  &c.  In  one  prison  a  part  of  the  inmates  are  en- 
gaged in  cutting  up  pine-wood  for  matches,  another  part  in  making 
fine  joiners'  work.  In  still  other  prisons,  linen  and  woolen  cloths  and 
blankets  are  manufactured,  as  well  as  all  the  garments  and  bedding  for 
the  prisoners  and  a  part  of  the  clothing  for  the  army.  The  women  are 
engaged  in  making  textile  fabrics,  in  all  sorts  of  sewing  and  binding,  in 
glove-m.iking,  &c.  In  the  cellular  ymsons  various  kinds  of  laborare  per- 
formed bj^  the  men,  such  as  tailoring,  shoe-making,  joiners'  work,  &c. ; 
and  by  the  women,  weaving,  sewing,  knitting  stockings,  &c.  Kecently 
the  manufacture  of  match-boxes  has  been  their  j)rincipal  employment, 
industrial  labor  has  the  elfcct  to  give  the  prisoners  habits  of  order  and 
diligence,  arul  to  render  the  violent  more  tractable. 

All  the  industrial  labor  in  the  associate<l  prisons  is  let  to  contract- 
ors, excei>t  what  is  done  for  the  prisons  themselves.  Nevertheless,  the 
opinion  is  hehl  that,  to  secure  the  best  results  in  respect  of  moral 
reformation,  all  the  industries  should  be  under  the  direction  and  control 
of  the  ])ris()n  admiiiistration  its(^lf,  and  not  tiiat  of  contractors. 

In  Sweden  the  inhabitants  of  the  towns  form  oidy  12  per  cent,  of  the 
total  pojMihition.  Jn  the  country  men  aie  cliietly  farm-laborers  or 
miners.  Tiic  conscciuciice  is  tiiat  only  a  small  ])roi)ortion  of  prisoners 
had  leariKMl  a  tiMdc  juior  to  their  committal — not  more,  indeed,  tlian  10 
per  cent.  To  jiut  the  prisoner  in  ])oss('ssi(m  of  a  ti'ade,  by  which  he 
may  earn  an  iioncst  Ii\  ing  after  his  rch'ase,  sp<^cial  trade-masters,  dur- 
ing recont  years,  hav(^  Ix'cn  employed  to  give  tlie  nec(%ssary  instructions 
in  the  c<rlhilar  prisons.  J*'ui(her  measures  in  this  direction  Avill  be 
adoj)ted  ;it  an  eaily  <lay.  It  is  in  contemplation  to  grant  the  greater 
I)art  of  Ills  e;(i-nings  to  every  prisoner  who,  while  in  prison,  has  learned 


PRISON    LABOR NORWAY PRUSSIA SWEDEN,    ETC.  id 

and  worked  at  a  trade  capable  of  supporting  biui.     It  is  believed  that 
this  plan  will  be  effective  iu  the  reformation  of  numbers  of  criminals. 

§  12.  The  distinction  between  penal  and  industrial  labor  is  made  iu 
the  Swiss  prisons  by  law  only  in  the  cantons  where  there  still  exists  the 
system  of  the  old  hard-labor  prisons,  in  which  a  certain  class  of  prisoners 
are  subjected  to  public  labor,  viz,  iu  sweeping  the  streets,  making  roads, 
diking  rivers,  &c.  This  distinction  is  not  made  in  the  prisons  in  which 
the  reformation  of  the  prisoner  is  proposed  as  the  end.  From  twenty  to 
thirty  of  the  more  common  and  more  useful  trades  are  taught  iu  the 
Swiss  prisons. 

Industrial  labor  in  the  prisons  of  Switzerland  is  managed  by  the 
administration  itself.  The  attempts  which  have  been  made  in  some 
prisons  to  let  the  labor  to  contractors  for  a  fixed  daily  sum  have  been 
very  speedily  abandoned.  Orders  are  received  iu  the  penitentiaries. 
The  raw  material  is  furnished  by  the  administration  or  by  those  who 
order  the  work ;  the  tools  belong  to  the  establishment.  The  keepers, 
who  act  at  the  same  time  as  foremen,  superintend  the  work  and  calcu- 
late the  value  of  the  workmanship  and  of  the  raw  material  employed. 
Account  is  taken  iu  this  calculation  of  the  prices-current.  Everywhere 
they  endeavor  to  deliver  merchandise  carefully  manufactured ;  and  thus, 
as  a  general  thing,  the  industrial  products  of  prisons  are  in  good  repute. 
Preference  is  given  in  the  modern  penitentiaries  to  the  management  of 
the  administration  over  that  of  contractors  in  the  interest  of  peniten-^ 
tiary  training.  The  administration,  being  supreme,  can  introduce  a 
greater  variety  of  industries,  and  suit  to  these  latter  the  different  apti- 
tudes presented  by  the  prisoners.  The  consequence  of  the  distributiou 
of  the  prisoners  on  a  larger  number  of  industries  is  that  each  branch  is 
restricted  to  a  relatively  small  number  of  workmen,  and  hence  free  labor 
has  no  occasion  to  fear  an  injurious  competition.  The  endeavor  is  made 
to  create  a  demand  for  the  products  of  prison  labor  rather  by  the  excel- 
lence and  solidity  of  the  manufacture  than  by  the  cheapness  of  the 
price.  Were  it  otherwise,  the  penitentiaries,  which  ought  to  be  at  the 
same  time  industrial  schools,  would  be  turned  aside  from  their  proper 
end.  In  Switzerland  it  is  found  that  penitentiary  training  is  incom- 
patible with  the  system  of  letting  the  labor  of  the  prisoners  to  contractors. 
It  is  the  administration  alone  that  can  feel  an  interest  iu  teaching  a 
trade  to  every  prisoner  during  his  stay  in  prison,  so  that  at  the  time  of 
his  liberation  he  may  be  independent  and  able  to  gain  au  honest  living. 

The  number  of  prisoners  not  having  a  regular  business  at  the  time 
of  their  commitment  is  relatively  considerable.  Nevertheless,  the  ten- 
dency is  shown  to  be  toward  a  diminution,  if  comparison  is  made  between 
the  results  of  statistics  for  the  last  twenty  years  in  the  penitentiary  of 
St.  Gall.     This  belongs  evidently  to  the  progress  of  civilization. 

Of  criminals  committed  to  the  Swiss  prisons,  about  50  per  cent,  make 
no  claim  to  have  learned  a  trade ;  and,  of  the  50  per  cent,  who  do  so  claim, 
there  is  scarcely  a  fourth  part  who  can  produce  a  respectable  piece  of 
workmanship.  These  facts  clearly  show  that  the  want  of  a  trade  is  not 
without  its  influence  in  the  law  which  controls  the  causes  of  crime. 
Hence  it  is  sought  iu  all  the  peniteutiaries — particularly  in  those  more 
recently  built  and  organized  upon  a  rational  plan — to  give  a  trade  to  the 
prisoners,  and  above  all  to  juvenile  delinquents,  who  have  to  undergo 
an  imprisonment  of  one  or  several  years.  In  all  the  peniteutiaries 
it  has  been  remarked  that  numbers  of  the  prisoners  acquire  in  a 
short  time  the  ability  to  do  that  which  free  workmen  would  be  able  to 
execute  only  after  a  long  apprenticeship.  Apprenticeship  to  a  trade 
which  requires  a  certain  degree  of  intelligence,  and  is,  at  the  same  time,. 


74  INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

to  the  taste  of  the  prisoner,  is  one  of  the  principal  agencies  in  reforming 
him.  Without  industrial  labor  of  this  kiud,  no  satisfactory  result  can 
be  expected  from  a  penitentiary  system,  and  relapses  ^Yill  be  inevitable. 
A  trade  learned  in  the  establishment  is  held  to  be  worth  more,  as  re- 
gards the  support  and  succor  of  the  prisoners,  than  a  patronage  society. 
It  is  well  understood  in  the  cantons  somewhat  advanced  in  i)enitentiary 
science  that  it  is  important,  in  order  to  prevent  relapses,  not  only  to 
make  the  prisoner  an  able  workman,  but  also  to  teach  him  during  his 
incarceration  to  help  himself.  In  this  view,  there  have  been  introduced 
in  most  of  the  prison  regulations  arrangements  by  which  zeal  and  dili- 
gence in  labor  and  the  habit  of  saving  are  stimulated.  The  scale  of  the 
])€culium  rises  in  many  of  the  establishments  with  the  augmentation  ot 
labor.  In  the  better  organized  penitentiaries  the  further  effort  is  made 
to  attain  this  result  by  a  careful  apprenticeship  to  the  trade  chosen  by 
the  prisoner,  by  making  him  acquainted  with  the  nature  of  raw  mate- 
rials, the  places  from  which  they  are  obtained,  and  their  market  value ; 
also,  with  the  tools  and  machines  employed,  the  price-current  of  the 
articles  manufactured,  and  the  manner  of  calculating  the  value  of 
the  workmanship.  The  prisoners  are  more  or  less  associated  with 
the  administration  through  their  industrial  labors.  If  by  their  good 
conduct  and  their  aptitudes  they  come  at  length  to  deserve  the 
necessary  degree  of  confidence,  they  are  called  to  fnltill  the  functions  of 
foremen.  There  is  thus  afforded  to  every  prisoner  the  opportunity  of 
developing  and  manifesting  his  power  of  initiative.  Technical  works 
and  journals  are  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  workmen  on  different 
branches  of  industry.  Writings  of  the  character  of  Franklin's  Poor 
Eichard  afford  material  assistance  in  this  system  of  penitentiary  educa- 
tion. 

§  13.  All  the  labor  done  in  American  prisons  from  which  revenue  is 
derived  is  of  the  kind  known  as  industrial,  in  contradistinction  from 
penal,  which  does  not  exist  among  us.  But  there  is  scarcely  any  kind 
of  industrial  labor  which  does  not  find  a  place  in  the  prisons  of  the 
United  States.  In  Alabama  and  Texas  the  convicts  build  railroads,  in 
Mississippi  they  raise  cotton,  in  Tennessee  and  New  York  they  work 
mines ;  in  many  of  the  States  they  cultivate  gardens  or  do  farm-work. 
But  the  prison  employments  are  generally  mechanical,  and  especially 
deal  with  work  in  wood,  leather,  and  the  Tuetals,  though  stone- work  is 
also  done  on  a  large  scale  where  prisons  are  building.  This  was  formerly 
so  common  an  occupation  for  American  convicts  that  "hammering 
stone"  becameacommontermfor  imprisonment.  Quarrying  stone  for  sale 
or  for  making  (piicklime  is  much  ]>ractised  in  the  great  prisons  of  Joliet 
(Illinois,)  and  Sing-Sing  (New  York,)  the  largest  in  the  country.  At 
the  Auburn  ])rison,  agricultural  tools  are  extensively  manufactured  ;  in 
the  (Jliio  stato-i)rison  nuiiiy  convicts  are  employed  as  saddlers,  wheel- 
wrights, and  blacksmiths;  in  the  cellular  prison  at  Thiladelphia,  (the 
eastern  ])enitcntiary,)  the  ern])l()yments,  being  pursued  in  the  cells,  are 
maiidy  sedentary,  such  as  shoemaking,  weaving,  and  the  ligliter  kinds 
of  wood-work  ;  in  Massac^husetts  ornamental  iron-work,  brushmaking, 
shoemaking,  and  sewing  by  means  of  the  sewing-imu^hine  are  common 
prison  employnnuits.  In  tlio  Maine  state-prison,  the  warden,  being  a 
carriagcMMiikcr,  has  introdiKH'd  that  branch  of  industry;  in  the  prison 
of  Northern  New  ^'o^k,  at  Danncniora,  a,  grcMit  iron  min<>,  furnishes  ore, 
whi(;h  is  sinclte*!,  Corgcd,  and  wrought  into  nails  by  the  (convicts ;  in  the 
Mi(;hig;in  state  prison,  at  one  time,  tanning  hiatinu-  was  largely  prac- 
tised ;  in   the  Detroit  House  of  <l()ri<>ction  chair-making  has  been  the 


PRISON    LABOR UNITED    STATEtS ENGLAND IRELAND.       75 

thief  industry.  In  fact,  there  is  scarcely  any  mechanical  occupation 
that  has  uot  been  carried  on  in  some  one  or  more  of  our  prisons. 

In  general,  the  labor  of  the  convicts  is  hired  by  contractors  at  a  fixed 
sum  per  dciy,  and  this  varies  from  a  few  cents  to  something  above  a 
dollar  a  day,  the  highest  contract  wages  being  paid  at  the  Massachusetts 
prison.  In  a  few  of  the  prisons,  perhaps  a  tenth  part  of  the  whole 
number,  the  whole  prison  labor  is  managed  by  the  prison  administra- 
tion, and  in  nearly  all  vsome  part  of  the  labor  is  so  managed,  especially 
where  the  building  or  enlarging  of  the  prison  is  going  on.  It  requires 
great  skill  and  business  capacity  in  the  head  of  a  prison  to  manage  its 
industries,  and  for  this  reason  such  management  is  extremely  liable  to 
failure.  On  the  other  hand,  the  contract  system  often  introduces  moral 
and  financial  corruption,  injures  discipline,  and  demoralizes  the  convicts. 

A  few  years  ago  the  expenses  of  nearly  all  our  state-prisons  exceeded 
their  earnings f  but  a  change  has  been  going  on  in  this  respect,  and 
there  is  now  fully  a  fourth  part  of  them  that  earn  more  than  they  expend. 
Every  one  of  the  six  ISTew  England  States  reports  a  profit  from  its  state- 
prison,  ranging  from  $20,000  a  year  in  Massachusetts  to  $1,200  in 
Connecticut ;  and  the  excess  of  earnings  over  expenses  in  the  six  prisons 
(containing  an  average  of  some  1,100  convicts)  was  last  year  above 
$39,000.  With  a  smaller  number  of  convicts  than  this,  Ohio  shows  an 
excess  of  earnings  amounting  to  more  than  $40,000.  Under  skillful  and 
honest  management,  all  our  state-prison  convicts  might  perhaps  earn 
their  own  support  and  $30  a  year  besides ;  but  two-thirds  of  them,  and 
perhaps  three-fourths,  fall  far  short  of  this.  In  the  eastern  peniten- 
tiary, of  Philadelphia,  with  about  600  convicts,  the  annual  deficit,  in- 
cluding oflBcers'  salaries,  is  nearly  $60,000,  or  $100  for  each  convict;  in 
the  three  great  prisons  of  New  York  it  averages  more  than  $50  for  each 
convict;  in  Maryland  it  is  about  $30  for  each  convict,  and  so  on.  In  the 
county  and  district  prisons  very  few  of  the  convicts  support  themselves 
by  their  labor,  but  the  Boston  House  of  Correction,  the  Rochester  Peni- 
tentiary, the  Albany  Penitentiary  and  the  Detroit  House  of  Correction 
are  self-sustaining,  and  the  two  last-named  prisons  earn  each  a  consider- 
able surplus  every  year.  The  net  cost  of  supporting  all  the  prisons 
above  their  earnings  must  be  nearly  $3,000,000  a  year  for  the  whole 
country,  since  there  are  38,000  prisoners,  and  the  average  annual  cost 
of  each  one  abo^se  his  earnings  cannot  well  be  less  than  $80. 

§  14.  Penal  labor,  except  so  far  as  oakum-picking  may  belong  to  that 
category,  is  not  used  in  the  convict-prisons  of  England.  It  has  for 
many  years  been  an  established  principle  in  English  convict-prisons  to 
endeavor  to  instil  into  the  convicts  habits  of  industry,  to  develop  their 
intelligence  by  employing  them  on  industrial  labor,  and  to  facilitate 
their  entering  the  ranks  of  honest  industry  on  their  discharge,  by  giv- 
ing them  facilities  for  acquiring  a  knowledge  of  trades.  These  objects 
are  fortunately  conducive  to  another  very  desirable  result,  viz.,  that  of 
making  the  prisons  self-supporting  in  various  degrees ;  some  of  them 
doing  an  amount  of  labor  the  value  of  which  more  than  covers  the  cost 
of  their  maintenance. 

The  gross  cost  for  maintaining  the  convict  establishments  in  England 
during  the  financial  year  1871  was  £313,633,  and  in  the  same  period 
the  earnings  of  the  convicts  amounted  to  £228,244,  or  £22  19s.  i^d.  per 
head  on  the  average  number.  The  net  cost  of  the  prisons,  after  deduct- 
ing the  value  of  the  prisoners'  labor,  amounts  only  to  £85,389,  or  £8  10*. 
per  head. 

The  contract  system  is  not  in  existence  in  the  English  convict-prisons, 
the  industries  being  managed  wholly  by  the  administration. 


76  INTERNATIONAL   PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

lu  the  county  and  borougb  prisons,  great  prominence,  as  a  rule,  is 
given  to  penal  labor,  such  as  the  tread-inill,  crank,  shot-drill,  oakuni- 
picking,  stone-breaking,  &c.  In  a  few,  industrial  labor  is  well  organized, 
and  its  products  go  far  towards  defraying  the  ordinary  expenses  of  the 
establishments;  but  in  general  the  earnings  of  prison  labor  are  exceed- 
ingly moderate. 

§  lo.  The  labor-system  in  the  Irish  convict  prisons  is  substantially  the 
same  as  that  in  the  English  prisons  of  the  same  class,  except  that  at  the 
intermediate  prison  at  Lusk,  to  which  there  is  nothing  corresponding 
in  the  English  convict  system,  the  men  are  mostly  engaged  in  farm- 
work. 


CHAPTER     VII. 

SANITARY   CONDITION   OF   PRISONS. 

§  1.  The  system  of  drainage  in  the  Austrian  prisons  leaves  little  to 
be  desired.  The  water-supply  is  reported  as  always  sufficient  in  quan- 
tity, and  for  the  most  part  good  in  quality.  In  the  southern  provinces, 
during  the  hot  season,  as  the  water  in  many  prisons  is  supplied  from 
cisterns,  it  is  not  as  good  as  might  be  wished.  In  such  prisons  a  modi- 
cum of  vinegar  is  sui)plied  to  the  prisoners,  to  be  mixed  with  the  water. 
Most  of  the  prisons  are  well  ventilated.  The  cells  are  thoroughly 
cleansed  and  painted  every  year.  The  corridors  are  cleaned  daily  and 
the  floors  scrubbed  with  sand  and  water  at  least  once  a  month.  The 
cleansing  and  disinfecting  of  water-closets  take  place  every  day.  Per- 
sonal cleanliness  is  rigorously  exacted.  The  body  linen  is  changed 
weekly  and  the  bed  linen  monthly.  The  prisoners  must  take  at  least 
four  baths  a  year.  The  collective  prisons  are  furnished  with  portable 
water-closets ;  the  cellular  have  in  each  cell  a  fixed  closet,  which  stands 
under  a  ventilator  reaching  to  the  roof.  The  dormitories  and  cells  are 
lighted  by  gas  or  oil,  mostly  the  latter.  The  heating  of  the-prisons  is 
done  partly  by  iron  stoves,  partly  by  hot  air,  with  necessary  precautions 
for  keeping  a  sufficient  quantity  of  moisture  in  the  atmosphere.  The 
bedsteads  are  generally  of  wood ;  iu  some  cases,  however,  of  iron. 
The  bed  is  of  straw,  with  pillow  of  the  same  or  of  African  forest  hair; 
two  sheets,  and  one  or  two  blankets,  according  to  the  season.  The  bed 
for  the  sick  is  the  same,  but  the  linen  is  finer,  and  it  has  a  cotton  cover- 
let. i«Iine  hours  are  given  to  sleep.  The  remaining  fifteen  are  divided 
thus:  Keligious  services,  one  and  one-half  hours;  meals,  exercise,  and 
rest,  two  and  one-half  hours ;  labor,  ten  and  one-half  to  eleven  hours ;  at- 
teiMlance  at  school,  (which  is  taken  out  of  the  hours  for  labor  for  those 
who  frequent  the  lessons,)  two  hours.  tSick  ])risoners  are  placed  in  the 
iiifirniaiy  or  hospital,  and  cared  for  according  to  the  doctor's  orders  by 
nurses  taken  from  among  the  prisoners  who  show  themselves  worthy  of 
such  confidence;  but  tlios<^  prisoners  who  have  only  slight  ailments  are 
tr(!ated  in  tlieir  rooms  or  cells.  Insane  prisoners  are  taken  to  the  public 
Innatie,  asylum.  The  diseases  most  fre<iuent  ai'o  those  of  the  respira- 
tory and  digestive  organs  and  of  the  skin  and  cellular  textures.  The 
average  nuudier  of  sick  during  the  years  ISTO  and  1871  did  not  vary 
much  from  (J  per  cent.  The,  death-i-at*'.  in  ]»risons  lor  sentences  ex- 
ceeding a  year  Wiis  .'{A  p<'r  e^'ut.,  while  in  prisons  to  which  the  sen- 
tences w<!re  foi'  less  lliait  :i  year,  it  scarcely  exceeded  one-half  of  one 
I)er  cent. 

§  15.  The  sanitary  state  of  the  Belgian  i)risous  is  reported  good.     The 


PRISON    LABOR AUSTRIA BELGIUM  77 

drains  for  waste-water  and  night-soil  are  cleansed  every  week  by  a 
strong  current  of  water  rushing  through  them,  so  that  no  emanations 
dangerous  to  health  can  ever  issue  tlierefrom.  Water  is  furnished  in 
amplest  supply  and  of  good  quality. 

The  ventilation  and  heating  of  the  cells  are  eifected  in  the  following 
manner  :  The  apparatus  for  heating  is  placed  in  the  cellar.  The  fire  is 
made  in  the  center  of  a  double  cylinder  filled  with  water,  which  forms 
the  boilers  for  its  propulsion.  From  the  upper  part  of  each  of  these 
boilers  two  perpendicular  pipes  ascend  into  the  principal  ventilating 
conduits,  and  conduct  the  hot  water  directly  into  a  special  reservoir 
placed  in  the  draught-chimney,  appropriated  to  each  apparatus.  Thi«  res- 
ervoir is  fed  by  six  pipes,  which  traverse  horizontally  each  range  of 
cells,  returning  afterward,  by  the  same  passage,  to  the  principal  appa- 
ratus. Two  pipes,  filled  with  hot  water,  thus  pass  into  all  the  cells. 
They  are  placed  in  a  horizontal  conduit  running  along  the  floor,  close 
to  the  exterior  wail.  These  conduits,  covered  with  a  plate  of  perfo- 
rated iron,  form  for  each  cell  a  little  reservoir  of  heat.  Thus  the  ca- 
loric is  utilized  just  where  its  action  is  required,  since  it  is  precisely  in 
the  cells  that  it  diseugages  itself,  supplying  each  with  an  equal  quan- 
tity. Its  center  of  radiation  is  in  the  cell  itself.  Let  us  examine  now  the 
mode  of  introducing  fresh  air.  This  introduction  is  twofold.  In  the  first 
place,  there  is  inserted  in  the  window  a  ventilator  of  30  centimeters 
(about  12  inches)  in  height  and  44  centimeters  (equal  to  17^  inches)  in 
breadth,  through  which  the  fresh  air  is  introduced  directly  into  the 
cell,  without  having  come  in  contact  with  the  heat-pipes.  Secondly,  at 
one  of  the  extremities  of  the  iron  plate  which  covers  the  conduits  from 
the  hot-air  furnace  is  left  an  opening,  which  allows  the  heat  to  circulate 
in  the  cells.  The  opposite  side  of  the  plate  corresponds  to  an  opening 
made  in  the  thickness  of  the  exterior  wall,  by  which  the  pure  air  from 
outside  penetrates  into  the  reservoir,  and  so  into  the  cells.  A  valve  is 
fitted  to  this  last  opening,  by  which  the  prisoner  can  regulate  the  intro- 
duction of  air,  and  by  the  same  means  can  increase  or  diminish  the 
heat  of  the  cell.  Let  it  be  carefully  noted  that  the  reservoir  of  which 
we  have  just  spoken,  as  well  as  the  introduction  of  fresh  air,  is  on  a 
level  with  the  floor.  The  vitiated  air  is  drawn  oft"  by  a  conduit  placed 
in  the  thickness  of  the  wall  on  the  opposite  side  from  that  on  which  air 
and  heat  enter.  This  conduit,  at  its  upper  extremity,  leads  into  a  great 
l)ipe,  which  runs  horizontally  under  the  roof,  discharging  its  contents  into 
a  vertical  chimney,  at  the  bottom  of  which  is  situated  the  reservoir 
which  receives  the  hot  water  of  the  furnace,  whose  smoke-pipe  also  tra- 
verses the  chimney.  This  system  of  ventilation  works  naturally  and 
without  mechanism  of  any  kind.  An  active  ventilation  incessantly  pu- 
rifies the  diiferent  parts  of  the  penitentiary  establishment,  throughout 
which  there  is  always  difl'used  a  fresh  and  agreeable  atmosphere.  A 
cleanliness  the  most  minute  is  continually  maintained.  The  dailj'  clean- 
ing of  the  premises,  the  varnishing  of  the  pavement  of  the  cells  bj' 
means  of  a  special  process,  and  the  waxing  of  the  floors  and  the  pave- 
ments of  the  galleries  have  made  it  possible  to  give  up  washing  with 
water,  wdiich  is  attended  with  great  inconvenience.  The  walls  of  the 
cells,  galleries,  &c.,  are  washed  of  a  stone-color  at  the  beginning  of 
every  year,  and  partially  whenever  it  becomes  necessary  to  remove 
spots  or  stains.  No  deposit  of  dirt  or  dung  is  allowed  within  the  in- 
ciosure  of  the  establishment,  and  all  necessary  measures  are  taken  to 
have  the  rain-water  speedily  carried  off  from  the  premises.  In  summer, 
fumigations  are  made  every  morning.  They  are  less  necessary  rn  winter, 
and  are,  consequently,  less  frequent  during  that  season  of  the  year. 


78  INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

To  iDsnre  personal  cleanliness  on  the  part  of  the  prisoners  the  hair  is 
required  to  be  kept  short ;  whiskers,  mustache,  &c.,  are  forbidden. 
The  men  are  shaved  twice  each  week.  The  prisoners  are  required  to 
wash  their  feet  once  a  week.  Every  two  months  in  winter,  and  once  a 
month  in  summer,  they  are  required  to  take  a  full  bath.  The  body  linen 
is  changed  every  week. 

As  regards  the  arrangement  of  the  water-closets,  two  good  systems 
are  in  use — movable  vessels  and  fixed  seats,  with  a  pressure  of  water. 
The  cells  are  lighted  with  gas  ;  two  stop-cocks  are  fitted  to  the  lighting 
apparatus — one  in  the  cell,  under  the  control  of  the  prisoner;  the  other 
on  t\fe  outside,  under  the  control  of  the  keeper. 

The  use  of  the  hammock  has  been  given  up,  having-  been  replaced  in 
the  cellular  prisons  by  an  iron  table-bedstead.  This  bedstead  is  folded 
up  during  the  day,  contains  the  bedding,  and  serves  as  a  table.  The 
bedding  consists  of  a  mattress,  a  bolster,  two  cases  for  the  mattress, 
two  bolster- cases,  two  a\  oolen  blankets,  and  two  pairs  of  sheets.  The 
mattress  and  the  bolster  are  made  of  sea-weed. 

The  infirmary  occupies  a  part  of  the  building  at  some  distance  from 
the- cells,  and  the  sick  are  distributed  into  spacious  cells,  well  aired  and 
comfortably  warmed.  These  cells  have  a  capacity  of  40  cubic  meters, 
and  are  provided  with  the  necessary  furniture  and  with  clothing  suited 
to  the  condition  of  the  sick.  The  dietary  is  regulated  according  to  a 
special  tariff.  The  hygienic  service  leaves  nothing  to  be  desired.  A 
cleanliness  the  most  minute,  a  ventilation  active  and  continual,  frequent 
fumigations,  the  change  of  linen  and  of  bedding — in  a  word,  all  desira- 
ble attentions  are  accorded  to  the  sick.  Independently  of  the  assidu- 
ous attentions  of  which  the  sick  are  made  the  object,  they  are  regularly 
visited,  at  least  once  an  hour,  and  can,  at  anytime,  call  upon  the  nurses 
by  meaus  of  a  signal,  whose  movement  reaches  to  each  bed.  Prisoners 
seriously  sick  have  watchers,  and  all  the  necessary  measures  are  taken 
that  they  receive  the  attentions  required  by  their  situation. 

The  proportion  of  the  sick  for  all  the  prisons  of  the  kingdom  is  2.74 
per  cent. ;  the  average  death-rate  is  1.77  per  cent. 

§3.  The  food  given  to  the  prisoners  in  the  penitentiaries  of  Denmark 
is  healthy,  clean,  and  sufficient,  but  i)lain.  Dinner  is  the  principal 
meal.  The  prisons  are  dry  and  airy,  and  in  no  private  house  is  greater 
cleanliness  found.  During  the  last  three  years,  the  proportion  of  sick 
prisoners  has  been  :  Men,  2.11  per  cent ;  women,  2.13.  During  the  same 
period,  the  death-rate  on  the  total  average  number  of  prisoners  was: 
Men,  1.75;  women,  1.70. 

§  4.  The  central  administration  of  France  attaches  great  importance 
to  the  hygiene  of  the  prisons,  and  it  takes  special  pains  to  free  them 
from  every  cause  of  humidity.  Even  where  the  buildings  which  serve 
for  iuiprisoiimeut  are  not  its  own  property,  it  reserves  to  itself  an  abso- 
lute right  of  control,  as  well  as  of  preliminary  approval,  of  all  construc- 
tions and  i('p;iirs  Jippertaining  to  them.  It  has  the  power  to  insure, 
and  it  do<'S  insurer  encctively,  that  sanitary  precautions  are  never  neg- 
lected. Water  is  siqiplicd  in  abundiince,  and,  for  the  most  part,  of 
excellent  ([uality.  'J'Im;  ventilation  of  tin'  i)ris(»ns  is  made  the  object  of 
a  very  speiMal  attention,  and  is  eU'ected  by  means  of  diaught  chimneys, 
whieli  cause  the  nii;isms  to  esciipe  ;md  fiicilitate  the  reiu'wal  of  the  aii'. 
^J'o  insute,  cleanliness  in  the  prison  buildings,  the  regulations  ])rescribe 
that  the  Moors  of  the  sevia-al  stories,  especially  for  {ipaituu'uts  in  com- 
mon, except  the  inlirmary,  be,  as  fiir  as  i)ossibIe,  <'overed  with  cement 
or  Httu;co,' in  j)r<'fereiice  to  lliigging,  tiles,  or  i)l;inks.  The  walls  and 
ceilings  ai-e  re<|uire<l  to  be  carefully  plastered  ;ind  painted  with  oil,  or 


PRISON    HYGIENE DENMARK FRANCE BADEN.  79 

at  least  waslied  with  lime.  These  precautions,  whose  aim  is  to  facili- 
tate the  maiutenauee  of  cleanliness,  are  completed  by  official  measures, 
whose  daily  or  i^eriodical  exaction  is  placed  in  charge  of  the  contractor 
of  each  establishment  where  the  industries  are  managed  by  contract. 
These  measures  are  specified  in  the  contract.  They  consist  principally 
in  frequent  and  repeated  sweepings,  washings,  and  cleanings,  as  well 
as  in  fumigations  and  in  the  annual  whitewashing  of  all  the  buildings. 

The  means  of  securing  the  personal  cleanliness  of  the  i^risoners  are 
of  two  kinds.  The  one,  as  the  daily  toilet,  the  bath,  the  washing  of 
the  feet,  and  the  removal  of  the  beard  and  long  hair  of  the  men,  is  ap- 
plied directly  to  the  individual.  The  other  has  for  its  object  the  linen 
and  the  clothing  provided  for  the  prisoners'  use.  They  are  both  as  ex- 
tensive as  i^ossible,  and  are  made  the  subject  of  numerous  and  detailed 
rules  in  the  conditions  of  the  contract  and  the  regulations  of  the  prisons. 
The  position  and  structure  of  the  water-closets  are  made  a  constant 
study  of  the  administration,  and  improvements  are  gradually  intro- 
duced wherever  it  is  iiracticable.  The  prisons  are  generally  lighted 
with  oil,  though  in  some  cases  with  gas.  They  are  commonly  heated 
by  stoves  ;  some  by  hot-air  furnaces  ;  but  these  latter  have  not  proved 
a  great  success.  Iron  bedsteads  having  been  found  preferable  to  all 
others,  they  are  the  only  kind  now  purchased  for  the  prisons  of  France. 
The  old  wooden  bedsteads  are  fast  disappearing,  and  will  soon  become 
a  thing  of  the  past.  The  complete  bed  of  each  able-bodied  prisoner 
consists  of  an  iron  bedstead,  a  mattress  or  jiaillasse,  (the  former  in  all 
central  prisons,)  a  bolster,  two  sheets,  and  one  coverlet  in  summer  and 
two  in  winter.  The  beds  for  the  sick  are  larger  and  of  better  quality, 
and  are  provided  each  with  a  pillow  and  curtains.  They  have  also  both 
a  mattress  and  a  i^aillasse.  As  a  general  rule,  twelve  to  thirteen  hours 
are  given  to  labor,  (the  number  cannot  exceed  that  exacted  of  free  la- 
borers ;)  two  to  two  and  one-half  to  meals  and  exercise  in  the  open  air ; 
and  nine  to  sleep.  In  the  great  prisons  sick  prisoners  are  treated  in 
the  establishment,  whatever  may  be  the  nature  or  gravity  of  their  dis- 
ease. In  the  minor  departmental  establishments,  the  trivial  cases  are 
treated  in  the  prison  itself;  the  more  serious  ones,  in  the  hospital  of 
the  place  where  they  are  situated.  The  sanitary  system  of  the  central 
prisons  is  organized  in  a  manner  the  most  complete.  A  physician,  often 
resident  in  the  establishment,  is  attached  to  each.  The  infirmaries  are 
arranged  in  the  best  possible  manner.  A  special  dietary  is  accorded  to 
the  sick,  agreeably  to  the  prescriptions  of  the  physician  and  the  condi- 
tions of  the  contract.  A  dispensary,  i)rovided  with  all  necessary  medi- 
cines, is  organized  in  each  central  iHnson,  and  an  apothecary  is  charged 
with  preparing  the  prescriptions.  Affections  of  the  digestive  and  res- 
piratory organs  and  fevers  furnish  half — often  two-thirds — of  the  in- 
mates in  the  prison-hospitals.  Imprisonment  very  generally  produces 
a  lack  of  blood,  which  favors  the  development  or  increases  the  gravity 
of  certain  diseases,  such  as  consumption  and  scrofula.  The  average 
number  of  prisoners  in  the  hospitals  of  the  central  prisons  was,  in  1868, 
4  per  cent,  of  men  and  5  of  women.  The  average  death-rate  in  the 
same  class  of  jjrisons  in  the  same  year  was  :  Men  3.05  per  cent. ;  women, 
3.80. 

§  5.  The  five  German  states  represented  in  the  congress  reply  as  fol- 
low^s : 

(1)  The  prisons  of  Baden  are  represented  as  healthy,  being  commonly 
built  on  a  dry  soil ;  but  they  have  no  special  system  of  sewerage. 
Water  is  furnished  in  sufiQcient  quantity  and  of  good  quality.  The  ven- 
tilation is  reported  good.    The  cells  and  corridors  are  cleaned  daily. 


80  INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

Scrupulous  atteution  is  everywhere  given  to  cleanliness,  iusomuch  that 
trades  inconsistent  with  it  are  not  practised.  The  prisoners  have  always 
a  full  supply  of  water  in  their  cells.  On  entrance,  each  prisoner  is 
washed  in  his  w^hole  person  and  has  his  hair  cut.  The  daily  ablution 
of  hands  and  face  is  required,  and  every  one  must  have  twelve  foot- 
baths and  four  baths  of  the  entire  person  per  year.  They  have  clean 
linen  weekly,  and  their  outer  garments  and  bed-clothes  are  washed  as 
often  as  may  be  found  necessary.  They  are  shaved  every  week,  and 
their  hair  is  cut  as  often  as  needful.  They  must  wash  all  vessels  imme- 
diately after  using  them,  and  the  floors  of  their  cells  are  scrubbed  at 
least  once  every  week.  The  cells  are  lighted  with  gas.  The  prisons  are 
heated  in  a  variety  of  ways :  by  hot  air,  by  steam,  or  by  stoves  of  iron  or 
earthenware.  Each  jmsoner  has  a  wooden  or  iron  bedstead ;  a  mattress, 
of  straw,  sedge,  or  varec ;  a  bolster,  of  the  latter  substance ;  two  sheets; 
and  one  or  two  counterpanes.  The  sick  have,  in  addition,  cushions,  &c. 
The  general  distribution  of  time,  without  minute  accuracy,  is  ten  hours 
for  work,  nine  and  one-half  for  sleep,  and  the  remaining  four  and  one-half 
for  meals,  exercise,  religious  services,  and  school.  The  sick  are  cared 
for  in  special  cells,  or  in  common  hospitals  when  their  complaints  are 
serious  enough  to  require  it.  The  most  common  diseases  are  those  of 
the  stomach,  scrofula,  and  the  maladies  consequent  thereupon.  An  aver- 
age of  (say)  5  per  cent,  of  the  prisoners  are  under  the  doctor's  care, 
and  the  death-rate  ranges  from  1  to  2  per  cent. 

(2)  Bavaria  does  not  claim  a  good  system  of  sewerage  for  all  her  pris- 
ons, but  in  those  of  recent  construction  great  atteution  has  been  jiaid 
to  this  matter.  The  prisoners  receive,  three  times  a  day,  fresh  water, 
generally  of  a  good  quality,  for  drinking  and  washing.  The  x^rison- 
rooms  are,  for  the  most  part,  well  ventilated  by  windows.  Other  systems 
have  not  been  found  very  successful.  AVork-rooms,  sleeping-rooms,  and 
corridors  are  swept  daily,  washed  weekly,  and  painted  yearly.  Prison- 
ers must  wash  the  face  and  hands,  clean  the  mouth,  and  comb  the  hair 
every  morning;  must  take  a  foot-bath  each  week  or  fortnight,  and  a 
full  bath  several  times  in  the  year ;  and  must  be  shaved  once  a  week, 
and  have  their  hair  cut  when  necessary.  Different  kinds  of  water-closets 
are  used.  In  the  cellular  prison  at  Nilrnberg  there  are  fixed  closets 
made  of  cast-iron,  which,  by  means  of  water-pipes,  are  cleaned  three 
times  every  day ;  the  bend  or  neck  which  connects  the  closet  with  the 
refuse-pipe  remains  always  full  of  water,  and  thereby  shuts  off  all  sewer- 
gas.  By  means  of  the  water  all  the  matter  is  carried  off,  and  falls  into 
a  roservoir  at  some  distance,  whence  again  the  licjnid  part  is  drained  off 
into  a  stream.  This  arrangement  works  well.  In  some  other  prisons, 
liowever,  the  arrangements  are  far  from  perfect,,  especially  where  during 
the  night  movable  closets  are  put  into  the  bedrooms.  Hot  air,  hot 
water,  and  stoves  are  the  several  modes  of  heating  the  prisons.  The 
bed  consists  of:  a  bedstead  of  wood  or  iron,  a  straw  mattress  witli  a 
tick  of  unl)leachcd  coarse  linen,  a  pillow  of  the  same  material,  two 
sheets,  a  l)lanket  of  good  sheep's  wool,  and  in  winter  two.  The  most 
frequent  fonns  of  disease  are  those  belonging  to  tlie  respiratory  and 
•ligestive  (organs.  Four  per  cent,  represents  the  average  of  the  sick 
and  2  per  cent,  tlic  average  death-rate. 

{'.j)  In  Prussia  the  greatest  care  is  taken  to  secure  a  good  system  of 
sewerage  for  tlie  i)risons.  10  very  where  an  abundance  of  water  is  sui>- 
j)lied,  and  in  the  niajoriiy  of  prisons  it  is  of  good  (jnality.  All  prisons 
built  within  the  last  forty  years  have  been  furnislied  with  an  effe<!tive 
Hystcm  of  artificial  ventilation,  which  is  generally  connected  with  the 
heating-apparatus.    The  prisons  are  kept  scrupulously  clean,  and,  as  far 


PRISON    HYGIENE BAVARIA PRUSSIA SAXONY,    ETC.        81 

iis  possible,  free  from  vermin.  As  regards  the  means  of  securing  the 
personal  cleanliness  of  the  prisoners,  nothing  is  left  to  be  desired.  Be- 
sides daily  ablutions,  rigorously  enforced,  the  upper  part  of  the  body 
and  the  feet  must  be  washed  every  Sunday  and  the  whole  person  at 
least  once  a  month.  Considerable  variety  shows  itself  in  the  water- 
closet  arrangements.  This  part  of  the  service  does  not  appear  to  be  in 
a  perfectly  satisfactory  condition.  The  lighting  of  the  prisons  is  by 
gas,  petroleum,  or  oil ;  in  the  common  dormitories  lights  are  kept  burn- 
ing all  night.  The  prisons  of  recent  construction  are  heated  by  hot- 
water  apparatus.  The  bedsteads  are  of  wood  or  iron  ;  the  latter  in  all 
modern  prisons.  The  bedding  consists  of  a  straw  paillasse  and  pillow, 
sheets,  and  from  one  to  three  woolen  counterpanes,  according  to  the 
season,  inclosed  in  a  white  or  colored  case  of  linen  or  calico.  The  in- 
firmaries are  supplied  with  hair-mattresses.  The  hours  of  labor  are 
from  5  or  C  a.  m.  (according  to  the  season)  to  8  p.  m.,  but  subject  to  va- 
rious interruptions  for  meals,  rest,  exercise,  school,  and  catechising. 
The  hours  of  sleep  are  from  8  p.  m.  to  5  or  G  a.  m.  Hospitals  are 
found  in  all  the  prisons,  and  are  fitted  up  with  everything  needed  for 
the  treatment  of  the  sick  in  the  best  manner.  Light  cases  are  treated 
in  the  ordinary  rooms.  The  diseases  most  common  are  pulmonary,  in- 
testinal, and  other  forms  of  consumption ;  renal,  dropsical,  cerebral,  and 
spinal  afiections ;  and  chronic  ailments  of  the  abdominal  organs. 
Eight  per  cent,  of  the  prisoners  are  usually  under  medical  treatment — 
half  in  the  hospitals  and  half  in  their  cells  or  rooms.  The  death-rate 
is  from  2  to  2i  per  cent,  on  the  average  number  of  prisoners. 

(4)  In  Saxony,  from  the  combined  results  of  science  and  experience, 
prisoners  have  received,  since  1851,  conformably  to  a  regulation  regard- 
ing meals,  sufficient  and  nourishing  food.  This  regulation  i)rovides  for 
a  daily  variety  suited  to  the  season  and  the  promotion  of  health.  For 
dinners  there  are  ninety,  for  breakfasts  and  suppers,  twenty-eight,  vari- 
eties of  dishes.  On  principle,  such  food  is  given  to  the  jirisoner  as  is 
required  for  the  preservation  of  his  life,  health,  and  strength  for  work. 
Requisite  medical  attention  in  every  respect  is  given  to  the  prisoners. 
The  ventilation  is  arranged  in  a  simple  but  effective  manner.  Drainage 
(in  a  technical  sense)  does  not  exist,  but:  a  system  of  sluices  removes  all 
the  underground  water.  To  cleanliness  the  most  strict  attention  is  paid, 
and  it  is  rigorously  insisted  on  in  workshops,  dormitories,  water-closets, 
and  clothing ;  there  is  also  a  regular  use  of  baths.  The  daily  average 
of  cases  of  illness  is  from  1  to  2  per  cent.;  the  annual  average  of  cases 
of  death  is  1  to  3  per  cent. 

(5)  The  prisons  of  Wiirtemberg  are  provided  with  a  good  system  of 
sewerage.  Water,  for  drinking  and  other  purposes,  is  found  in  all  the 
prisons  in  sufficient  quautity  and  of  good  quality.  Prisoners  are  re- 
quired to  keej)  their  i)ersons,  clothing,  beds,  worksops,  dormitories, 
and  all  other  places  about  the  x)risons  scrupulously  clean.  Frequent 
bathing  of  the  entire  person  is  exacted.  The  food  provided  for  the 
prisoners  is  of  good  quality  and  sufficient  in  quantity.  The  construc- 
tion of  the  water-closets  varies  with  the  construction  of  the  i^risons ; 
but  even  the  ordinary  ones  are  supplied  with  a  ventilating  apparatus 
for  removing  the  bad  air,  and  are  carefully  disinfected.  Most  of  the 
prisons  are  lighted  with  gas.  The  bedsteads  are  of  iron  or  wood. 
The  bed  consists  of  a  straw  mattress  and  bolster,  two  sheets,  one 
blanket  in  summer,  and  two  in  winter.  In  reclusion-prisons  the 
inmates  whose  health  requires  it  may  have  their  own  beds,  and  in 
the  prisons  for  preliminary  detention  there  is  no  restriction  in  this 
regard.     In  prisons  of  reclusion   the  hours  of  work   are   eleven ;    of 

H.  Ex.  18.J G 


82  INTERNATIONAL    PKNITENTIARY    COXG'RESS. 

.sleep,  nine.  The  remaining  four  hours  are  given  to  meals,  recreation, 
schooling,  &c.  All  the  prisons  have  infirmaries,  which  are  supplied 
with  everything  necessary  for  the  sick;  but  i)risoners  who  are  only 
slightly  indisposed  are  treated  elsewhere.  The  diseased  in  mind  are 
removed  to  a  lunatic  asylum.  The  average  proportion  of  sick  in  the 
infirmaries  for  the  last  ten  years  has  been  from  .'3i  to  4i  per  cent.,  and 
the  death-rate  from  li  to  2=|  per  cent.  The  diseases  arii  mostly  the 
same  as  those  which  prevail  among  the  free  population. 

§  0.  The  allowance  of  food  in  the  Italian  prisons  varies  according  to 
the  class  of  the  prison.  In  the  detention-houses  the  ration  is  1  bowl  of 
soup  and  ToO  grams  (1t|:  pounds)  of  bread;  in  the  penitentiaries,  the 
same  quantity  of  bread  and  two  bowls  of  souj);  in  the  bagnios,  the  same 
ration  of  bread  and  one  bowl  of  soup,  with  the  addition  of  a  i)ortion  oi 
meat  once  a  fortnight.  In  the  detention-prisons  the  prisoners  are  allowed 
to  procure  their  own  food  if  so  disposed.  In  penal  establishments  worked 
by  contract,  and  in  the  bagnios,  the  prisoners  aie  allowed  to  use  a  por- 
tion of  their  peeuUum  m  increasing  their  diet,  as  they  choose.  In  pen- 
itentiaries AYorked  by  the  government  the  convict  who  accomplishes 
within  a  mouth  a  certain  amount  of  work  enjoys  the  next  month  what 
is  called  the '•' laborer's  diet,"  and  if  he  accom])Iish  an  extra  (luantity 
he  enjoys  what  is  named  the  '*  reward  diet."  The  laborer's  diet  is  a 
daily  dish  added  to  the  ordinary  ration.  The  reward  diet  adds  to  this 
an  allowance  of  wine  {vln  onlinaire)  three  times  a  week.  In  the  old  pris- 
ons ventilation  is  provided  for  as  best  it  may  be.  In  the  new  construc- 
tions the  best  appliances  of  science  are  employed.  The  water-closets 
are  made  movable  or  fixed,  according  to  the  quantity  of  water  necessary 
to  prevent  unhealthy  eflluvia.  The  average  death-rate  in  1870,  as  com- 
pared witb  the  average  prison-population,  was:  In  the  houses  of  deten- 
tion, 2.07  per  cent,  of  males  and  1.77  per  cent,  of  females;  in  the  pen- 
itentiaries it  was  r)M)  per  cent,  of  men  and  o.ll  per  cent,  of  women ;  and 
in  the  bagnios,  where  only  men  are  admitted,  2.78  per  cent.  The  diseases 
most  common  in  the  bagnios  are  fevers  and  complaints  of  the  lungs  and 
nervous  system  ;  in  the  ])enitentiaries,  diseases  of  the  lungs  and  of  the 
organs  of  sense. 

§  7.  No  information  was  furnished  on  this  subject  in  the  report  from 
^Mexico,  further  than  the  bare  statement  that  it  is  unnecessary  to  warm 
the  prisons  of  tluit  country  artificially,  on  ac<;ount  of  the  mildness  of 
the  climate. 

§  8.  In  some  of  the  ]»risons  of  the  ^.'etherlnnds,  the  system  of  sewerage 
still  remains  in)perfect,  but  reforms  av(i  sought  to  be  everywhere  intro- 
duced. The  (luantity  of  water  supplied  to  the  prisoners  is  without  limit, 
and  the  <piality  is  generally  good,  but  in  some  localities  it  is  ditlicult  and 
cxiM-nsiNc^o  procure  it.  ]\iostof  the  prisons  aj'C  well  ventilated  ;  where 
improvements  are  still  needed,  means  an^  employed  to  a(;complish  them. 
Earnest  endeavors  are  everywhere  made  to  insure  the  cleanliness  of  the 
prisons,  and  for  the  most  i>art  with  satisfactory  results.  The  same  is 
true  as  regards  the  ])ersonal  cleanliness  of  the  ])risoners.  As  regards 
the  system  ol"  wat«'r-closets,  preference  is  generally  given  to  inodorous, 
portable  vessels,  with  a  reservoir  outsi<l(i  of  the  building.  The  i)risons 
ar(;  commordy  lighted  by  gas  or  petroleum.  JJghls  are  kept  burning  in 
tlM"  iloiinitoiif's  (hiring  the  night.  The  system  of  heating  varies  in  dif- 
ferent i)risons.  I  n  somw  il,  is  efleeted  by  hot  water  or  steam,  in  others  by 
sU)ves.  'J'he  ])risoner's  bed  is  madr  of  straw;  for  the  sick,  of  sea-grass 
or  sea  weed.  JlamuKxiks  were  Ibnncily  in  v(>ry  general  use,  but  by 
degrees  they  liave  bt'cn  rei)lac,ed  l»y  open  bedsteads.  Tiu' bed,  complete, 
consists  of  ;i  mattress  and  bolster,  two  sheets,  one  eoveilet  of  a  coarse 


PRISON    HYGIENE ITALY \i:T!IERLANDS NORWAY,    ETC.    83 

material,  and  one  or  two  blankets,  according  to  tlie  temperature  of  the 
season. 

There  is  no  general  rule  regarding  the  distribution  of  time.  The 
hours  of  labor  (including  those  of  school)  are  ten  in  summer  and  nine 
in  winter,  and,  of  sleep,  eight  and  a  half  in  summer  and  nine  in  winter. 
The  remainder  of  the  time  is  at  the  disposal  of  the  prisoner  for  meals, 
rest,  study,  and  reading. 

A  distinct  part  of  the  prison-building  serves  as  an  infirmary.  In  the 
cellular  prisons,  cells  of  double  dimensions  are  appropriated  to  the  sick. 
The  medical  service  is  couiined  to  a  military  surgeon  wherever  there  is 
a  garrison;  to  a  civil  p'lysician  in  localities  where  there  is  no  garrison. 
The  entire  service  is  under  the  inspector-general  of  the  medical  service 
of  the  army,  and  is  performed  in  a  highly  satisfactory  manner.  The 
most  common  diseases  in  the  prisons,  as  outside,  are  diseases  of  the 
chest,  especially  phthisis.  The  average  of  the  sick  and  of  deaths  it  is  not 
easy  to  give.  It  differs  a  good  deal  in  different  prisons,  depending  on 
local  circumstances  and  the  class  or  species  of  prison.  The  difference 
in  the  duration  of  punishments,  which  is  by  no  means  inconsiderable, 
exercises  a  great  influence  on  the  i)roportionate  number  of  the  sick  and 
of  deaths. 

§  0.  A  good  system  of  drainage  is  reported  for  the  Norwegian  prisons. 
The  water-supply  is  unlimited  and  of  good  quality.  The  ventilation  of 
the  prisons  is  reported  good.  Cleanliness,  both  of  the  i^risons  and 
prisoners,  is  enforced  to  the  utmost  practicable  extent.  The  larger 
prisons  are  lighted  witli  gas;  the  smaller  with  oil.  In  the  penitentiary 
and  most  of  the  district-prisons  the  rooms  are  warmed  by  hot  water;  in 
the  other  district-prisons  by  stoves.  In  the  penitentiary,  hammocks  are 
used ;  in  the  other  penal  establishments,  wooden  bed-frames ;  iu  the 
district-prisons,  both  sorts.  The  bedding  consists  of  mattress,  pillow, 
sheets,  and  blankets.  The  working-time  cannot  legally  exceed  fourteen 
hours  in  summer  and  tea  in  winter.  The  actual  time  employed  in 
labor  is  less,  varying  from  twelve  and  a  half  hours,  as  the  maximum,  to 
ten,  as  the  minimum.  The  hours  of  sleep  are  not  stated  in  the  report. 
Every  penal  establishment  has  its  own  physician.  In  the  district-prison s^ 
medical  assistance  is  given  by  the  official  physician  of  the  district. 

§  10.  In  the  new  prison-constructions  of  Eussia,  in  spite  of  the  diffi- 
culties offered  by  the  climate,  the  greatest  pains  are  taken  to  secure 
good  and  effective  drainage.  In  the  old  prisons,  everything  connected 
with  this  subject  is  in  a  more  or  less  barbarous  state.  The  same  thing 
is  true  as  regards  ventilation.  The  water-closets  are  generally  primi- 
tive. Those  used  during  the  day  are  simply  perforated  planks  above  a 
pit  more  or  less  deep ;  for  use  by  night  there  are  portable  vessels  oi 
wood.  Efforts  are  now  making  to  find  a  method  which  will  unite 
economy,  cleanliness,  and  pure  air  in  a  severe  climate  ;  but  the  problem 
Is  not  easy  of  solution.  The  prisons  are  lighted  almost  everywhere  by 
tallow  candles.  They  are  warmed,  for  the  most  part,  by  stoves.  In  ex- 
ceptional prisons  the  system  of  Amossoft'  is  employed.  In  this  system 
tubes  for  conducting  heat  unite  at  a  common  subterranean  furnace  or 
fire-grate.  Other  systems  have  been  also  tried,  but  none  has  yet  given 
a  satisfactory  solution  of  the  difficulty  as  respects  cheapness,  climate, 
security,  and  other  desirable  advantages. 

In  most  prisons  the  prisoners  have  no  bed.  They  sleep  on  planks, 
ranged  side  by  side,  and  fixed  on  stools  about  three  feet  from  the  floor. 
The  bed,  in  prisons  where  it  is  found,  is  the  same  as  everywhere  else :  a 
mattress  and  bolster  filled  with  straw,  linen  sheets,  and  a  coarse  cloth 
blanket.     The  large  jirisons  have  hospitals  in  which  the  sick  are  treated, 


84  INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

and  whicli  are  well  kept.  The  more  comuion  diseases  are  scurvy  and 
consumptiou.  There  is  not  a  large  proportion  of  sick  prisoners.  The 
same  cannot  be  said  of  the  number  of  deaths.  This  fact  is  explained 
by  the  kind  of  life  that  the  prisoners  lead  before  their  imprisonment ; 
they  had  been  too  much  addicted  to  alcoholic  stimulants. 

§  11.  The  situation  and  drainage  of  the  i^risons  of  Sweden  leave  little 
to  be  desired.  It  is  quite  common  to  build  them  on  water-courses.  The 
water  for  the  prisoners'  use  is  of  good  quality  and  the  supply  without 
stint.  In  the  associated  prisons  there  is  no  apparatus  for  ventilation  ; 
in  those  on  the  cellular  plan  it  is  otherwise.  The  strictest  cleanliness 
is  enforced.  The  prisoner,  on  his  admission,  has  a  bath  and  receives 
clean  clothes.  He  changes  his  linen  weekly  and  his  sheets  every  fort- 
night. Frequent  bathing  is  required,  especially  in  summer.  Water- 
closets  are  variously  constructed,  but  they  are  not  completely  satisfac- 
tory. Gas  is  exceptionally  used  for  lighting,  oil  and  petroleum  being 
commonly  employed  for  that  purpose.  The  larger  cellular  prisons  are 
beated  by  hot  water ;  the  others,  both  cellular  and  associated,  by  open 
grates  or  stoves.  The  bedsteads  are  generally  of  iron  in  the  associate 
prisons ;  in  the  cellular,  hammocks  are  used.  The  bedding  does  not 
difier  materially  from  that  supplied  in  the  prisons  of  other  European 
countries.  In  winter  the  hours  for  sleep  are  from  8  p.  m.  to  G  a.  m. ;  in 
summer  from  9  p.  m.  to  5  a.  m.  Each  morning  and  evening,  half  an 
hour  is  occupied  in  washing,  in  prayer,  and  in  inspection  by  the  officers. 
Half  an  hour  is  allowed  for  breakfast,  the  same  for  supper,  and  an  hour 
for  dinner.  On  Saturday  work  finishes  at  4  o'clock.  In  winter  those 
who  labor  in  the  oi)en  air  work  as  long  as  it  is  light.  The  prisoners  in 
cells  walk  for  half  an  hour  each  day  in  the  court  of  the  prison.  They 
work  at  most  ten  hours  per  day ;  the  remainder  of  their  time  is  spent 
in  reading  and  receiving  instruction. 

In  the  cellular  prisons  the  sick  are  commonly  attended  to  in  their 
cells  ;  but  they  have  a  bed  instead  of  the  usual  hammock.  In  serious 
cases,  or  in  epidemics,  the  sick  are  transferred  to  a  special  room  which 
is  found  in  every  cellular  prison.  In  prisons  on  the  associated  system 
there  are  intirmaries  with  spacious  and  well-ventilated  rooms,  to  which 
all  prisoners  are  removed  who,  from  sickness  or  wounds,  are  unable  to 
work.  Xo  prisoner  on  the  sick-list  is  allowed  to  remain  in  the  work- 
rooms or  in  the  common  dormitories.  The  most  common  diseases  are 
j)ulmonary  consumption,  aifcctions  of  the  stomach  and  intestines, 
especially  among  prisoners  wlio  work  in  the  oi)en  air.  During  summer 
scurvy  not  unfre(]uently  prevails.  For  live  years  the  average  of  sick 
has  been,  in  collective  prisons,  4.4  per  cent.;  in  cellular  prisons,  4  per 
cent.  In  the  same  ])eriod  the  deaths  were,  in  the  collective  prisonsj  ."> 
I)er  cent. ;  in  cellular  prisons,  li  per  cent. 

§  12.  In  the  more  recently  constructed  prisons  of  Switzerland  and  in 
those  which  have  undergone  extensive  alterations,  the  sanitary  appli- 
ances are  sii(;h  as  the  best  exi^erience  an<l  the  best  science  suggest  in 
regard  to  (Iraiiiage,  wat(n--sui)])ly,  ventilation,  cleanliness,  construction 
and  arraugeincnt  of  wat(!r-closets,  heating,  lighting,  beds  and  bedding, 
hospital  accoinniodalion,  &(;.  Jn  the  others,  dcliciencies  are  iound  in 
all  tlu'sercsjx'cls,  varying  fiom  an  aj)i)roach  to  what  humanity  and  sound 
j)oli(;y  demand  to  the  altscncii  of  almost  eveiytliing  which  these  good 
guides  ])oint  out  as  dcsirjible. 

§  ].'>.  There  isno  gcMieral  scale  of  ])ri son  dietaries  in  the  United  States, 
and  Irom  tlu;  diversities  of  climate  ami  i)r()duction  Ihei-e  could  scarcely 
be  on(! ;  for  wliat  would  be  salutary  at  lioston  might  be  otherwise  at 
2^cw  Orleans  or  ("harleston.     In  the  Western  States  fresh  moat  is  much 


PRISON    HYCilENE SWEDEN SWITZERLAND,    ETC.  85 

more  freely  used  than  on  the  sea-board ;  but  iu  all  our  prisons  uieat  is 
much  more  common  tlian  in  those  of  Europe,  being  generally  given 
twice  a  day  in  the  state-prisons.  Another  frequent  article  of  food  is 
Indian  meal,  made  from  maize,  and  served  up  in  the  form  of  "  mush," 
(which  is  a  kind  of  pudding,)  or  of  "brown  bread."  This  is  little  used 
in  Europe,  and  is  not  to  be  highly  recommended  as  a  common  article  of 
diet. 

The  ventilation  and  drainage  of  half  the  American  prisons  are  reason- 
ably good;  of  the  other  half  indifferent  or  bad  ;  in  many  instances  very 
bad.  Probably  one-fonrth  of  all  the  prisons,  and  a  larger  proportion  of 
the  state-prisons  and  honses  of  correction,  are  kept  scrupulously  clean  ; 
a  great  many,  particularly  among  the  county  jails,  are  foul  and  filthy. 
Yet  most  of  them  are  free  from  sickness,  and  the  death-rate  is  not 
large.  It  cannot  be  given  with  any  accuracy,  however,  for  lack  of  care- 
ful statistics.  Ln  the"  cellular  prison  of  Philadelphia,  dnring  a  period  of 
forty-two  years,  there  were  353  deaths  in  a  total  number  of  0,4IG  per- 
sons. As  each  person  probably  spent  about  three  years  in  prison  on  an 
average,  this  would  ,give  a  death-rate  of  353  in  20,000,  or  17.65  in  a 
thousand,  less  than  2  per  cent.,  which  is  not  very  great.  Among  an 
average  number  of  2,471  prisoners  in  Massachusetts  in  186S,  41  died  ;  in 
1S(]9  the  average  number  was  3,043,  and  the  deaths  were  55;  in  1870 
these  numbers  were  2,971  and  58  ;  in  1871,  3,145  and  C8.  In  an  aggre- 
gate average  population  of  11,630  this  gives  19.35  for  the  annual  death- 
rate  per  thousand  in  four  years,  which,  all  things  considered,  is  less 
than  in  Penns^'lvania. 

§  14.  The  sanitary  arrangements  and  condition  of  the  English  con- 
vict-prisons are  reported  as  good.  Xo  epidemic  or  other  diseases  pre- 
vail in  these  establishments.  They  are  kept  iu  a  high  state  of  cleanli- 
ness, and  the  medical  officers  are  required  to  examine  and  report  fre- 
quently on  this  point.  The  average  death-rate  for  the  last  five  years 
has  been  1.37  per  cent,  for  males  and  1.45  for  females. 

In  regard,  to  the  county  and  borough  prisons  the  same  report  sub- 
stantially was  presented  to  the  congress  by  the  government  inspectors. 

§  15.  The  sanitary  arrangements  in  the  Irish  convict-prisons  are  re- 
ported as  excellent,"  and  the  condition  of  the  prisons  in  this  regard  as 
altogether  satisfactory.  The  diseases  most  prevalent  are  colds  and 
mild  febrile  and  puhnonary  afi'ections. 


C  H  A  P  T  E  R    V  I  I  I  . 

REFORMATORY  RESULTS. 

§  1.  Public  punishment  has  two  objects  in  Austria  :  the  vindication 
of  justice  and  the  reformation  of  the  criminal.  The  sad  fact  is  ac- 
knowledged that  the  efibrts  for  the  moral  improvement  of  prisoners  have 
not  been'attended  with  good  efiect.  No  proofs  exist  that  prisoners  are 
made  better  by  their  punishment.  The  proportion  of  those  who  relapsed 
and  were  re-convicted  during  the  years  i.S68-'70  was:  Men,  59  per  cent. ; 
women,  54  per  cent. 

§  2.  The  execution  of  punishment  in  Belgium  has  in  view  the  double 
aim  of  expiation  and  reformation ;  the  latter  of  these  objects  is  steadily 
kept  in  view  and  earnestly  sought  by  the  administration.  It  is  claimed 
to  be  in  proof  that  in  the  cellular  ]irisons  the  moral  state  of  the  prison- 
ers is,  in  "eneral,  better  at  the  time  of  their  discharge  than  at  that  of 


86  INTEKNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

their  entrance.  Those  who  manifest  evil  inclinations  are  lew  in  num- 
ber; nearly  all  have  sensibly  moditied  the  sentiments  Avith  wiiich  they 
were  animated  at  the  time  of  their  commitment.  iStill  it  would  seem 
that  the  good  resolutions  formed  in  prison  yield,  to  a  very  great  extent, 
to  the  temptations  to  which  the  liberated  prisoners  are  afterward  ex- 
posed in  free  life.  Of  the  prisoners  committed  in  1872,  78  i)er  cent,  had 
been  in  prison  before,  and  had  fallen  again  after  their  discharge.  The 
authors  of  the  report  made  to  the  congress  claim  that  this  result  can- 
not be  charged  to  the  cellular  system,  since  nearly  half  the  i^enitentiary 
establishments  are  still  conducted  on  the  congregate  plan. 

§  3.  The  reformation  of  criminals  is  made  a  primary  object  of  their 
treatment  in  Denmark,  but  though  the  convict  generally  leaves  the 
prison  with  good  intentions,  yet  his  power  of  resistance  often  proves  too 
weak  to  conquer  temptation. 

§  4.  The  supreme  aim  of  i^ublic  i)unishment  in  France  is  deterrence, 
that  is  to  say,  the  intimidation  of  criminals,  and  the  repression  of  crime 
by  that  means.  The  moral  regeneration  of  the  convicts  is  considered  as 
one  of  the  means  of  action  which  the  state  can  and  ought  to  employ  to 
diminish  the  danger  of  relapse,  but  not  as  the  princii>al  aim  of  the  pen- 
itentiary system.  In  the  case  of  piisoners  sentenced  to  short  terms  of 
imprisonment  it  is  difficult  to  obtain  favorable  reformatory  results.  On 
the  contrary,  the  criminal  so  im])risoned  is  apt  to  become  sensibly  de- 
teriorated. In  support  of  this  view,  the  report  states  that  in  France 
the  proportion  of  relapses  is  in  inverse  ratio  to  the  duration  of  the  pun- 
ishment. According  to  the  last  official  report  on  criminal  justice,  of 
persons  ]>rosecuted  for  crime,  those  previously  convicted  formed  42i  per 
cent.,  and  of  misdemeanants,  o7i  per  cent. 

§  5.  The  states  of  the  German  Empire  reporting  show  the  follov/ing 
condition  of  things: 

(1)  Punishment  is  the  primary  aim  of  iminisoument  in  Baden,  but  it 
is  intended  to  be  so  iniiicted  as  to  make  it  contribute  to  the  reformation 
of  the  imprisoned.  Those  who  leave  the  prison  are  generally  better 
than  when  they  entered  it.  The  proportion  of  tliose  who  return  to  a 
criminal  course  after  release  is  20  per  cent. 

(2)  In  Bavaria,  although  reformation  is  looked  upon  as  one  great  ob- 
ject of  the  prison  system,  the  favorable  results  desii'ed  are  not,  upon  the 
whole,  obtained.     The  ])r()})ortion  of  le-convictions  is  about  30  per  cent. 

(3)  The  i)rincipal  aim  in  Prussian  prisons  is  to  satisfy  justice,  and  to 
make  the  ])risoners  feel  their  i)unishment  as  an  expiation  of  their  crime. 
At  tlie  same  time,  all  suitable  means  are  emi)loyed  to  effect  their  moral 
reroi'imition.  Ijfforts  are  made  to  give  tlu'ni  habits  of  order  and  work, 
and  llicir  minds  are  inllaenced  by  scholastic  instruction,  s[)iritual conso- 
lation, and  moial  i)re(;epts.  Nevertheless,  of  prisoners  sentenced  to  hard 
hil>or,  tlic  only  class  with  respect  to  which  n^liable  statistics  exist,  GO  to 
70  per  cent,  in  the  whole  kingdom  are  recidivists,  that  is,  persons  who. 
after  their  liberation,  liave  again  fallen  into  crime. 

(4)  III  8a.\ony  reformation  is  made  one  of  the  chief  objects  of  im- 
prisonment. The  prisoners  are  in  general  better  on  leaving  the  prison 
than  wlu'n  they  entered  it.  Their  promises  that  they  will  live  honestly 
ai'e,  in  most,  «;as('s,  not  m.u'e  em])t.y  i)hrases  ;  and  wIkmi  some  have 
failed  in  their  imiposc,  of  amendment,  the  fault  is  mostly  to  be  traced 
to  existing  gencial  social  <^vils.  J'\)r  su('C(\sslul  warfan^  against  these, 
liberated  ])ris()neis  are  wajiting  in  energy. 

{~t)  The  j)rimary  object  of  imi»risoMiiient  in  Wiirtemlx'rg  is  jjunish- 
mcMit  ;  yrt  it  is  intended  that  the  ])iinishm('nt  shall  be  so  a<lministered 
as  to  ett'ect  the  mMr;il  imniovemenl  of  tlie  ]»risoners.     Of  the  inmates 


REFORMATORY    RESULTS ITALV MEXICO HOLLAND,  ETC.    87 

of  the  prisons*,  more  than  a  third — about  .'](>  per  cent. — are  there  on  re- 
conviction. 

§  G.  The  administration  of  the  Italian  prisons  finds  it  a  difficult  task 
to  decide  the  question  whether  its  penitentiary  system  answers  the  end 
of  reformin<»'  the  criminal,  and  whether  on  discharge  the  prisoner  is 
morally  better  or  worse.  The  relapses  into  crime  scarcely  exceed  18  per 
cent,  on  the  whole  body  of  criminals ;  but,  in  1871,  of  the  criminals 
sentenced  to  an  imprisonment  of  more  than  a  year,  28  i)er  cent,  were 
recidivists.  (Joncerninj^jthe  number  of  re-convictions,  a  most  important 
fact  may  be  gathered  from  the  registered  statistics  of  the  administra- 
tion relative  to  the  time  elapsing  between  the  discharge  and  the  com- 
mittal of  fresli  Clime.  From  these  it  is  found  that  of  recidivists  sentenced 
to  the  bagnios,  27  per  cent,  relapse  within  the  first  year,  10  per  cent, 
within  the  first  tMo  years,  and  57  per  cent,  beyond  that  space  of  time. 
The  re-convictions  of  those  sentenced  to  the  penitentiaries  are  37  per 
cent,  within  the  first  year,  19  per  cent,  within  two  years,  and  44  per 
cent,  beyond  that  laj)se  of  time ;  and  among  the  femnles,  4G  percent, 
within  the  first  year,  KJ  })er  cent,  within  two  years,  and  38  percent,  be- 
yond that  time. 

§  7.  Deterrence  has  been  considered  in  Mexico  the  primary  aim  of 
I>ublic  punishment,  thougli  the  moral  reform  of  the  criminal  has  not  been 
lost  sight  of.  So  far,  the  prisoners  leave  their  pi-ison-house  in  a  worse 
state  morally  than  when  they  entered  it ;  but  it  is  believed  that  the 
changes  recently  made  in  the  penal  code  will  improve  this  state  of  things. 

§  8.  The  aim  in  the  Xetherlands  is  to  make  the  punishment  contribute,, 
as  tar  as  possible,  to  the  reformation  of  prisoners.     The  proportion  of 
recidivists  given  by  the  (admitted)  iu^perfect  statistics  of  the  country  is, 
for  the  general  mass  of  jtrisons,  25  percent.;  for  the  central  (higher) 
prisons,  38  per  cent. 

§  0.  Protection  of  society  by  deterring  from  crime,  that  is,  by  intimi- 
dation, is  regarded  in  Xorway  as  the  primary  end  of  prisons  and  im- 
prisonment ;  but  the  reformation  of  the  prisoners  is  also  considered  a 
chief  jioint.  Of  the  inmates  of  the  penitentiary,  about  39  per  cent,  are 
there  on  re-conviction.  With  regard  to  other  prisons,  no  information  is 
given  in  the  report.  Whether  the  i>risons  have  an  improving  or  deteri- 
orating effect  upon  their  inmates  is  a  question  declared  to  be  difficult 
to  answer  in  a  satisfactory  manner. 

§  10.  In  Russia,  the  declared  aim  of  all  penal  legislation  is  the  reforma- 
tion of  the  inmates  of  the  prisons;  but  this  aim  is  very  far  from  having 
been  attained.  Indeed,  the  prisoners  are  admitted  to  be  worse  on  their 
discharge  than  on  their  entry,  since  the  liberated  are  a  pest  to  the  coun- 
try. It  is  impossible  to  state  the  proportion  of  recommitments,  for  the 
want  of  statistics. 

§  11.  The  information  furnished  by  Sweden  on  this  subject  is  given  in 
the  words  of  the  report,  as  follows  : 

The  legislatioD,  as  well  as  tlie  reform  of  prisons,  initiated  by  Kin<;  Oscar  I,  coiu- 
meuced  in  1840.  lu  cousquencc,  thirty-eight  new  cellular  prisons  were  built  in  all  the 
provinces  of  the  kinj^dom.  They  have  all  aimed  at  the  moral  reformation  of  the  pris- 
oners. But  as  all  those  who  are  sentenced  to  penal  labor  for  more  than  two  years  are 
.imprisoned  in  the  larije  collective  prisons  with  common  dormitories  for  a  large  number 
of  prisoners,  and  as  they  work  altogether  during  the  day  for  private  contractors,  their 
amendment  has  not  been  fully  attained.  On  the  other  hand,  the  cellular  prisons  are 
regarded  as  not  having  corrupted  the  prisoners.  Those  who  have  been  imprisoned 
only  in  cellular  prisons  liave  not  been  greatly  hindered  by  their  imprisonment  from 
finding  employment  in  the  neighborhood  of  their  home.  During  the  last  five  j-ears  the 
numl)er  of  recidivists  has  risen  on  the  average  to  2S  per  cent.  But  since  Sweden  suf- 
fered from  scarcity  of  food  in  1866,  1867.  and  1868,  and  conseipieutly  it  was  difficult  for 
men  to  iiiul  work,  an  extraordinarv  addition  was  made  to  the  number  of  crimes  against 


88  INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

property.     Hence  the  percentage  of  recidivists,  before  ineutioued,  is  considerably  above 
the  normal  average. 

§  12.  For  Switzerland,  the  exact  words  of  the  report  are  also  given : 

The  study  of  social  questions,  undertaken  by  numerous  societies  of  public  utility, 
and  the  reports  presented  in  the  meetings  of  the  Swiss  Society  for  the  Reform  of  the 
Penal  System  and  of  Prison  Discipline,  have  enlightened  public  opinion  to  such  a  degree 
that  the  legislative  assemblies  of  most  of  the  cantons  are  favorable  to  the  propositions 
made  with  a  view  to  the  introdnction  of  penitentiary  reform  into  all  our  prisons.  On 
the  other  hand,  public  opinion  declares  itself  in  favor  of  expenditures  designed  to  im- 
prove the  condition  of  criminals  only  after  the  state  has  sujiplied  the  country  with  hos- 
pitals, insane-asylums,  orphan-houses,  schools,  «S:c.,  that  is  to  say,  with  all  needful 
establishments  dcisigned  for  the  honest  poor.  In  all  the  cantons  where  these  institutions 
are  found,  the  old  theory  of  penal  rein-ession,  based  on  vengeance,  has  given  place  to 
more  humane  ideas,  the  responsibility  resting  on  society  as  regards  the  causes  of  crimes 
is  better  understood,  and  the  system  introduced  into  most  of  the  prisons  has  for  its  aim 
the  reformation  of  the  prisoners.  It  is  true  that  the  i^eual  codes  of  many  of  the  can- 
tons are  based  on  punishment,  intimidation,  and  expiation.  But  despite  the  text  of 
the  codes,  which  was  often  written  jirior  to  the  reform  of  the  prisons,  it  is  sought  in 
the  penitentiaries  to  employ  agencies  which  may  combine  at  once  repression  and  refor- 
mation. While  in  some  cantons  (those  of  the  two  inferior  groups)  the  principle  of 
repression  is  alone  admitted,  we  see  the  canton  of  Ziirich  setting  a  good  example  by 
declaring,  in  its  penal  code,  October,  1870,  that  the  application  of  punishment  ought 
positively  to  have  for  its  object  the  reformation  of  the  criminal.  This  princix)le,  which, 
some  day,  will  be  applied  in  its  whole  length  and  breadth,  dates  only  from  yesterday. 
Hence  we  need  not  be  surprised  that  the  country  is  found  in  that  transitional  period 
when  the  principle  of  intimidation  still  struggles  against  the  moral  reform  of  crim- 
inals. The  spirit  of  vengeance  is  not  entirely  extinguished  ;  it  still  shows  itself  when- 
ever anj'  atrocious  crime  has  just  been  committed.  But  the  moment  of  indignation  is 
transient,  which  shows  that  an  immense  progress  has  already  been  realized,  and  that 
,  its  development  proceeds  without  cessation,  in  spite  of  occasional  reactionary  move- 
ments. 

The  favorable  results  obtained  in  the  moral  reformation  of  prisoners  subjected  to 
the  penitentiary  rcgivte  of  the  modern  establishments  incite  the  others  to  a  revision  of 
their  penal  codes.  No  doubt  there  are  many  criminals  and  correctionals  in  whose  case 
the  inlluence  of  the  improved  penitentiary  system  does  not  make  itself  felt.  As,  among 
the  insane,  there  are  incurable  patients,  so  persons  in  whom  the  moral  sense  has  been 
completely  perverted  suffer  themselves  to  be  impressed  in  a  penitentiary  only  by  the 
evil  which  they  liud  there,  and  show  thomsodves  iu9ensii>lc  to  the  goo<l  which  is  sought 
to  be  accomplished.  On  the  other  liand,  the  greater  number  are  far  tVotu  being  de- 
praved, and  the  moral  force  of  those  who  form  this  class  increases  in  Llie  prisons.  At 
the  moment  of  theirliberation  they  feel  themselves  reconciled  to  society,  and  they  have 
the  linn  intention  of  regaining,  by  their  good  conduct  and  by  honest  toil,  the  esteem  of 
their  fellow-citizens.  ]5ut  it  is  not  easy  for  a  ])risoner  to  carry  into  efl'ect  his  good  reso- 
lutions. He  has  to  confront  many  predjndices,  to  con<iuer  maTiy  obstacles,  and  to 
j'csist  many  temidations,  to  Avhich  ho  would  sometimes  succumb  if  some  charitable 
hand  were  not  extended  lor  his  succor. 

The  jtroportional  numb(;r  of  recidivists  can  be  given  only  approximately.  The  sta- 
tistics in  the  different  cantons  are  not  made  out  in  a  uuilbrm  manner.  In  sfune  estab- 
1  ishmenf s,  account  is  imtde  of  all  private  sentences — police,  I'oriectional,  and  criminal ;; 
in  others,  thej'  embrace  only  those  which  have  been  pronounced  within  the  canton  or 
even  notice  only  the  jtunislmuMits  undergone  in  tlie  same  establishment.  The  greater 
part  of  tiie  (^aulons  cxiicl  from  their  territory  libeiated  prisoners  of  foreign  birth,  and 
giv(r  themselves  no  furl  her  tronhhi  ;il)()ut  them  ;  so  t  hat  it  may  happen  that-  the  cantons 
whose  ]ienitentiaries  contain  numerous  iu)u-reHide,nts  of  the  canton  may  have  fewer 
recidivists  to  lie  registered.  In  spite  of  the  defective  state  of  the  statistics,  we  may 
estimate  an  av(.-rage  of  ;{()  to  45  per  cent,  as  the  [troportion  of  recidivists  in  cantons 
wlieri!  the-  penitentiary  system  has  math)  least  ])rogress,  and  fiom  l'.»  to  2^y  per  cent,  as 
tiiat  of  the  cantons  whose  penitentiaries  are  well  organizi^d. 

§  !.'>.  Ill  \rr.v  i(',w  of  the  prisons  of  the  United  States,  tiikiiii;-  tliose  of 
all  <;hisHes  into  a('(;oiint,  is  the  r(!rorinatioii  of  criminals  now  made  the 
primary  ohject,  and,  as  a  matter  of  iaet,  numbers  of  ])ris()ners  leave  the 
prison  no  better  than  they  (Mitcred  it.  .Many  are  made  worse  rather  than 
better;  and  this  is  i)arti(;iilarly  the  ease  in  the  eonnty jails  and  with 
short  sent<!n<;ed  prisoners  in  the  district  prisons.  In  our  best  prisons 
this  is  otherwise;  but  there  are  very  l"ew  ofli(;ers  who  can  truly  say  that 
Jheir i)risoii  discijiliiie  has  reformed  the  comict!^     Any  statiMiients  made 


.      PRISON    OFFICERS AUSTRIA BELGIUM DENMARK,    ETC.      89 

regarding  the  proportion  of  re-convicted  criminals  in  onr  prisons  would 
only  be  misleading,  owing  to  the  very  imperfect  state  of  our  peniten- 
tiary statistics. 

§  14.  Little  information  is  afforded  on  this  subject  in  the  reports  sub- 
mitted to  the  congress  from  England  and  Ireland. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

PRISON    OFFICERS — THEIR   QUALIFICATIONS  AND   TRAINING. 

§  ].  It  is  held  by  the  authors  of  the  report  submitted  on  the  part  of 
Austria  that,  besides  a  technical  knowledge  of  their  calling,  prison- 
oflftcers  should  possess  a  good  general  education,  and  have  experience  of 
life,  knowledge  of  human  character,  firmness,  and  a  serious  and  humane 
spirit.  The  opinion  is  expressed  that  the  greater  number  of  the  officers 
at  present  employed  in  the  Austrian  prisons  are  men  of  this  character. 
Special  training  is  not  provided  for  this  class  of  public  servants.  It  is 
thought  that  the  experience  necessary  for  a  prison  officer  may  be  best 
acquired  by  actual  service  in  a  prison. 

§2.  In  Belgium  it  is  held  that  the  head  of  a  i^enitentiary  establish- 
ment should  be  thoroughly  acquainted  with  everything  relating  to  the 
moral,  disciplinary,  economic,  and  industrial  administration.  He  has, 
so  to  speak,  the  charge  of  souls.  He  must  be  just,  firm,  intelligent, 
conciliatory;  must  know  men,  and  especially  criminals ;  and  must  pos- 
sess, in  a  high  degree,  the  attribute  of  probity.  Above  all,  he  must  be 
animated  by  sentiments  profoundly  religious,  for  it  is  Christian  devo- 
tion alone  that  can  sustain  him  in  the  path  of  his  duty  and  give  him 
the  force  and  steadfastness  necessary  to  overcome  the  obstacles  which 
will  be  sure  to  obstruct  his  progress.  The  keepers  are  moral  agents; 
they  must  offer  guarantees  of  morality,  intelligence,  zeal,  and  humanity. 
Their  special  service  is  of  a  nature  to  require  that  they  be  in  the  vigor 
of  their  age;  that  they  have  good  health  and  a  robust  constitution: 
that  they  possess  an  energetic  character;  and  that  they  have  a  good 
primary  education,  and,  if  possible,  a  knowledge  of  some  one  of  the 
trades  taught  in  the  prison  in  which  they  serve.  Special  training- 
schools  for  the  subordinate  oflicers  would  be  highly  desirable,  as  they 
are  apt  to  enter  on  their  functions  without  the  full  preparation  required 
by  their  mission.  A  school  for  keepers  has  existed  foV  some  years  in 
the  iicnitentiary  of  Louvaiu.  The  directors  are  recruited  from  the 
personnel  of  the  administration,  where,  in  passing  through  the  succes- 
sive grades,  they  have  necessarily  acquired  the  requisite  knowledge. 
Special  examinations  are  a  condition  precedent  of  their  appointment. 

§  3.  Prison  officers  in  Denmark  are  appointed  partly  by  the  govern- 
ment, partly  by  the  prison-inspector.  Their  appointment  and  discharge 
are  totally  independent  of  political  and  all  other  considerations  not 
bearing  directly  on  their  qualifications  and  efficiency.  There  are  no 
special  training-schools  for  prison  officers.  It  is  thought  that  such 
would  be  too  costly  for  a  small  couutry  like  Denmark. 

§  4.  The  management  of  penitentiary  establishments,  it  is  held  in 
France,  requires  technical  and  administrative  knowledge  of  great 
breadth,  and  ofl'ers,  besides,  special  difficulties,  arising  out  of  the  com- 
plicated organization  of  the  service.  It  demands  a  profound  knowledge 
of  business,  of  ministerial  regulations  and  details,  and  an  unremitting- 
application,  a  quality  essentially  requisite  in  all  directors.     The  admin- 


90  INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

istrator  wiio  finds  himself  face  to  ftiee  with  a  contractor,  whoso  interests 
are  directly  antagonistic  to  those  of  the  state,  ought  to  unite  an  unceas- 
ing watchfulness  with  an  intelligent  control.  The  principal  duties  of 
the  administrator  of  penitentiary  establishments — such  as  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  prison  labor,  the  examination  of  tariil's  of  labor,  the  mainte- 
nance of  disciplin-e  in  the  midst  of  a  ])erverted  population,  the  choice 
and  employment  of  means  to  awaken  in  the  prisoners  thoughts  of  re- 
pentance and  ideas  of  moral  renovation — all  these  duties,  and  others 
analogous,  demand  a  special  aptitude,  fortified  by  an  experience  more 
or  less  extended.  Penetrated  with  the  idea  that  the  direction  of  the 
penitentiary  establishments  cannot  be  coutided,  without  the  gravest 
risks,  to  agents  who  do  not  otter  the  most  trustworthy  guarantees,  the 
superior  administration  has  established  rigid  rules  to  guard  against  the 
bestowmeut  of  the  elevated  functions  of  the  service  upon  agents  whose 
aptitude  and  experience  would  leave  the  least  room  for  doubt.  In  the 
same  order  of  ideas,  it  exacts,  in  the  case  of  all  its  agents,  of  whatever 
degree,  the  knowledge  demanded  by  the  positions  which  they  are  to 
fill,  and  makes  their  promotion  de])endent  on  conditions  of  time  and 
exjjerience,  varying  according  to  the  importance  of  the  trusts  to  which 
they  aspire.  In  short,  to  keep  out  of  tlie  service  of  the  prisons  agents 
unable  to  otier  the  guarantees  desired,  a  ministerial  decree,  under  date 
of  the  25th  of  March,  1SG7,  instituted,  in  the  ministry  of  the  interior,  a 
commission  charged  with  the  examination  of  candidates  for  employ- 
ment in  the  active  service  of  the  central  and  departmental  prisons. 
The  programme  of  the  required  examination  comprises  the  following 
points:  Writing,  grammar,  arithmetic,  the  ])rinciples  of  accounts,  his- 
tory, and  geography,  (principally  of  France,)  general  notions  of  the 
penal  system  and  of  criminal  procedure,  general  ideas  of  civil  law,  the 
civil  and  judicial  administration,  and  the  most  important  provisions  of 
the  laws,  decrees,  and  ordinances  relating  to  the  penitentiary  regime. 
The  examination  includes,  in  addition,  a  written  composition.  The 
result  is,  that  thoi  personnel  of  the  prison  service  is  composed,  for  the 
most  i)art,  of  agents,  enlightened,  capable,  and  up  to  the  height  of  the 
duties  with  whicli  they  are  charged.  Many  of  the  higher  officers  unite 
to  all  the  aptitudes  required  in  the  director  of  a  penitentiary  establish- 
ment a  rare  administrative  ability  and  an  extensive  knowledge  of  crim- 
inality. In  the  lower  ranks  of  the  i^ernonnel^  a  majority  of  the  agents 
are  upright,  zealous,  and  earnestly  devoted  to  their  duties. 

Tliere  do  not  exist  in  France  schools  especially  devoted  to  the  educa- 
tion of  prison  officers.  The  best  school  in  matters  of  this  kiiul  is  thought 
to  be  tliat  of  practice  and  experience. 

§  7).  The  following  summary  is  offered  of  the  r(^[)orts  from  the  (rerman 
states  on  this  snl)j(M;t: 

(1)  Jn  ]>adcn,  tlie  (|ualities  <leemed  necessary  in  a  ])rison  officer  are: 
[ntegrity,  (h'votion,  energy,  firmness,  kindness,  ])liysical  and  moral 
courage,  and  a  calm  and  brave  sj)irit.  Tiiese  qualities  are  believed  to 
be  i)0SHessed  by  the  sui^orior  and  by  most  of  the  inferior  officers. 

Special  schools  for  the  education  of  ])ris()n  officers  have  not  been  es- 
tablished, nor  is  their  establishment  recommended,  because  the  work 
of  prison  ollic<'rs  can,  it  is  thought,  be  best  learned  by  i)ractice. 

(2)  To  l)e  eligible,  to  fhe,  directorship  oi"  a  ])rison  in  l>avaria,  the  can- 
didates must  have  stiulied  fhe  ])rcscril)ed  subjects  in  ])hilos()phy  and 
.jurisprud(Mice,  and  piisscd  tlu^  exandnation  admilting  them  to  act  as 
Judges,  (yandidates  for  fhe  position  ol"  i)ljysiciaii,  chaplain,  or  teacher 
must  have  completed  the  studies  <'onnec,ted  with  their  several  i)rofes- 
sions  and  undergoin'  satisfactoiy  examinations.     kSpecial  schools  do  not 


rUlSOX    OFFICKKS (JKRMANV llAf-V MKXHM),    JHC.  9l 

exist  for  the  ediu-ation  micl  traiiiiii,;;'  of  piisuii  ollicer.s.  Su(;li  schools,  it 
is  heki,  would  be  desirable,  since  miieh  harm  is  done  by  i^iioraiice  in 
the  treatment  of  prisoners. 

(3)  The  report  for  I'russia  holds  that,  besides  personal  integrity, 
sufficient  ii'eneral  and  special  knowledge,  directors  and  superior  oflicers 
should  be  gitted  with  true  and  keen  observation,  a  delicate  discernment  of 
individual  character,  and  ability  to  read  the  secret  thoughts  of  prisoners. 
They  should  also  be  energetic  and  strict,  and  yet  kind  and  entirely  im- 
j)artial.  l^'inally,  they  should  possess  some  aduiinistrative  capacity,  and 
be,  to  a.  certain  extent,  familiar  with  the  technical  part  of  the  trades, 
and  have  some  knowledge  of  farming.  As  regards  the  subalterns,  good 
directors  will  make  them  useful  ofticers  if  they  possess  thorough  honesty, 
imperturbable  coolness,  unshakable  firmness  mixed  with  gentleness,  ami 
a  sufficient  amount  of  intelligence  and  of  moral  asid  religious  instruc- 
tion. 

No  special  training-schools  exist.  It  is  thought  exceedingly  desirable 
that  such  schools  should  l)e  established  for  the  education  of  tlie  inferior 
officers,  whose  instruction,  gained  at  a  jirimary  school,  is  seldom  wide 
enough  to  enable  them  to  perfect  their  knowledge  afterward  sufticiently 
to  do  tiuything  beyond  routine  work. 

(4)  In  Saxony  the  officers  are  appointed  by  the  ministry  of  the 
interior.  They  are  at  first  employed  on  trial,  and  are  dismissed  if  found 
incompetent.  Political  iullueuce  does  not  enter  into  cousideration.  The 
(|ualiucatiou  of  the  officers  is  on  the  average  good.  Separate  schools 
for  training  officers  do  not  exist.  Most  of  the  superior  officers  undergo, 
before  their  definitive  appointment,  a  practical  training  in  one  of  the 
penitentiaries.  The  higher  the  duties  to  be  fulfilled  becouie,  and  the 
more  carefully  the  system  of  individual  treatment  is  carried  out,  tho 
more  a  knowledge  of  these  duties  approaches  to  science,  the  niore  nec- 
essary are  the  studies  of  pedagogy  and  psychology,  and  the  more  it 
becomes  absolutely  requisite  to  make  special  studies,  in  order  to  assist 
in  attaining  the  highest  efficiency  in  the  administration.  Just  as  no 
teacher  can  now  be  chosen,  contrary  to  what  was  the  case  in  times  past, 
from  men  of  another  calling,  but  must  be  a  nian  who  has  received  a 
thorough  education  in  his  special  branch,  so  the  officers  of  prisons  will 
be  required  to  have  special  training,  and,  therefore,  in  future,  special 
schools  will  become  a  necessity. 

(5)  In  Wiirtemberg  there  are  no  special  schools  for  the  education  of 
prison  officers.  The  directors  are  usually  men  who  have  acted  as  magis- 
trates, and  have  been  formerly  engaged  in  judicial  duties,  although 
ability  to  act  as  a  Judge  is  not  indisi)ensable  for  gaining  the  office  of  a 
director.  The  keepers  are  mostly  non-commissioned  officers  who  have 
left  the  army. 

§  6.  Prison  officers  in  Italy  are  proposed  by  the  local  authorities  anrl 
confirmed  by  a  ministerial  decree.  In  making  choice  of  them,  no  weight 
is  given  to  their  political  opinions,  but  only  to  their  probity  and  zeal. 
As  prison  officers  require  special  gifts  ami  knowledge,  added  to  ui)right- 
ness  and  intelligence,  faithfully  to  fulfill  their  trust,  the  administration 
has  for  some  time  entertained  the  idea  of  establishing  preparatory  schools, 
and  is  studying  the  best  plan  for  their  regulation. 

§  7.  The  only  item  furnished  on  this  head  by  the  Mexican  report  is  to 
the  effect  that  schools  for  the  special  education  of  prison  officers  do  not 
exist  in  the  republic. 

§  8.  In  the  Netherlands,  it  is  deemed  to  be  necessary  that  the  direct-^ 
ors  and  employes  of  |)risons  be  men  of  tried  morality,  intelligent,  and 
gifted  with  tact  and  v.ith  the  knowledge  necessary  to  inspire  the  respect 


92  INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

of  the  prisoners,  even  without  the  use  of  a  severe  discipline.  This  re- 
spect depends  upon  the  spirit  of  justice,  equity,  and  humanity  which  they 
exhibit  in  their  relations  with  the  prisoners.  In  the  directors  especially, 
there  is  needed  a  high  degree  of  mental  culture  and  an  enlightened  un- 
derstanding of  their  duties ;  we  might  say,  indeed,  of  their  mission.  A 
knowledge  of  the  more  important  foreign  languages  is  necessary,  that 
they  may  be  able  to  read  and  study  the  best  writings  on  prison  discip- 
line and  to  communicate  with  the  foreign  prisoners.  It  is  admitted  in 
the  report  that  the  nnijority  of  the  directors  and  employes  of  the  prisons 
do  not  possess  these  talents  and  qualities,  a  fact  which  is  due  chiefly  to 
the  circumstance  that  the  salaries  are  too  low,  and  that  the  service  of  the 
prison  officers  is,  in  general,  too  onerous,  and  held  in  too  little  esteem. 
As  a  consequence,  young  men  of  good  family  and  education  refuse  to 
enter  upon  this  career. 

There  are  no  schools  especially  designed  for  the  education  of  prison 
officers.  The  best  school  is  thought  to  be  a  well-organized  and  well- 
governed  prison,  where  are  offered  to  the  young  employes  the  means  of 
acquiring  knowledge  and  developing  their  talents,  by  the  reading  and 
study  of  the  best  writings  on  the  subject  of  prisons. 

§  1).  The  qualities  deemed  reciuisite  in  Xorway  in  the  higher  v)rison 
functionaries  are  a  good  education,  probity,  firmness  of  character,  and 
special  aptitude  for  their  work.  Tlie  compensation  at  iiresent  paid  to 
functionaries  of  the  lower  grade  is  so  small  that  no  great  claims  can  be 
made  upon  them.  Sobriety,  punctuality,  firmness  in  action,  a  mastery 
of  the  more  common  branches  of  learning,  and  the  knowledge  of  some 
trade  are  the  qualifications  most  valued.  There  are  no  special  training 
schools  for  prison  officers,  nor,  considering  the  actual  circumstances  of 
the  country,  are  such  likely  to  be  soon  established.  Xo  opinion  is  ex- 
pressed in  the  report  on  the  abstract  question  of  their  expediency'. 

§  10.  Integrity,  humanity,  ])unctuality,  and  intelligence  are  held  in 
llussia  to  be  the  essential  qualities  of  a  good  jh'ison  otticer.  The  greater 
part  of  the  actual  employes  are  far  from  possessing  these  qualifications  to 
the  extent  to  be  desired.  The  ])rincii  )al  cause  of  this  deficiency  is  the  scanty 
recompense  accorded  them.  There  are  no  special  schools  for  the  edu- 
cation and  training  of  i)rison  otficers.  The  author  of  the  report,  Count 
Sollohub,  sees  no  urgent  need  of  such  establishments,  since,  in  his  view, 
the  essential  character  of  this  class  of  officials  is  rather  moral  than 
pedagogic.  The  practical  part,  he  thinks,  can  be  acipiired  in  some  days. 
The  count,  however,  thinks  it  d(^sirable  that  there  be  established  in  the 
administration  of  ])risons  a  system  of  gradual  i)romotion,  and  thus  of 
special  service,  in  liarmony  witli  all  the  other  bran(!hes  of  the  public 
service. 

§  11.  The  qualifications  deemed  in  .Sweden  essential  to  a-  good  prison 
officer  are  a  calm  and  even  tenqier,  a  character  humane  and  serious,  a 
spirit  austerely  just,  and  the  most  exact  order  and  ])uiictuality  in  the 
p(!rf<)rmanc<!  of  liis  (luties.  There  are  no  s[>ecial  establishments  for  the 
instruction  and  education  of  this  class  of  otficers.  The  need  of  such 
institutions  mak<'S  itself  more  and  more  felt  by  reason  of  the  special 
knowledge  and  high  moral  tone  recpiired  in  these  officers.  The  opinion 
isexi)ressed  that,  whilcsiichspecial  schools  are  wanting,  i)ersons<lesirous 
of  entering  the  penitentiary  service  (uight,  prior  to  a  full  admission  to 
that  s(!rvice,  to  be  rcciuiicd  to  serve  for  some  time  in  a  well-conducted 
j>rison.  St  ill,  as  <'\('n  there  they  would  a('quii<',  oidy  tlw.  routine,  and 
not  the  broad  knowledge  n«'cessary  for  the  due  fiillillment  of  su(;h  fnnc- 
"tions  as  arc;  recjuired  of  them,  it  is  recommended  in  the rejjort  that  there 
be  established  a  i)enit<'ntiary  normal  sehool.  that  is,  an  institution  for 


•       PRISON    OFFICERS NORWAY RUSSIA SWEDEN,    ETC.         93 

the  professioual  educatioD  of  young-  men  who  aspire  to  eiin)loymeiit  in 
the  penitentiary  service. 

§  12.  In  Switzerland  the  greatest  importance  is  attached  to  the  choice 
of  ofticers  charged  with  the  treatment  of  prisoners,  since  it  is  well  un- 
derstood that  prisons  badly  administered,  instead  of  being  hospitals 
for  moral  diseases,  become  rather  nurseries  of  criminals.  Several  of 
the  more  recently  constructed  and  better-organized  penitentiaries  are 
presided  over  by  men  eminently  qualified  for  their  i)osition,  and  they 
are  aided  by  bands  of  intelligent  employes,  who  contribute  effectively 
to  the  mission  which  penitentiary  education  proposes  to  itself.  Never- 
theless, complaint  is  made,  on  all  sides,  of  the  difficulty  experienced  in 
finding,  for  the  corps  of  subordinate  employes,  men  possessing  the  requi- 
site qualities  and  aptitudes.  Schools  designed  for  the  special  educa- 
tion of  jirison  officers  do  not  exist  in  Switzerland.  It  is  generally  felt 
that  such  schools  would  render  an  excellent  service,  especially  if  a  just 
and  sound  idea  should  be  given  in  them  of  the  nature  and  aim  of  peni- 
tentiary treatment.  A  school  of  this  kind  would  have  the  immense 
advantage  of  preparing  officers  who,  at  present,  acquire  their  experience 
at  the  expense  of  the  institution.  Normal  schools  for  the  employes 
might,  it  is  thought,  be  organized  in  penitentiary  establishments  se- 
lected for  that  purpose,  in  which  candidates  might  pursue  a  theoretical 
course,  and  might  also  be  practically  initiated  into  all  the  branches  of 
the  service.  In  a  well-organized  and  ably  managed  i^enitentiary  novices 
who  possess  the  necessary  aptitudes  become  in  a  short  time  entirely 
competent  to  the  discharge  of  their  functions. 

§  13.  The  bane  of  prison  administration  in  the  United  States  is  insta- 
bility, resulting  from  the  frequent  change  of  officers,  which  is  itself  a 
consequence  of  the  wide  extent  to  which  political  influence  enters  as  au 
element  into  their  appointment.  Some  States  have  measurably  escaped 
this  influence,  but  they  form  rare  exceptions  to  the  general  rule.  But 
public  opinion  is  becoming  more  enlightened  on  this  subject ;  and,  in 
l)roportiou  as  it  gains  light  and  vigor,  the  tendency  toward  reform  by 
the  elimirKition  of  this  malign  iiower  develops  itself  and  becomes  stronger 
day  by  day.  Except  as  lowered  through  political  influence,  the  average 
qualifications  and  efficiency  of  prison  officers  in  America  are  as  good  as 
in  other  countries,*  but  the  lack  of  an  effective  system  of  control  and 
inspection  often  makes  our  prisons  less  creditable  to  their  officers  than 
the  real  merit  of  the  latter  deserves.  There  are  no  special  training 
schools  for  prison  officers  in  the  United  States,  but  veteran  and  experi- 
enced superintendents,  like  General  Pilsbury,  Mr.  Brockway,  and  a  few 
others  that  might  be  named,  do,  in  the  course  of  time,  train  a  consider- 
able number  of  good  officers.  The  clearest  and  most  authoritative 
exposition  of  the  state  of  public  opinion  among  us  as  to  the  policy  ot 
such  institutions  is  contained  in  the  seventh  resolution  adopted  by  the 
National  Penitentiary  Congress  of  Cincinnati,  in  these  words : 

Special  traiuing,  as  well  as  high  qualities  of  head  and  heart,  is  required  to  make  a 
good  prison  or  reformatory  officer.  Then  only  will  the  administration  of  public  punish- 
ment become  scientific,  uniform,  and  successful,  when  it  is  raised  to  the  dignity  of  a. 
profession,  and  men  ure  specially  trained  for  it,  as  they  are  for  other  pursuits. 

§  14.  In  the  reports  relative  to  the  prisons  of  England  and  Ireland, 
little  information  is  communicated  on  this  subject. 


94  INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

CHAPTEK   X. 
SENTENCES. 

§  1.  It  is  held  iu  Austria  that  the  tiequeut  repetition  of  short  seu- 
teuces  is  rather  injurious  than  beneficial.  They  bhint  the  feelings  of  the 
l)risoner  both  as  regards  the  punishment  itself  and  the  degradation  con- 
nected with  it,  and  their  customary  effect  is  to  confirm  him  in  crimi- 
nality. ]>y  Austrian  law,  former  conviction  is  looked  upon  as  an  aggra- 
vating circumstance,  and  the  judge  is  obliged  to  give  a  severer  sentence 
on  re-conviction,  even  though  the  offense  be  of  a  ditlerent  class.  The 
disciplinary  treatment  of  re-convicted  persons  is  not,  as  a  rule,  made 
more  severe  than  that  to  whicli  tlu)se  sentenced  for  a  first  offense  are 
subjected. 

§  2.  Kecidivists  are  move  severely  punished  in  Jielginm  than  persons 
committed  for  a  first  offense.  Xothiug  is  said  iu  the  Belgian  report  as 
to  the  good  or  bad  effect  of  repeated  short  sentences,  the  reporters  re- 
garding this  as  a  question  peculiar  to  the  criminal  legislation  and  practice 
of  the  United  States;  a  view  of  the  matter  which  the  undersigned,  with 
all  due  respect,  believes  to  be  erroneous. 

§  3.  The  criminal  courts  of  ])enmar]<:  giv<'  short  sentences  for  minor 
offenses.  This  increases  the  number  of  crimes,  though  not  of  criminals, 
the  effect  of  the  short  sentences  being  that  the  so-called  habitual  crimi- 
nals, more  frequently  now  than  before  the  ])resent  penal  code  was  pro- 
mulgated, both  enter  and  quit  the  prisons. 

§  4.  The  authors  of  the  report  submitted  from  France  appear  to  be 
somewhat  perplexed  as  to  the  meaning  of  the  expression  "  minor  offenses," 
used  in  the  question.  But  whether  to  be  understood  in  the  sense 
of  those  trivial  violations  of  law  called  "contraventions"  in  the  French 
criminal  code,  or  in  the  sense  of  misdemeanors  of  no  great  gravity,  both 
of  whicli  classes  of  offense  are  visited  in  France  with  but  trifling  penal- 
ties, it  is  confessed  that  these  penalties  do  not  prevent  a  repetition,  nor, 
indee«l,  the  frecpient  rejtetitioii,  of  the  acts  against  which  tlK'y  are  di- 
rected. 

A  relai)S(',  winch,  in  the  legal  sense,  is  tlie  commission  after  a  penal 
sentence  of  a  new  criminal  act,  receives  little  favor  from  the  French  law. 
The  circnmstance  of  a  ])]ior  conviction,  and  the  greater  perversity  shown 
by  a  repetition  of  the  olfense,  seems,  iu  effect,  to  demand  from  the  legis- 
hitor  an  increase  of  punisliment.  Doubtless,  neither  theft  nor  homi- 
cide changes  its  nature  bc^cause  committed  a  second  time;  but  a  crime 
lias  two  elements,  the  substance  ol"  tlui  act  and  the  criminality  of  its 
author.  Tlui  legislator  has  thought  it  a  duty  to  take  both  these  circum- 
stances into  <;onsid(aation  in  measuring  the  punishment. 

§  5.  (1)  Of  the  (lerman  states,  Baden  answers  that  rejieated  short 
senteiKU's  for  trivial  offenses  ]iroduce  no  good  effect;  and,  therefore, the 
penal  code  of  the  emi)ire  visits  recidivists  with  punishments  of  a  longer 
duiation. 

(L!)  I'ja\aria  ret  ui  lis  a  like  respojisc.  f'rcfpu'nt  punishments  for  minor 
offens<'s  lii'.vr  no  good  inliuence  ;  either  the  ]irisoners  beconnuMubittered, 
or  the  ])nnishni('nts,  on  account  of  their  frequency,  lose  their  effect. 
Mor«',  it  is  bclicxcd,  can  be,  done;  in  thes(5  cases  by  reproof  and  teaching 
than  by  i>unisiinicnt.  lJccon\iction,  esjx'cially  for  robbery,  theft,  and 
(he,  concealment  of  stolen  goods,  is  A'ciy  heavily  punished. 

(.'>)  I'liissia  repli(s  in  the  same  sense,  both  as  reganls  the  inefficiency 
of  repeated  shoit  inqiiisonnients  and  the  necessity  I'or  increased  severity 
of  the  punisliment  on  reconvicticur. 


.SENTKNCES (iEKMANY ITALY MEXICO,    ETC.  95 

(4)  The  answer  of  Saxouy  is  iu  the  following'  words : 

The  practice  of  courts  of  justice  of  passing  sentences  of  short  duration  of  iniprison- 
meut  for  slight  otfouscs,  and  of  repeating  them  in  case  of  relapse,  does  not  exist,  be- 
cause the  penal  law  of  the  German  Empire,  even  for  theft  a  third  time,  orders  imprisou- 
ment  in  a  penitentiary,  provided  there  are  no  extenuating  circumstances.  What  effect 
this  practice  will  have  in  regard  to  increase  or  decrease  of"  criiru-s  is  yet  problematical, 
and  reciuires  further  satisfactory  (ixperieuce. 

§  6.  Recidivists,  in  Italy,  always  receive  severer  pnuishmeiit  than 
offenders  on  first  conviction.  But  the  Italian  criminal  code  does  not 
regard  as  crimes  the  class  of  offenses  known  as  ''contraventions;"  lience 
persons  guilty  of  them  are  not  accounted  recidivists  in  the  legal  sense, 
and  judicial  statistics  take  no  notice  of  such  infractions  of  law,  whatever 
the  numben'  of  times  they  may  have  been  committed  by  the  same  person. 
The  whole  question  of  sentences  is  considered  so  important  that  the 
prison  reform  commission,  recently  created  by  royal  decree,  has  thought 
tit  to  make  it  the  subject  of  a  special  study. 

§  7.  The  commission  which  prepared  the  report  to  the  congress  for 
Mexico  is  of  the  opinion  that  evil  consequences  result  from  the  fact  that 
imprisonment  is  intlicted  for  slight  offenses,  even  iu  the  case  of  a  first 
transgression,  especially  if  the  offender  be  sent  to  an  establishment 
where  prisoners  are  kept  in  association. 

lieconviction  receives  the  punishment  which,  the  attenuating  or 
aggravating  circumstance  of  the  case  being  considered,  ought  to  be 
awarded  to  the  otfeuse  itself,  with  an  increase  of  one-sixth,  if  this  is  less 
than  the  former,  of  one-fourth  if  it  is  of  the  same  gravity,  and  of  one- 
third  if  it  is  greater.  If  the  offender  has  been  pardoned  for  a  previous 
oHense,  and  if  it  is  not  for  the  first  time  that  he  relapses  into  crime,  the 
increase  of  punishment  may  be  doubled. 

§  8.  It  is  not  thought  iu  the  ^Netherlands  that  repeated  sentences  to 
short  imprisonments  produce  any  good  effect  upon  the  prisoner.  A  re- 
lapse may  give  occasion  to  an  increase  of  the  punishment  in  the  ratio 
of  one-third,  when  the  first  sentence  was  for  more  than  a  year's  impris- 
onment; and  in  all  cases  it  is  a  circumstance  which  may  determine  the 
judge  to  award  the  maximum  of  punishment  allowed  by  the  law. 

§  9.  Norway  answers  tliat  experience  has  not  certainly  determined 
what  effect  repeated  short  sentences  have  upon  the  criminal.  A  prior 
conviction  increases  the  punishment  to  be  inflicted  by  a  subsequent  sen- 
tence; but  as  regards  the  treatment  of  prisoners  during  their  incarcera- 
Ition,  all  receive  the  same. 

§  10.  The  report  for  Eussia  uses  this  strong  language:  "Not  only 
do  'repeated  short  sentences  produce  no  good  effect,  but  they  create 
criminals  by  profession." 

A  subsequent  offense  has  the  eliect  to  increase  the  severity  of  the 
l)unishm.ent. 

§  11.  Short  imi)risonments  for  minor  offenses  are  believed,  in  Sweden, 
to  produce  upon  the  prisoner  an  unfavorable  rather  than  a  favorable 
influence. 

The  punishment  of  thieves  is  gradually  increased  on  each  subsequent 
conviction.  A  fourth  sentence  may  inflict  ten  years  of  hard  labor,  and 
in  very  grave  cases  the  sentence  may  even  be  for  life.  But  the  national 
parliament  has  recently  determined  to  lower  the  scale  of  punishment 
for  recidivists  convicted  of  theft. 

§  12.  The  directors  of  the  Swiss  penitentiaries  are  nn;;nimous  in  re- 
garding repeated  short  sentences  for  minor  offenses  as  a  pernicious 
judicial  practice  which  is  followed  without  reflection.  The  sentiment 
of  justice,  as  well  as  the  moral  reformation  of  the  prisoner,  requires 
that  the  repression  be  more  serious  and  more  adequately  protracted  in 


96  INTERNATIONAL   PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

the  case  of  individuals  who  take  on  the  habit  of  crime,  and  who  threaten 
to  make  it  the  basis  of  their  character.  The  effect  of  these  short  im- 
prisonments becomes  worse  on  each  successive  conviction.  The  recidi- 
vists fall  deeper  and  deeper,  and  the  prison  cannot  lift  them  up.  During 
the  short  stay  they  make  in  the  x)euitentiary  establishment,  it  is  impos- 
sible to  teach  them  a  trade  or  even  to  make  them  apt  at  work.  The 
recidivists  sentenced  correctionally  have  more  or  less  lost  the  moral 
sense  and  self-respect.  The  influence  of  the  penitentiary  education 
cannot  aft'ect  the  individual  of  this  class  who,  on  entering  the  establish- 
ment, counts  the  exact  number  of  days  which  separate  him  from  free- 
dom. Such  prisoners  undergo,  more  or  less  patiently,  the  restraint  im- 
posed upon  them  ;  they  are  indifferent,  and  little  heed  either  the  present 
or  the  future  which  awaits  them. 

The  existing  codes  in  the  several  cantons  denounce  a  severer  punish- 
ment against  prisoners  convicted  more  than  once.  Some  sentence  them 
to  the  maximum  of  the  punishment  incurred ;  others  add  to  this  pun- 
ishment its  moiety,  and  even  more,  in  excess  of  the  maximum.  Every 
sentence  for  an  offense  exceeding  six  months  becomes  an  aggravating 
circumstance  in  the  case  of  the  person  who,  having  suffered  it,  is  pros- 
ecuted criminally. 

§  13.  It  is  the  practice  of  courts  in  the  United  States  to  give  short 
sentences  for  minor  offenses,  and  to  repeat  them  often  in  the  case  of  the 
same  i)ersou.  The  effect  of  this  here,  as  everywhere  else,  is  and  must  be 
t-o  increase  crime,  as  our  prisons  are  now  managed.  Such  is  the  unani- 
mous opinion  of  all  prison  keepers,  so  far  as  known,  in  this  country. 

§  14.  The  reports  for  England  and  Ireland  are  silent  on  this  point. 


CHAPTEKXI. 

IMPRISONMENT   FOR  DEBT. 

§  1.  Imprisonment  for  debt  was  abolished  in  Austria  by  law  May  4, 
1808,  and  only  a  precantionary  arrest  can  take  place  when  the  debtor, 
while  the  action  is  pending,  is  accused  of  an  attempt  to  escape.  Such 
an  arrest  is  merely  a  deprivation  of  liberty,  and  the  prisoner  is  allowed 
such  advantages*  as  are  consistent  with  simple  arrest.  I 

§  2.  Debtors'  jnisons  still  exist  in  Belgium,  but  they  are  empty.  Cases 
of  incarceration  for  debt  have  become  very  rare  since  the  publication  of 
the  law  of  the  27th  of  July,  1871.  The  treatment  to  which  imprisoned 
debtors  are  subjected  is  not  the  same  as  that  applied  to  criminals.  They 
occu])y  s])ecial  cells,  have  the  ex(;lusive  enjoyment  of  an  exercise-yard, 
and  may  communicate  with  each  othci',  receive  four  visits  a  week  from 
their  relatives  and  fiom  persons  with  whom  they  have  business  relations, 
and  n)ay  correspond  i'reely  with  the  outside  world. 

§  li.  xso  information  is  ailbrded  on  this  point  in  the  report  for  Denmark. 

§  4.  In  Eran(;e  the  law  of  the  22d  of  July,  18(57,  put  an  end  to  im- 
jtrisonmciit  for  <l(;bt  in  commercial  and  (;ivil  matters  and  in  those  in 
which  foreign<',rs  are  concerned.  The>  n^straint  of  the  body  exists  no 
longer,  o.x('A'\)t  in  matters  criminal,  correctional,  and  of  sim[)le>  ])olice. 
'J'Ik!  usage  has  Just  Ixu^ii  i-e-establishcd  as  regards  the  payment  of  moneys 
due  to  the  Htat<;.  in  such  cases  the  ])ul)lic  minister  is  bound  to  take 
(;arc  that  [)ers()iis  imj)iison<Ml  jbr  «lebts  to  the  state  receive  the  same 
rjitions  as  the  otlici-  prisoners  who  ;ire  in  the  charge  of  the  administra- 
tion. 


IMPEISONMENT    FOR    DEBT GERMANY ITALY,    ETC.  97 

The  decree  of  bankruptcy  may  order  the  placing  of  the  person  of  the 
bankrupt  in  a  debtor-j)rison,  and,  if  there  is  no  such  prison,  in  a  part 
of  the  house  of  arrest  reserved  for  that  purpose.  This  is  a  measure  which 
prudence  almost  always  dictates.  If  the  debtor  is  simpl^^  unfortunate, 
a  safe  conduct  soon  restores  him  to  his  family  and  to  liberty;  if  the 
examination  of  his  conduct  justifies  rigorous  measures,  it  is  thus  made 
impossible  for  him  to  liberate  himself  by  flight.  The  arrest  and  im- 
prisonment of  the  bankrupt  must  be  preceded  by  the  consignment,  on 
the  part  of  the  commissioners  of  bankruptcy,  of  the  means  of  living, 
and,  in  case  of  insufficient  means  for  this  purpose,  the  advance  of  the 
moneys  to  be  consigned  is  made  from  the  i^ublic  treasure,  on  the  order 
of  the  commissioner,  given  at  the  request  of  the  public  ministry.  The 
French  law,  as  is  thus  seen,  places  the  incarcerated  bankruj)t  in  a 
situation  altogether  different  from  that  of  ordinary  prisoners. 

§  5.  The  German  states  report  as  follows : 

(1)  Imprisonment  for  debt  does  not  exist  in  Baden. 

(2)  In  the  rare  instances  of  imprisonment  for  debt  in  Bavaria,  the 
treatment  of  such  x)risoners  is  milder  than  that  of  other  prisoners.  It 
is  a  mere  arrest;  they  have  almost  unrestricted  liberty  as  regards  cor- 
respondence and  the  receiving  of  visits ;  their  food  is  better  ;  and  they 
are  separated  from  the  other  prisoners. 

(3)  In  commercial  and  civil  matters  imprisonment  for  debt  no  longer 
exists  in  Prussia.  It  is,  however,  allowed  when  it  becomes  necessary 
to  secure  an  examination  or  a  judicial  prosecution,  or  to  execute  a  dis- 
tress warrant.  The  treatment  of  prisoners  for  debt  is  totally  different 
Irom  that  of  criminals. 

(4)  No  information  on  this  point  was  furnished  by  Saxony, 
(o)  There  is  no  imprisonment  for  debt  in  AYiirtemberg. 

§  6.  Imprisonment  for  debt  is  still  practised  in  Italy.  In  detention- 
prisons  of  any  considerable  size,  there  are  commonly  sections  destined 
to  the  imprisonment  of  civil  debtors.  In  none  of  them  is  there  want- 
ing at  least  an  apartment  for  whomever  is  imprisoned  on  the  demand  of 
his  creditor.  The  number  of  persons  imprisoned  for  debt  is  exceedingly 
small.  The  maintenance  of  the  debtor  is  a  charge  upon  the  creditor, 
and  his  treatment  diifers  from  that  of  other  prisoners  maintained  at  the 
charge  of  the  state. 

§  7.  Imjirisonment  for  debt  was  abolished  in  Mexico  as  early  as  1812, 
and  has  never  been  revived. 

§  8.  This  practice  still  prevails  in  the  jSTetherlands.  Persons  impris- 
oned for  debt  are  placed  in  the  houses  of  detention  and  of  arrest ;  some- 
times in  the  cantonal  prisons.  They  are  entered  on  a  special  register, 
and  are  not  confounded  with  other  prisoners.  In  the  greater  part  of 
the  prisons  the  best  apartments  are  assigned  to  them  and  a  little  better 
furniture.  They  do  not  wear  the  prison-dress,  unless,  indeed,  they 
have  no  other ;  and  their  food  is  of  a  better  quality. 

§  9.  Imprisonment  for  debt  still  exists  in  Norway,  but  the  right  is  sel- 
dom used.  Its  abolishment  has  been  moved,  and  it  cannot  be  long  de- 
layed. In  the  district-prisons  rooms  are  arranged  for  receiving  prisoners 
for  debt,  but  they  are  furnished  nearly  in  the  same  manner  as  common 
dwelling- rooms,  and  the  constraint  to  which  such  prisoners  are  subject 
is  only  intended  to  secure  their  presence  and  to  prevent  infractions  on 
prison  discipline,  while  in  other  respects,  especially  as  regards  their 
meals  and  occupation,  they  are  not  ranged  in  the  class  of  other  piisou- 
ers. 

§  10.  Debtors'  prisons  are  still  found  in  Eussia  in  all  their  rigor :  but 
a  special  commission  has  just  formulated  a  project  according  to  which 
H.  Ex.  185 7 


98  INTERXATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

imprisonmeiit  for  debt  will  be  t(51erated  only  in  a  limited  number  of 
cases.  The  treatment  of  persons  thus  imprisoned  is,  Iiowever,  far  less 
severe  than  that  of  other  classes  of  prisoners. 

§  11.  Since  18GS  imprisonment  for  debt  is  permitted  in  Sweden  only  in 
cases  where  the  debtor  refuses  to  declare  under  oath  that  he  is  without 
resources.  This  class  of  prisoners  is  treated  like  those  awaiting  trial. 
They  are  not  required  to  work,  and  have  the  right  of  procuring  better 
food  and  more  comforts. 

§  12.  Prisons  for  debt  exist  only  in  a  few  cantons  of  Switzerland,  and 
even  where  such  prisons  are  still  found,  the  constraint  of  the  body  has 
fallen  into  disuse.  In  a  number  of  cantons,  the  state  authorizes  the 
restraint  of  the  body,  fn  default  of  payment  of  the  expenses  of  justice; 
but  this  imprisoment  is  of  short  duration,  and  often  is  not  inflicted 
at  all.  This  punishment  is  regarded  as  correctional,  and  has  no  char- 
acter of  infamy. 

§  13.  Imprisonment  for  debt  has  been  abolished  in  most  if  not  all  the 
States  of  the  American  Union  in  all  cases,  except  where  fraud  is  known 
or  suspected. 

§  14.  No  information  was  communicated  on  this  subject  from  England 
or  Ireland. 


C  11  A P  T  E  E   XII 


CAUSES   OF  CRIME. 


§1.  The  report  from  Austria  names,  as  chief  causes  of  crime  in 
that  country,  dislike  to  work,  the  desire  for  luxuries,  impatience  of  re- 
straint, want  of  education,  and  the  poverty  so  closely  allied  to  Ignor- 
ance. 

§  2.  The  principal  causes  of  crime  in  Belgium  fire  stated  to  be,  in  the 
army,  v,ant  of  occupation  and  the  system  of  substitution  ;  in  civil  life, 
oblivion  of  religious  and  moral  principles,  ignorance  of  duty,  want  of  a 
trade  or  some  regular  calling,  artificial  wants,  drunkenness,  libertinism, 
distaste  for  work,  and  consequent  idleness. 

§  3.  The  crime  most  frequent  in  Denmark  is  the  violation  of  the 
riglit  of  property.  Three-fourths  of  the  prisoners  are  sentenced  for 
theft.  The  cause  of  stealing  is  rarely  undeserved  distress  ;  most  com- 
monly it  is  idleness,  the  desire  for  lawful  or  unlawful  ])leasures,  or 
habits  of  drinking.  These  vices  generally  result  from,  or  are  associated 
with,  a  neglected  education. 

§  4.  1'he  rei)ort  from  the  French  government  states  that  there  is  rea- 
son to  ])elieve  that  in  Prance,  as  in  many  other  countries,  the  insufli- 
ciency  of  moral  education,  the  general  defect  of  intellectual  culture, 
and  thewiintof  an  industrial  calling,  not  oi)posing  to  the  aj^petites 
and  iriHlincts  a  barrier  sutliciently  strong,  leave  an  open  road  to  crimes 
and  misdcmefinors.  These  offenses  are  afterward  modified  and  perpe- 
trated under  influences  springing  frOm  the  circumstances  by  which  their 
authors  are  habitually  surrounded.  It  is  thus  that,  on  the  frontiers,  the 
populations,  seeing  in  the  cod(!  of  fiscal  laws  only  an  enemy  of  natural 
right,  ha\'e  litfU;  hesitation,  for  the  pur]M)se  of  avoiding  Ihe  payment  of 
taxes,  to  sacMifice  the  lives  of  the  agents  (charged  with  colle<;ting  them. 
In  the  (titicH,  tlie  laboicr,  se<lu(;cd  l>y  i<l<'as  of  ai  luxiny  which  his  labor 
<io(  M  not  and  ought,  not  to  give  him,  suffers  himself  to  be  drawn  on  to 
att«ini)tH  agiiinst  pi-oinTty  and,  too  often,  against  social  orchu-.  The  in- 
habitant of  tlie  country,  who  has  under  his  eyes  only  the  spectacle  of  a 


CAUSE    OF    CRIME FRANCE GERMANY ITALY,    ETC.  99 

productive  soil  parceled  out  to  infinity  by  tbe  law  of  inheritance,  de- 
mands violently,  sometimes  even  at  the  cost  of  his  neighbor's  life,  tbe 
enlargement  of  the  jiatcli  that  belongs  to  himself. 

To  these  evils,  of  which  France  has  no  monopoly,  the  report  asks. 
Does  there  exist  a  remedy  which  will  prove  absolute  and  comi)lete  ?  It 
may  be  doubted  ;  but  it  is  certain  that,  in  elevating  morality,  in  fortify- 
ing the  heart,  in  enlarging  the  boundaries  of  knowledge,  the  practical 
ability  of  men  would  be  increased,  and  the  effects  of  these  evils  would 
be  diminished  by  lessening  their  causes. 

§  5.  Germany  answers  thus: 

(1)  Baden  says :  "  Thirst  for  pleasure/'  with  a  reference  to  1  John, 
2:  IG. 

(2)  As  principal  causes  of  crime  in  Bavaria,  are  mentioned :  1.  Want 
of  religious  teaching.  2.  Abnormal  family  relations.  According  to  a  law 
that  existed  up  to  the  year  18G8,  marriage  between  persons  who  pos- 
sessed no  landed  property'  was  exceedingly  difiicult,  and,  in  consequence, 
illegitimate  births  were  very  numerous.  As  a  result  of  the  want  of  the 
beneficial  influence  which  a  family-life  exercises,  illegitimate-born  form 
a  considerable  proportion  of  all  prisoners.  3.  ISTeglected  education,  espe- 
cially in  those  parts  where  children  are  employed  in  the  guarding  of 
cattle  or  in  working  in  manufactories.  4.  Rough  manners  and  customs. 
In  some  parts  of  Bavaria  it  is  still  a  custom  of  the  peasants  to  carry 
long  stiletto-like  knives  when  visiting  public-houses  and  dancing-places; 
and  thus,  on  Sundays  and  holidays,  the  slightest  cause  leads  them  to 
inflict  on  each  other  severe  injuries. 

§  6.  The  inmates  of  Italian  prisons,  in  1871,  were  in  the  following 
proportions  :  For  crimes  against  the  person,  in  the  bagnios,  all  males,  4(j 
l^er  cent.;  in  the  penitentiaries,  males  35  per  cent.;  females,  28  per  cent. 
Orimes  against  property,  in  the  bagnios,  30  per  cent.;  in  the  [)enitenti- 
aries,  males,  47  per  cent.;  females,  53  per  cent.  The  chief  causes  of 
crime,  accordingly,  are  stated  to  be  cupidity,  revenge,  anger,  and  illicit 
passion. 

§  7.  The  answer  returned  by  the  Mexican  government  is  so  iutei>esting., 
as  well  as  able,  that  it  is  given,  without  condensation,  in  the  words  of 
the  commission  which  prepared  the  report.     The  commissioners  say : 

Among  the  most  general  causes  of  crime  in  our  country  are  want  of  education  iii 
the  lower  classes,  abuse  of  intoxicating  drinks,  and  poverty.  Among  the  temporary 
and  transitory  causes  which  occasion  the  crimes  and  offenses  committed  in  our  coun- 
try, the  commission  thinks  tliat  the  most  active  are  the  followmg  :  The  prolongation  of 
civil  war,  the  impressment  to  obtain  soldiers,  the  bad  state  of  our  prisons,  the  com- 
motion created  in  the  religious  faith  of  society  by  the  innovations  made  in  ecclesias- 
tical matters,  the  want  of  preventive  police,  and  the  bad  administration  of  justice. 

Though  all  our  statesmen  and  pbilantiiropists  have  of  late  become  aware  of  the  im- 
portance and  convenience  to  tbe  public  of  tbe  establishment  of  the  penitentiary  sys- 
tem, the  financial  diftitulties,  the  little  stability  of  our  governmeuts,  and  the  constant 
necessity  in  which  we  have  been  placed  to  defend  our  existence  against  the  attempts 
of  revolutionary  bands— an  object  which  has  almost  exclusively  absorbed  our  atten- 
tion— have  until  now  prevented  the  realization  of  this  great  social  reform.  Conse- 
quently, great  criminals  and  petty  offenders  being  indiscrimiaately  mixed  in  our 
prisons,  the  contact,  the  association,  and  the  example  of  the  former  have  exercised  a 
haneful  influence  on  the  latter ;  and,  generally,  those  who,  having  otfdnded  against  the 
law,  are  sent  to  our  prisons  and  have  remained  some  time  in  them,  far  from  being 
reformed,  leave  the  jail  considerably  worse  than  wheu  they  hrst  passed  under  its  gates. 
The  improvement  of  our  political  state  will  also  contribute  to  do  away  with,  or  at  least 
to  lessen,  the  bad  effects  of  this  cause  ;  and  the  reform  of  our  prisons,  directed  first  of 
all  to  the  total  separation  of  prisoners,  must  be,  according  to  public  opiuion,  one  of 
the  first  objects  to  which  governuient  ought  to  devote  its  acteutioa,  as  soon  as  we  have 
put  into  practice  the  principle  that  authority  cannot  be  relbrmed  by  any  other  means 
than  the  pacific  action  of  the  laws,  and  that  in  con.sequeuce  people  are  no  longer  exclu- 
sively preoccupied  with  the  care  of  their  own  preservation. 


100  INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

§  8.  The  cbief  causes  of  crime  in  the  Netherlands  are  stated  to  be  the 
■want  of  education,  drunkenness,  and  the  desire  to  make  a  figure  beyond 
one's  means  and  position.  In  the  case  of  young  prisoners,  there  may 
be  mentioned,  in  addition,  the  influence,  often  pernicious,  of  a  second 
marriage  of  their  parents,  which  not  unfrequently,  by  embittering  the 
position  of  the  children  of  the  first  marriage,  deprives  them  of  the 
salutary  influence  of  family-life. 

§  9.  Crime  in  Norway,  being  for  the  most  part  a  violation  of  the  rights- 
of  property  and  assaults  on  the  person,  is  traced  mainly  to  laziness,  drunk- 
enness, bad  company,  neglected  education,  and  the  want  of  good  home- 
influences. 

§  10.  In  answering  this  question  for  Eussia,  Count  Sollohub  says : 

The  cause  of  crimes  in  my  country  arises  from  a  certain  oriental  fatalism,  wbicli 
enters  profoundly  into  the  character  of  the  people.  This  fatalism,  which  is  associated 
"with  a  profound  religious  faith,  inspires  frequently  a  singular  indifference  to  life  and 
death,  to  the  enjoyments  and  privations  of  life,  sometimes  even  to  moral  good  and  evil. 
The  result  is  a  spirit  of  indolence,  which,  however,  is  often  roused  by  the  temptation 
to  drunkenness  and  the  excitements  occasioned  by  it. 

At  the  same  time  the  count  avers  that  the  want  of  a  general  system 
of  elementary  education,  abuses  tolerated  by  a  still  defective  adminis- 
tration, and  a  legislation  which  is  not  yet  definitely  settled,  contribute  in 
propagating  lamentable  disorders.  He  holds  that,  in  the  Eussian  peni- 
tentiary system,  the  cause  of  criminality  must  be  kept  in  view,  just  as^ 
the  cause  of  disease  should  not  be  ignored  when  the  ijhysician  proceeds 
to  treat  his  patient. 

§  11.  The  chief  causes  of  crime  in  Sweden  are  the  want  of  proper  care 
in  youth,  bad  company,  evil  examples,  poverty,  and  the  love  of  strong 
drink.  An  additional  cause  is  that  he  who  has  once  fallen  into  crime 
and  been  imprisoned  for  itis  generally  repelled  and  left  without  help  in  his 
efforts  to  gain  an  honest  living.  The  re-admission  of  liberated  prisoners 
into  society  is  the  more  difficult,  as  by  existing  law  every  i^erson  who 
has  been  sentenced  for  theft,  forgery,  murder,  &c.,  is  further  sentenced 
to  loss  of  civil  rights  for  a  time  (at  least  five  years)  or  for  life.  This 
covers  him  with  infamy,  and  consequently  excludes  him  from  all  the 
rights  and  advantages  pertaining  to  honorable  men.  His  civil  degrada- 
tion is  entered  on  his  certificate  of  conduct. 

§  12.  The  question  of  the  causes  of  crime  is  elaborately  and  ably 
treated  in  the  report  from  Switzerland,  a  mere  enumeration  of  which 
only  can  be  given  by  the  undersigned.  These  causes  are  said  to  be 
malign  or  defective  education,  abnormal  family  relations,  sensualism, 
recklessness,  drunkenness,  and  want  of  a  trade  or  other  regular  business. 

§13.  Tlie  prevailing  cliai-acter  of  crime  in  the  United  States  is  hard 
to  define.  In  (lie  South  and  West  crimes  of  violence,  in  the  North  and 
East  crimes  of  fraud  are  common,  an<l  theft  ])revaijs  very  generally, 
though  not  so  much  as  in  ]Ourope,  Many  of  our  most  accomplished 
thieves  ajid  burglars  come  to  us  from  the  old  country.  Intemperance 
is  aproximat*^  cause  of  much  the  greater  number  of  ci'iiues  here  ;  ori)han- 
age,  idleness,  the  Aviint of  fan)ily  goverinnent,  and  the  wretched  home- 
life,  or  lack  of  lionie-iiCe,  in  gicat  cities,  ai'c  leading  causes  of  crime.  A 
desire  to  lixc  w  itiiout  work  lejids  to  much  crime  here,  as  well  as  in  other 
countries. 

§14.  No  information  is  furnished  on  this  subject  by  the  English  or 
Irish  rejKuts. 


LIBEEATED    PEISONEKS AUSTEIA — BELGIUM,    ETC.  101 


CHAPTEE    XIII. 

LIBEEATED   PRISONERS. 

§  1.  The  eflbrt  to  procure  work  for  liberated  prisoners  has,  in  Austria, 
beeu  limited,  hitherto,  to  this,  that  those  who  have  learned  a  trade  in 
prison  receive  a  letter  stating  that  they  have  done  so,  and  those  who 
have  shown  themselves  particularly  attentive  receive  a  testimonial  to 
that  effect.  In  particular  cases  steps  are  taken  on  the  part  of  the  offi- 
cials to  procure  work  for  those  prisoners  whose  conduct  has  been, 
exemplary  and  who  have  given  proofs  of  firmness.  The  results,  how- 
ever, have  been  too  isolated  to  aflbrd  any  statistics  upon  the  subject. 

There  is  only  one  Liberated  Prisoners'  Aid  Society,  which  is  in  Vienna. 
All  efforts  on  the  part  of  the  prison  directors  to  call  into  existence  simi- 
lar societies  elsewhere  have  been  unsuccessful.  The  .society  in  Vienna 
limits  its  operation  to  supporting  liberated  prisoners  till  they  shall  have 
found  occupation,  and  to  aiding  them  with  tools,  clothes,  &c. 

§2.  No  prisoners' aid  or  patronage  societies  are  found  in  Belgium; 
but  the  government  has  not  lost  sight  of  this  important  point.  Efforts 
were  made  in  1848  to  organize  such  associations;  but,  unhappily,  the 
measures  taken  were  not  crowned  with  success.  While  waiting,  the 
xidministration  seeks  the  best  means  for  assuring  to  liberated  prisoners 
an  effectual  protection,  so  as  to  prevent  their  falling  back  into  crime. 
A  special  credit  figures  even  in  the  budget  of  the  department  of  justice, 
permitting  the  administrative  commissions  of  reformatory  institutions 
to  extend  aid  to  their  liberated  inmates. 

§  3.  In  1859  prisoners'  aid  associations  were  formed  for  each  of  the 
four  great  prisons  of  Denmark.  Their  action  is  limited  to  released  pris- 
oners. Each  prison  has  thus  its  own  society,  founded  by  private  liber- 
ality alone,  which  is  to  be  considered  as  a  charitable  association  ;  and  it 
is  thought  to  act  best  in  that  manner.  The  societies  have  annual  gen- 
eral meetings,  by  which  the  administrations  are  elected.  On  the  admin- 
istrations there  are  always  chosen  some  of  the  functionaries  of  the  pris- 
ons, so  that  they  may  be  put  into  direct  relations  therewith.  As  mem- 
bers of  the  administration,  there  are  particularly  selected  citiaens  who 
carry  on  an  extended  business  as  manufacturers,  merchants,  artisans  or 
agriculturists,  and  who  have  great  influence,  because  they  have  it  in 
their  i)ower  to  employ  a  large  number  of  workmen.  Once  a  month  some 
member  of  each  society  appears  in  the  prison  to  see  the  prisoners  who 
are  to  be  released  the  ensuing  month.  Their  behavior  is  examined,  and 
an  agreement  is  made  in  regard  to  tendering  the  help  that,  according 
to  circumstances,  seems  to  be  most  fit.  Not  all  prisoners  are  assisted, 
but  mainly  those  who,  on  account  of  their  diligence  and  good  behavior, 
are  recommended  by  the  director.  What,  next  to  the  behavior,  is  most 
taken  into  consideration  is  their  age,  their  want,  and  their  earlier  life. 
The  younger  are  especially  helped  by  getting  them  into  service ;  the 
older,  by  money ;  the  artisan,  by  tools,  &c.  On  the  greater  part  the 
help  is  bestowed  as  a  gift,,  but  on  some  as  a  loan.  Some  are  only  prom- 
ised help  on  condition  that  they  first  manifest  their  will  to  help  them- 
selves. All  about,  in  the  country,  the  society  has  its  agents,  to  whom 
it  confides  its  wards.  These  societies  appear  thus  to  be  well  organized. 
Every  year  they  awaken  a  greater  sympathy,  and  the  number  of  their 
members  increases.  For  ten  years  the  state  has  given  an  annual  sub- 
sidy ;  and  the  most  clieering  circumstance  is  that  the  municipal  author- 
ities, as  well  in  the  towns  as  in  the  country,  more  and  more  make  annual 


102  INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

contributions,  making  it  clear  that  the  cause  has  been  approved  by  the 
people.  Several  legacies  have  been  left  to 'the  associations,  the  interest 
of  which  is  to  be  expended  in  procuring  clothes  for  released  prisoners. 
The  largest  of  these  bequests  is  $5,500. 

§  4.  Up  to  the  present  time  the  patronage  of  liberated  prisoners  has 
not  been  generally  or  systematically  organized  in  France.  The  Abb6 
Coural  founded  in  1842,  near  Montpellier,  under  the  title  of  Solitude  of 
Nazareth,  a  refuge  designed  for  the  liberated  females  of  the  south.  The 
Sisters  of  Mary- Joseph,  in  imitation  of  this  example,  have  founded  seven 
other  refuges  near  the  central  i)risons,  for  women.  There  is  only  one 
establishment  of  this  kind  for  men,  the  asylum  of  St.  Leonard,  at 
Couzon,  (Rhone.)  The  results  of  the  refuges  devoted  to  women  are  good  ; 
those  obtained  at  the  asylum  at  St.  Leonard  are  less  satisfactory. 
Two  active  and  successful  patron  age- societies,  in  aid  of  liberated 
Protestants  of  both  sexes,  have  been  for  some  years  in  existence.  Since 
the  official  report  was  made  to  the  congress,  a  central  patronage  society 
has  been  established  in  Pai^is,  which  proposes  to  found  branches  in  all 
parts  of  France,  as  may  be  found  practicable.  The  administration  is 
earnestly  engaged  in  seeking  the  means  to  increase  the  number  of  in- 
stitutions similar  to  those  mentioned  above. 

What  is  said  above  relates  exclusively  to  adults  discharged  from> 
prisons.  The  liberated  juveniles  of  the  department  of  the  Seine  are- 
placed  under  the  patronage  of  a  society  which  facilitates  their  admission 
to  provisional  liberty  and  aids  them  in  acquiring  a  trade.  No  better 
planned,  efficient,  or  successful  organization  of  the  kind  exists  in  any 
part  of  the  world.  It  is  but  fair  to  the  i)enitentiary  administration  of 
France  to  say  that  this  last  statement  is  not  contained  in  their  report  j 
the  responsibility  for  it  is  assumed  by  the  undersigned. 

§  5,  Germany  responds  as  follows : 

(1)  In  Eaden,  the  directors  of  the  penitentiary  establishments  are 
required  to  enter,  for  this  purpose,  into  correspondence  with  the 
authorities  of  the  political  administration  some  time  before  the  libera- 
tion of  each  prisoner ;  it  is  made  the  duty  of  these  authorities  to  unite 
with  the  prisoners'  aid  societies  and  with  the  local  authorities  in  j)i"0- 
vidiug  for  liberated  prisoners.  This  measure  is  only  of  rec'ent  date, 
and  its  results  have  not  yet  shown  themselves  to  any  great  extent.. 
They  cannot  fail  to  be  good. 

Prisoners'  aid  societies  exjst  in  twenty-one  out  of  fifty-nine  districts.. 
The  results  are  satisfactory. 

(2)  To  procure  work  for  those  liberated  prisoners  who  are  considered 
as  improved,  the  administration  in  Ijavaria  puts  itself  into  communica- 
tion, while  the  i)risoner  is  still  under  their  care,  with  honest  employers, 
with  benevolent  societies,  with  the  parish  vestries,  or  with  other  author- 
ities. The  ])risoner  receives  on  liis  dismissal,  if  necessary,  clothes  and 
traveling  expenses  from  the  funds  of  the  prison.  By  these  jueans  i)ris- 
onerH  are  often  i)reserved  irom  relapse. 

In  every  province  of  the  country  there  exist  liberated  prisoners'  aid 
Hocieties;  these  are,  liowever,  hampered  in  their  activity  by  ignorance, 
and  the  little-  interest  Avhich  exists  in  the  mind  of  the  public,  in  many 
j)lac('S,  respeeting  their  objects.  Hut  tlu^  Municli  Society,  which  has 
cxist<!d  for  eleven  years,  Ijas  found  enq>h)ymeiit  for  1,182  dischargwl 
prisoners,  of  whom  'Ml  have  relapsed,  \\liile  805  condu(;t  themselves 
well,  and  may  be,  consideii'd  as  refoinied.  The  objects  of  these  societies 
are  to  receive  into  a  relnge,  l,li()s(i  who  are  homeless,  to  try  to  i)rocurc 
them  work',  to  give  help — more  especially  in  tin;  shape  of  tools — and  to- 
watch  earefully  tlie  conduct  of  each  tlischarged  prisoner. 


LIBERATED    PRISONERS GERMANY ITALY,    ETC.  103 

(3)  In  Prussia,  the  administrative  antliorities  of  prisons  use  their  best 
efforts  to  obtain  protection  and  work  for  liberated  prisoners.  For  this 
I)iirpose  they  communicate  with  the  minister  and  authorities  of  the 
birth-phiee  or  residence  of  tlie  prisoner,  and,  wherever  they  exist,  with 
prisoners'  aid  societies.  Owing-  to  the  rehictance  of  masters  and  work- 
men to  have  rehatious  with  liberated  prisoners,  the  efforts  made  to  aid 
them  have  not  been  satisfactory  in  their  results. 

Aid  societies  exist  in  many  towns,  bat  they  have  neither  a  common 
organization  nor  a  common  center  which  unites  them  ;  and  many  more 
are  wanted  to  make  them  bear  any  just  proportion  to  the  extent  of 
country.  Their  number  is  too  small  and  their  action  too  feeble  suffi- 
ciently to  realize  the  objects  they  have  in  view.  The  aim  of  these  so- 
cieties is  to  give  temporary  shelter  and  work  to  liberated  prisoners, 
either  in  asylums  provided  by  the  society  or  in  the  houses  of  j)rivate 
persons  of  honorable  character.  They  seek  in  every  possible  way  to 
maintain  relations  with  their  wards,  in  order  to  aid  them  with  counsel 
or  pecuniary  gifts. 

(4)  Saxony  communicates  no  information  on  this  point. 

(5)  In  Wiirtemberg  there  has  been  a  patronage  society  for  liberated 
jjrisoners,  W'ith  branches  in  the  different  districts  of  the  kingdom.  It 
has  3,000  members.  It  seeks  to  aid  its  wards  by  obtaining  work  for 
them,  and  by  supplying  them  with  tools,  raw  material  for  manufacture, 
clothes,  bedding,  &c. 

§  6.  In  Italy  certain  religious  associations  possess  funds  that  may  be 
used  in  aid  of  liberated  prisoners ;  an  occasional  patronage  society  exists 
in  some  of  the  cities.  Such  societies  are  what  remain  of  institutions, 
more  or  less  ancient,  which  were  religiously  preserved  and  even  protected 
by  the  Italian  government ;  but  there  are  none  of  any  great  importance, 
except  at  Milan,  Turin,  and  Florence.  The  government  has  sought  to 
extend  institutions  of  this  kind;  but  down  to  the  present  time,  such 
institutions  are  too  few  in  number  and  too  liujited  in  means  to  justify  a 
prediction  as  to  whether  they  will  take  root  in  the  social  soil  of  Italy,  and, 
if  so,  whether  their  rules  should  be  preserved  or  modified  in  order  that  the 
best  fruit  for  which  they  were  founded  may  be  obtained  from  them, 

§  7.  The  commissioners  who  prepared  the  report  for  Mexico  state  that 
as  regards  the  federal  district — the  only  part  of  the  republic  of  which 
they  have  any  positive  information — committees  of  vigilance  are  being 
established,  and  to  them,  among  others,  belongs  the  duty  of  aiding  dis- 
charged prisoners  in  finding  work. 

§  8.  The  Netherlands  government,  as  such,  does  not  charge  itself  offi- 
cially with  the  care  of  liberated  convicts  ;  but  many  directors  of  prisons 
take  great  pains  to  find  work  for  them,  and  generally  they  have  cause 
to  congratulate  themselves  on  the  result  of  their  efforts.  The  greater 
part  of  the  directors,  however,  are  reported  as  too  indifferent  to  concern 
themselves  much  about  the  matter. 

The  Netherlands  Society  for  the  Moral  Amelioration  of  Prisoners  has 
for  its  object,  not  only  the  visiting  of  prisoners,  but  also  the  manifesta- 
tion of  an  interest  in  their  welfare  after  their  discharge  from  prison. 
This  society  counts  forty  branches,  scattered  throughout  the  whole  king- 
dom, and  corresponding  members  in  thirty-seven  places  where  tJiere  are 
no  branches.  To  some  of  the  branch  societies  are  attached  committees 
of  ladies.  As  regards  the  prisoners,  a  variety  of  methods  is  employed 
to  encourage  and  help  them.  They  procure  situations  for  them  at  serv- 
ice, place  them  in  the  merchant-marine,  supply  them  with  tools,  obtain 
for  them  some  little  industry  or  business,  provide  them  with  the  means 
of  emigrating,  &c.    The  results  differ,  as  a  matter  of  course ;  but  the 


10-4  INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

society  accomplishes  much,  and  often  sees  its  efforts  crowned  with  suc- 
cess. 

§  9.  With  a  view  of  guarding  released  prisoners  from  relapse,  efforts  are 
made  in  Norway  to  procure  work  for  them,  to  get  positions  for  them  as  sail- 
ors, to  aid  them  with  tools,  money,  clothing,  &c.  At  the  same  time,  it  is 
thought  that  too  much  assistance  weakens  their  moral  forces.  There 
exist  a  few  discharged  j)risouers'aid  societies,  but  they  lack  the  means 
to  do  their  work  as  extensively  and  efficiently  as  would  be  desirable. 

§  10.  Hitherto  little  has  been  done  in  Eussia  to  aid  discharged  pris- 
oners in  obtaining  work.  The  first  patronage  society  has  just  been  offi- 
cially established  in  St.  Petersburg. 

§  11.  Prisoners'  aid  societies  exist  at  present  only  in  two  provinces 
of  Sweden.  They  aim  at  obtaining  work  for  iirisoners  in  the  houses 
of  steady  masters ;  they  also  supply  clothing,  and  sometimes  make  ad- 
vances in  money  on  the  prisoner's  work.  Occasionally  those  express- 
ing a  desire  have  received  aid  to  enable  them  to  emigrate.  Of  late 
years  it  has  been  proposed  to  make  greater  efforts  to  give  a  more  prac- 
tical direction  to  the  labors  of  these  societies.  They  have  started  out 
on  the  principle  that  if  habits  of  order  and  cleanliness  are  obtained  by 
the  discipline  of  the  prison,  and  the  time  of  imprisonment  is  properly 
employed  in  the  moral  education  of  the  prisoners  and  in  giving  them 
skill  in  industrial  and  agricultural  labor,  the  societies  can  more  gener- 
ally find  them  work  immediately  on  their  liberation.  For  prisoners  for 
whom  work  is  not  at  once  obtained,  it  is  proposed  to  establish  agricul- 
tural colonies,  where  they  may  learn  order  in  work  and  skill  in  certain 
branches  of  farming,  so  as  thus  afterward  to  be  able  more  readily  to 
earn  an  honest  living. 

§  12.  Patronage  societies  are  organized  in  nearly  ail  the  cantons  of 
Switzerland.  That  in  the  canton  of  St.  Gall  was  established  in  1839, 
thirty-four  years  ago.  It  was  made  by  law^  the  duty  of  every  prisoner, 
who  ^Yas  a  native  of  St.  Gall,  or  had  his  domicile  there,  to  place  himself 
for  three  months  at  least  under  the  protection  of  the  society.  Where- 
ever  patronage  societies  exist,  thej^  aid  discharged  prisoners  by  their 
counsels,  watch  over  their  conduct,  shield  them  from  evil  enticements, 
and  purchase  the  clothing,  tools,  «&c.,  which  may  be  needed  by  them. 
They  endeavor  to  aid  their  beneficiaries  by  procuring  work  rather  than  by 
giving  them  assistance  in  money.  But,  in  spite  of  all  these  efforts,  the 
results  do  not  correspond  to  the  desires  of  tlie  friends  of  prison  reform. 
There  is  not  sufficient  unity  in  the  organization  of  patronage.  This  is  a 
great  inconvenience,  which  the  Swiss  Society  for  Penitentiary  Eelbrm  is 
seeking  to  remove,  by  bringing  into  mutual  relation  all  those  persons 
Avlio,  in  the  ditlerent  cantons,  occupy  themselves  with  the  patronage  of 
lilx/ratcd  ]uisoners. 

§  l.'J.  The  work  ofaidingliboi-atod  prisoners,  and  thus  seeking  to  prevent 
their  return  to  crinio,  is  by  no  means  as  extensively  or  as  thoroughly 
organized  in  the  United  States  as  it  ought  to  be.  Massachusetts  lias  an 
ofiieial  agency  for  this  purj)Ose,  which  has  accomplished  and  is  accom- 
])liHliing  an  iinnienso  amount  of  good.  The  New  York  Prison  Associa- 
tion, the  lMiihj(U'li>hia  I'rison  Society,  the  Calilbrnia  Prison  Commission, 
and  tlie  Maryland  IMisonc^rs' Aid  Association  are  the  (bur  most  efficient 
organizations  of  this  kind  in  the  country.  There  are  a  few  minor  organ- 
izations in  different  I()(;alities,  more  or  less  useful ;  but  their  work  is,  for 
the  most  ])art,  r<sti  icted  for  the  want  of  sullicient  jneans  to  make  it 
broader  and  nion^  effective.  Jt  will  be  the  work  of  the  National  I'rison 
Association  to  organize  such  agencies  in  all  the-  States  where  their  or- 
ganization may  be  found  practicable. 


LIBERATED    PRISONERS NORWAY RUSSIA,    ETC.  105 

§  14.  The  patronage  of  liberated  jorisoners  is  more  extensive,  more 
thorouglily  organized,  more  active,  and  more  successful  in  England  than, 
perhaps,  in  any  other  country.  Some  forty  associations  of  this  kind  are 
found  in  the  metropolis  and  the  counties.  They  aid,  annually,  over  6,000 
released  prisoners.  The  assistance  given  differs  according  as  it  is  granted 
to  men  or  women.  That  accorded  to  men  consists  in  procuring 
work  for  them  and  in  furnishing  them,  while  awaiting  employment, 
board,  clothing,  &c.  Two  societies,  however,  have  founded,  each,  a  ref- 
uge for  men.  One  of  these  deserves  special  mention.  It  has  an  aver- 
age number  of  thirty-three  men,  occupied  in  making  mats.  It  is  the  In- 
dustrial Home  of  Wakefield,  in  connection  with  the  prison  of  that  name. 
During  a  period  of  seven  years  this  establishment  has  received  942 
beneficiaries.  The  proceeds  of  their  labor  have  sufficed  to  defray  all 
expenses,  and  the  men  commonly  earn  a  surplus  of  a  few  shillings  each 
weekly.  On  the  30th  of  September,  1871,  there  was  in  the  treasury  be- 
tween $4,000  and  $5,000  of  surplus  earnings. 

The  assistance  given  to  women  is  solely  through  the  agency  of  ref- 
uges. It  is,  in  fact,  difficult  to  find  immediate  employment  at  domestic 
service  for  a  woman  just  out  of  prison.  She  requires  to  be  subjected  to 
some  preliminary  probation.  Discharged  female  prisoners  themselves 
feel  the  necessity  for  this  support  which  preserves  them  from  fresb 
temptations.  Hence  they  seek  the  interposition  of  aid  societies  in 
much  larger  proportions  than  men. 

§  15.  Ireland  has  no  patronage  society  for  its  convict-prison.  The  in- 
termediate prison  at  Lusk,  with  its  agent  for  discharged  prisoners,  does 
all  that  is  necessary  for  men,  and  two  refuges,  one  Catholic,  the  other 
Protestant,  for  women. 


C  H  A  P  T  E  E     X  I  Y. 

SUGGESTIONS  RELATING  TO  REFORMS. 

The  following  was  the  closing  question  of  the  series  addressed  to 
governments,  the  replies  to  which  have  furnished  the  comprehensive 
and  valuable  information  contained  in  the  preceding  chapters,  viz  : 
''Are  you  satisfied  with  the  penitentiary  system  of  your  country?  What 
defects,  if  any,  do  you  find  in  it"^  What  changes  or  modifications  would 
you  wish  to  see  introduced?"  The  substance  of  the  answers  returned 
will  be  embodied  in  the  present  chapter. 

§  1.  The  answer  of  Austria  is  that  the  system  of  imprisonment  as  it 
exists  in  that  country  suffers  from  the  fiict  that  there  is  too  great  a 
uniformity  in  the  punishment,  and  that  there  is  not  a  prison  for  each 
kind  of  punishment.  This,  it  is  said,  interferes  with  the  effect  of  the 
various  kinds  of  punishment,  especially  with  those  of  a  strict  character. 
To  remedy  this  it  would  be  desirable,  the  report  states :  1,  to  lessen  the 
various  kinds  of  punishment  in  number,  and,  if  possible,  to  reduce  them 
to  three ;  2,  that  every  one  of  these  punishments  be  characterized  by  dif- 
ferences in  the  dietary  and  treatment  of  the  prisoner;  and,  3,  that  every 
kind  of  of  punishment  be  undergone  in  prisons  si)ecially  designed  for  it. 

§  2.  Belgium  replies  that  she  is  satisfied  with  her  existing  system,  in 
so  far  as  that  reply  is  not  applicable  to  establishments  on  the  congre- 
gate plan,  and  that  the  transformation  of  these  into  cellular  prisons  is 
actively  i^rogressiug. 


106  INTERNATIONAL   PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

§  3.  Under  certain  reserves  tbe  French  report  points  out  the  follow- 
ing reforms  and  ameliorations  as  desirable  in  the  penitentiary  system  r 

1.  The  abolition  of  the  punishment  of  imprisonment  for  offenses  of  little 
gravity,  in  place  of  which  should  be  substituted,  as  far  as  possible, 
pecuniary  penalties,  the  temporary  privation  of  certain  civil  rights,  &c. 

2.  The  definitive  choice  of  a  system  of  imprisonment  for  prisoners 
awaiting  examination  or  trial  and  for  those  sentenced  to  ])unishments 
of  a  duration  not  exceeding  two  years.  3.  The  adoption  of  a  peniten- 
tiary system  applicable,  under  different  degrees  of  severity,  to :  1,  cor- 
rectional convicts,  sentenced  to  a  punishment  of  two  years  and  overj 
2,  reclusionaries ;  3,  persons  sentenced  to  hard  labor.  4.  The  organi- 
zation of  patronage  societies,  to  which  liberated  prisoners  may  have 
recourse  on  their  discharge  from  the  penitentiaries. 

§  4.  The  German  states  represented  in  the  congress  give  answer  thus  : 

(1)  Baden  says  that  she  is  satisfied  with  her  penitentiary  system, 
since  the  cellular  system,  as  a  rule,  is  adopted. 

(2)  Bavaria  replies  that  the  system  of  associated  imprisonment  which 
exists  in  most  of  her  prisons  cannot  be  considered  satisfactory,  par- 
ticularly as  the  greater  i>art  of  them  are  old  castles  or  convents,  which 
are  ill-adapted  to  purposes  of  imprisonment. 

(3)  The  answer  of  Prussia  is  given  in  tlie  words  of  the  report,  as 
follows : 

In  maaj"  respects  tbe  orgauizatiou  of  Prussian  prisons  may  he  considered  perfect. 
Order  especially  characterizes  the  administration.  The  assiduoascare  taken  in  regard 
to  the  prisoners  in  all  respects  and  the  eiforts  made  to  give  them  work  suited  to  their 
capacities  are  beyond  reproach.  The  discipline,  severe,  yet  just,  is  excellent.  The 
instruction  and  religious  exhortations  are  efficiently  and  carefully  given.  On  the 
other  hanit,  our  system  has  some  grave  defects  which  urgently  demand  tbe  retnedy  we 
are  earnestly  striving  to  tiud.  Part  of  tbe  prisons  require  complete  rebuilding  ;  others 
need  internal  reconstruction  ;  a  general  rule  enforcing  the  separation  of  prisoners  at 
night  is  urgently  required,  and  their  isolation,  both  by  day  and  night,  ought  to  be  more 
extensively  applied.  We  need  tbe  application  of  cellular  imprisonment  in  all  cases  of  pre- 
liminary detention  and  of  short  sentences.  We  think  this  system  also  indispensable  tor 
the  objects  aimed  at  m  all  pcmitentiary  reclusion,  and  we  consequently  propose  a  pro- 
portional increase  in  tbe  number  of  cells.  We  ought  also  to  devise  means  for  permitting 
tlie  prisoners  to  work  in  tbe  open  air  more  than  they  do  at  present,  and  to  etfect  this 
change  in  such  a  nuinner  that  the  new  measure  may  serve  as  a  preparatory  step  for 
the  prisoner's  return  to  liberty.  It  is  moreover  very  requisite  to  care  more  for  the 
preliminary  training  of  the  inferior  ofGcera,  to  increase  their  number,  and  to  give  them 
facilities  for  passing,  after  a  certain  length  of  service  in  prisons,  into  other  branches 
of  the  state-service.  Lastly,  to  solve  the  difficulties  which  till  now  have  obstructed 
elfective  prison-reform  in  our  country,  wo  must  create  a  central  organization  which, 
would  regulate  prisons  of  every  kind  and  have  due  regard  to  the  interest  of  every 
nature  connected  with  prison  administration. 

§  5.  Norway  replies  in  a  very  general  way,  with  no  definite  i)roposi- 
tion  of  interest  to  other  nations,  except  that  tavoring  the  establishment 
of  separate  prisons  for  women. 

§  0.  iloilaiid  says  that  the  greatest  delect  in  her  penitentiary  system 
is  tliat  tlierc,  is  no  system,  or,  ratlier,  that  the  two  systems  of  associated 
and  ccllulai-  iinprisomiieut  are  applied  without  any  uniform  rule,  and 
without  placing  tlieiii  in  a  harmonious  relation  to  each  other.  Hence 
there  is  a  pictty  gc'ueral  agrcH'inent  that  a  reform  is  nec(!ssary,  and  that 
it  should  have  mainly  twoobjects  in  view:  a  revision  of  the  ])enal  laws, 
whiich  wonhl  intro(hic(5  a  more  uniform  and  more  harmonious  system  of 
imprisonmeni,  ami  a  serious  elfort  to  give  greater  dignity  to  the  jSosi- 
tion  ol"  tiie  directors  and  emi)lo.v(''s,  aiul  to  open  these  olfices  to  men  of  a 
high  ',r  e(lu<jation.  \VIiat(iverdifferenc«is  of  oi)iuion  may  exist  as  regards 
the,  system  to  be  folh.)W(Ml,  (and  tliey  are  great,  since  all  the  systems 
which  divide,  savans  find  their  partisans,)  on  these  two  points  there  is  «. 
very  general  agreement. 


EEFOKMS FRANCE GERMANY NORWAY,  .  ETC.  107 

§  7.  Couut  Sollolinb,  replying  for  Russia,  siibmitted  a  special  and 
very  able  paper  on  this  poiut,  developing  a  complete  penitentiary  sys- 
tem, which  he  had  drawn  up  and  presented  to  the  imperial  government, 
as  president  of  the  commission  on  penitentiary  reform  for  the  empire. 
This  paper,  the 'production  of  a  profound  and,  for  the  most  part,  right- 
thinking  intellect,  though  long,  is  too  valuable  to  be  omitted.  In  sub- 
mitting it  to  the  congress,  the  count  remarked  that  the  brief  view,  pre- 
sented by  liim,  of  the  present  state  of  the  prison  question  in  Eussia 
sufficiently  showed  the  urgent  need  of  reform  in  his  country.  He  said 
that  the  imperial  commission,  over  which  he  has  the  honor  to  preside, 
had  just  completed  the  draughtof  a  prison  system,  which  was  about  to  be 
revised  by  the  proper  authority,  and  he  judged  that  it  might  have  some 
interest  for  the  eminent  specialists  then  assembled  in  London.  At  all 
events,  he  desired  the  criticisms  of  his  honorable  colleagues  in  the  con- 
gress, it  being  understood  that  the  i)lan  proposed  is  based  chiefly  on 
the  circumstances  and  necessities  of  his  native  country. 

The  penitentiary  system  proposed  by  the  imperial  commission  is,  it  will 
be  seen,  in  the  form  of  a  bill  or  project  of  law,  to  be  enacted  by  the 
supreme  law-making  power  of  the  empire.  It  is  in  the  words  follow- 
ing, to  wit : 

I.— Classification  of  the  Places  of  Imi'risonment. 

1.  All  the  places  of  imprisonmeut  iu  the  empire  are  divided  into:  a,  preliminary; 
1),  penal.  , 

2.  The  places  of  preliminary  imprisonment  are  used  for  the  incarceration  of:  a, 
persons  awaiting  examination  or  trial ;  b,  persons  convicted  and  awaiting  the  execu- 
tion of  their  sentence ;  c,  persons  arrested  by  the  police. 

3.  The  places  of  penal  imprisonment  are  used  for  the  incarceration  of  jjersous  sen- 
tenced by  judgment  of  a  court. 

4.  The'places  of  preliminary  imprisonmeut  are  subdivided  into:  a,  police  prisons ; 
i,  houses  of  justice. 

5.  The  places  of  penal  imprisonment  are  subdivided,  according  to  the  duration  of  the 
detentions,  into  :  a,  short  duration  ;  J>,  moderate  duration ;  c,  long  duration. 

6.  The  places  of  penal  imprisonment  of  short  duration  are:  a,  jails  (ies  arrefs;)  * 
T),  houses  of  amendmeut.t 

7.  The  places  of  penal  detention  of  moderate  duration  are   houses  of  correction. 

8.  The  places  of  penal  detention  of  long  duration  are  convict-prisons,  {maisons- 
deforce.)t 

9.  All  prisons  are  divided,  according  to  their  localities,  into :  a,  provincial ;  Z»,  cen- 
tral. 

10.  The  provincial  prisons  are:  a,  police  prisons;  I,  houses  of  justice ;  c,  jails;  d,. 
houses  of  amendment. 

11.  The  central  prisons  are  :  a,  houses  of  correction  ;  6,  convict-prisons. 

12.  The  provincial  prisons  are  considered,  as  regards  revenue,  unproductive. 

*  We  have  nothing  in  this  country  corresponding  to  the  prisons  here  called  arrets 
They  seem  to  answer  most  nearly  to  our  county  jails,  particularly  in  that  function  of 
these  latter  whereby  they  become  places  of  punishment  for  persons  convicted  of  trivial 
offenses.  But  the  main  function  of  our  jails  is  to  serve  as  prisons  of  preliminary  de- 
tention. With  this  explanation,  I  translate  the  term  arrets  by  our  word  jail,  as  our 
language  appears  to  afford  no  other. — E.  C.  W. 

+  This  is  another  class  of  prisons  for  which  we  have  no  equivalent.  Both  the  thing 
aud  its  designation  are  wanting  with  us.  The  proper  translation  would  be  "  houses 
of  reformation,"  or  "  reformatory  prisons ;  "  but,  as  will  be  seen,  the  term  of  imprison- 
ment in  them  is  limited  to  three  months  and  they  are  intended  to  act  by  intimidation, 
so  that  both  the  duration  of  the  imprisonment  aud  the  predominant  agency  to  be  em- 
ployed are  against  the  idea  oi  reformation,  properly  so  called.  The  only  thing  I  could 
do,  therefore,  was  to  transfer,  without  translating,  the  original  word  amendment,  and 
leave  the  reader  to  interpret  it  for  himself. — E.  C.  W. 

t  These  correspond  most  nearly  to  our  state-prisons  and  the  English  convict- 
prisons,  being  intended  for  prisoners  guilty  of  the  more  heinous  crimes.  The  expres- 
sion by  which  they  are  designated,  maisons'de  force,  will  be  translated,  in  this  version,. 
convict-prisons. — E.  C.  W. 


108  INTERNATIONAL   PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

13.  The  central  prisons  are  considered,  as  regards  revenue,  productive. 

14.  Besides  the  prisons  above  mentioned,  there  shall  be  established  in  the  empire 
Tefuges  and  penitentiary  colonies  for  juvenile  prisoners. 

II. — OllGAXIZATIOX   OF   THE   PlUSONS. 

15.  The  reform  and  organization  of  the  prisons  of  the  empire  shall  be  effected  grad- 
iially,  but  all  the  kinds  and  gradations  shall  be  established  simultaneously  in  the  dif- 
ferent provinces. 

16.  Imprisonments  made  by  the  police  take  place,  in  the  districts,  near  the  com- 
munal administrations;  in  the  cities,  near  the  police-stations  and  their  sections. 

Oiservation. — The  prisons  may  also  serve  for  persons  arrested  by  the  administration. 

17.  Houses  of  justice  for  preliminary  detention  shall  be  established  in  the  cities  of 
the  provinces  and  of  the  districts,  and 'in  other  localities,  if  necessary. 

18.  Houses  of  justice  shall  be  established,  as  far  as  possible,  in  connection  with  edi- 
fices devoted  to  judicial  purposes. 

19.  Preliminary  and  penal  prisons  cannot  be  established  in  the  same  building. 

20.  Jails,  {les  arrets,)  where  punishment  for  light  o&enses  (contraventions)  is  under- 
gone, shall  be  established  in  all  cities,  and  in  other  localities,  if  necessary. 

21.  Houses  of  amendment  shall  be  established  in  all  provincial  and  district  cities 
where  they  are  needed. 

22.  Houses  of  correction  shall  be  established  only  in  places  where  orders  for  the  pro- 
ducts of  industrial  labor  are  likely  to  be  received. 

23.  Convict-prisons  shall  be  established  in  the  neighborhood  of  coal-beds,  stone 
quarries,  salt-pits,  and  other  localities  suited  to  the  organization  of  toilsome  and  pro- 
ductive industries  for  long  terms  of  imprisonment.  The  punishment  of  "  bard  labor" 
(travaux  forces)  shall  not  be  applied  exclusively  in  countries  outside  the  limits  of  Euro- 
pean Russia,  (Siberia.) 

24.  In  the  central  prisons  the  establishment  of  hospitals  is  obligatory.  In  other 
prisons,  hospital  treatment  is  to  be  provided  as  far  as  possible. 

25.  Baths  and,  if  possible,  hospitals  for  the  prisoners  shall  be  established  within  the 
inclosure  of  the  i)risons,  but  separate  from  the  main  buildings. 

26.  The  houses  of  justice  and  of  amendment  require  two  courts— one  for  the  admin- 
istration, the  other  for  the  prisoners. 

27.  A  third  court  for  the  work-shops  is  required  in  the  central  prisons. 

28.  Stores  of  wood,  sheds  for  tools  and  farming  implements,  the  cellars,  the  stables, 
shall  be  placed  outside  the  prison  inclosure,  in  the  court  devoted  to  the  general  affairs 
of  the  establishment. 

29.  Near  the  houses  of  justice,  the  jails,  and  the  houses  of  amendment  there  shall  be 
arranged  small  gardens,  in  which  the  prisoners  can  take  exercise. 

30.  Near  the  central  prisons  there  shall  bo  allotments  of  ground  for  cultivation  :  for 
houses  of  correction,  not  less  than  five  acres  per  hundred  i)risoners ;  for  convict  prisons, 
not  less  than  twenty-seven  acres  per  hundred  ])ri.soners. 

31.  All  the  persons  employed  in  tlio  houses  of  justice,  the  houses  of  amendment,  and 
the  central  prisons,  except  the  head  of  the  establishment  and  the  overseer-iu-chief, 
(male  or  female,)  shall  have  their  lodgings  in  the  court  devoted  to  the-general  affairs 
of  the  establishment. 

32.  There  shall  be  a  space  of  ground  not  loss  than  twenty-three  yards  in  width  for  a 
circular  road  around  the  central  prisons.  This  principle  is  not  obligatory  for  the  other 
])riHon3. 

III.— Discipline  of  the  Prisons. 
A. — General  regulations, 

33.  The  discipline  of  all  the  i)risonH  shall  have  for  its  base  the  three  following  prin- 
ciples:  justice,  gMardiaiislii|);  nationality. 

34.  The  system  of  discipline  of  all  tlie  prisons  shall  have  in  view:  1.  For  prisoners 
awaiting  trial — a,  tln-ir  complete  sei»aration,  to  pii!V(!nt  all  connivance  ;  h,  the  preven- 
tion of  tiio  asHociatioii  of  prisoners  cliarg(5d  witli  olVcMises  of  different  degrees  of  guilt; 
r,  the  enjoyment  of  ;ill  inivilcgos  and  comforts  not  inconsistent  with  the  course  of 
jiisfice.  2.  For  iJiisoncrs  nndcr  Hcuteiice — <(,  the  just  iiuiiishmont  of  the  crimes  of 
wJiicli  tli(;y  have  bei'ii  judicially  declared  guilty;  h,  the  exercise  of  a  guardianship, 
Avliich  lias  in  view  the  destiny  of  the  convicts  after  tlniir  lil)eration. 

From  this  last  c.onsiileration  arise  the  essential  exigencies  and  special  aims  of  the 
Hystem  :  a,  for  jails,  admonilion ;  h,  for  liousos  of  amiMiduient,  intimidation  ;  c,  for 
houses  of  correctiou,  piinixlnnrnt,  comldned  with  a  system  of  education,  of  industrial 
labor,  and  of  preitaration  of  tiie  prisoners  for  a  return  to  society;  d,  for  convict-prisons, 
thantinrinrnl,  witli  toilsome  labor,  having  in  view  the  ulterior  colonization  of  tho 
convicts. 


REFOEMri — RUSSIA.  109 

35.  Churches  are  obligatory  in  all  central  prisons.  In  other  classes  of  prisons  chap- 
els only  will  be  required.  Images  shall  be  iilacecl  in  all  the  rooms  appropriated  to 
prisoners. 

36.  There  shall  be  special  regulations  for  each  kind  of  imprisonment.  These  regula- 
tions "will  form  a  general  code.  ° 

Observation. — There  shall  be  given,  in  addition,  by  a  competent  authority,  personal 
instructions  to  each  head  of  a  prison. 

37.  Every  prisoner  shall  be  placed  in  the  kind  of  prison  named  in  the  sentence  of 
the  court.  .  • 

38.  The  provincial  prisons  may  receive  into  the  same  building  the  two  sexes  under 
the  same  administration,  but  the  parts  of  the  prison  appropriated  to  each  sex  must  be- 
entirely  separated  from  each  other. 

39.  The  central  prisons,  for  each  sex,  must  be  separate  and  distinct  establishments. 

40.  The  system  of  association  at  night  (and  of  beds  on  planks)  is  abolished.  For  the 
houses  of  justice  and  of  amendment  there  shall  be  the  system  of  complete  separation 
between  the  prisoners ;  for  the  central  prisons,  the  system  of  separation,  by  night,  in 
common  dormitories.* 

41.  In  the  prisons  of  preliminary  detention,  labor  is  not  obligatory;  it  is  obligatory 
in  all  other  classes  of  prisons. 

4'2.  All  changes  in  the  distribution  or  placing  of  prisoners  during  the  day  shall  be 
effected,  in  the  penal  prisons,  by  the  ringing  of  a  bell. 

43.  There  shall  be,  in  all  peual  prisons,  modes  of  encouragement,  consisting  of  privi- 
leges granted  to  the  prisoners. 

44.  There  shall  be,  in  all  detention-prisons,  a  system  of  disciplinary  punishments. 
Corporal  punishment  shall  be  permitted  only  in  convict-prisons.  In  all  other  prisons, 
there  shall  be  allowed  only  incarceration,  more  or  less  rigorous. 

45.  The  masiuuim  duration  of  imprisonment  is  fixed  :  a,  for  jails,  at  three  months  ; 
&,  for  houses  of  amendment,  at  one  year  and  four  months;  c,  for  housQSof  correction,, 
at  one  year  to  four  j^ears  ;  d,  for  couvict-prisons,  from  six  years  to  life. 

46.  In  the  cellular  houses  of  amendment,  the  duration  of  imprisonment  shall  be  re- 
duced by  one-third. t 

47.  The  mode  of  transferring  prisoners  will  be  made  the  object  of  a  special  regula- 
tion. 

B. — Special  regulations. 
1.  For  ]iolice-imprisonments : 

48.  The  detention-houses  in  the  communes  and  police-districts  have,  for  their  end,  only 
to  provide  for  the  safe-keeping  of  persons  awaiting  examination. 

49.  Every  person  who  has  given  occasion  to  a  judicial  prosecution  shall  be  kept  in 
separate  confinement,  wherever  it  is  possible. 

50.  Preliminary  police-imprisonments  shall  be  conformed  to  existing  laws. 

2.  For  imprisonments  in  houses  of  justice: 

51.  Wherever  it  is  possible,  conveyance  to  houses  of  justice  shall  take  place  in  cellular 
carriages.  In  cases  where  the  prisoners  are  taken  on  foot,  they  shall  have  the  right  to 
w^ear  a  hood  on  the  head. 

52.  Individuals  confined  in  houses  of  justice  shall  be  placed  at  first  in  receiving-cells,, 
from  which  they  shall  be  taken,  in  rotation,  to  go  through  the  formalities  required  by 
law,  to  be  submitted  to  the  inspection  of  the  doctor,  and  to  undergo  the  prescribed 
ablutions. 

.53.  The  prisoners  have  the  right  to  keep  their  own  clothing,  unless  it  is  worn  out  or 
too  much  soiled.  In  that  case,  they  will  be  fiiruislied  with  clothing  by  the  establish- 
ment, but  of  different  color  and  cut  from  that  prescribed  for  convicts. 

54.  Photographs  of  prisoners  shall  be  taken,  it  it  is  considered  necessary. 

55.  Every  article  found  on  the  prisoner,  except  his  clothing,  his  shoes,  and  his  linen, 
together  with  his  baptismal  cross  and  marriage-ring,  shall  be  talcen  from  him  and  kept 
in  a  place  devoted  to  that  purpose.  A  receipt  shall  be  given  to  the  prisoner  for  the 
money  and  eft'ects  placed  in  this  repository. 

56.  The  cell  of  the  prisoner  must  be,  in  its  dimensions,  not  less  than  fifteen  square 

*  An  apparent  contradiction  ;  but  the  arrangement  seems  to  be  this  :  The  dormitories 
are  to  be  common,  with  small  apartments,  or  cells,  arranged  round  their  walls,  by 
which  the  separation  is  effected. — E.  C.  W. 

t  Some  members  of  the  commission  voted  with  the  president.  Count  Sollohub,  for  a 
reduction  of  two-thirds.  .  . 


110  INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

arclhics,'^  acd  must  contain  at  least  three  cubic  sagenes*  of  air.  Special  care  must  be 
given  to  tbe  lighting  and  ventilation  of  the  cell.  i 

57.  It  is  permitted  to  prisoners  to  have  their  beds,  furniture,  books,  and  , writing- 
materials. 

5S.  Prisoners  vrbo  desire  to  work  shall  be  encouraged  therein.  Three-fourths  of  their 
earnings,  after  deducting  the  cost  of  material,  shall  belong  to  the  prisoner.  The  other 
fourth  shall  be  deemed  the  revenue  of  the  establishment,  for  the  purchase  of  tools, 
materials,  «&sc.  , 

59.  The  prisoners  shall  have  the  legal  rations  of  the  prison  and  shall  receive  half  a 
pound  of  meat  per  day  ;  but  they  have  the  right  to  better  diet,  if  they  have  the  means 
of  paying  for  it. 

00.  Prisoners  have  the  right  to  smoke,  but  this  privilege  shall  be  witbdrawn  from 
those  who  use  fire  imprudently. 

61.  The  prisoners  shall  have  the  right  to  take  exercise,  but  their  head  must  be  cov- 
ered with  a  hood,  and  they  must  walk  five  paces  apart. 

62.  Interviews  with  relatives  and  visitors  will  be  permitted  only  with  the  sanction 
of  the  counsel  of  the  government,  who  v/ill  arrange  the  conditions  of  these  interviews. 

G'i.  The  chaplain  of  the  prison  is  bound  to  visit  each  xu-isoner  at  least  twice  a  week, 
and  oftener  if  it  is  thought  necessary. 

64.  The  counsel  of  the  prisoner  shall  have  free  admission  to  him  at  all  times. 

65.  Persons  sentenced  by  the  court  shall  await  the  issue  of  their  appeal,  or  the  exe- 
cution of  their  sentence,  in  the  cells  where  they  were  previously  confined,  but  they 
shall  be  deprived  of  all  the  privileges  before  accorded  to  them. 

3.  For  iails: 

66.  Punishment  in  jails  shall  be  undergone  in  virtue  of  the  imperial  decree  of  the 
4th  July,  1666.  I 

4.  For  houses  of  amendment : 

67.  Sections  51,  52,  and  62,  relating  to  bouses  of  justice,  shall  be  applied  to  the 
houses  of  amendment. 

68.  The  prisoners  shall  wear  the  prescribed  dress. 

69.  The  prisoners  can  neither  smoke  nor  make  use  of  their  money. 

70.  The  prisoners  will  be  required  to  work  eight  hours  a  day  at  task-work.  Two- 
1  birds  of  their  earnings  will  belong  to  the  establishment;  the  remaining  third  shall  be 
placed  to  the  credit  of  the  jnisoner,  but  he  will  not  be  permitted  to  use  it  till  after  bis 
iil)erati()n. 

71.  Alf  prisoners  shall  have  the  same  rations. 

72.  Th(;  dimensions  of  the  cells  shall  not  exceed  fifteen  square  arehines. 

73.  Interviews  with  persons  from  outside  shall  not  exceed  one  per  month.  The  visits 
of  the  chaplain,  the  doctor,  the  officers,  and  of  members  of  j)hilaTitliroi)ic  societies,  are 
not  subject  to  this  regulation. 

74.  Prisoners  shall  be  permilted  to  work  over  and  above  their  task  and  beyond 
Ihe  hours  i)rescribed.  The  amount  of  this-  additional  work  shall  be  ]}laced  to  their 
credit. 

75.  Prisoners  who  shall  have  finished  their  terms  shall  be  immediately  liberated. 

5.  For  houses  of  correction : 

76.  The  term  of  imprisonment  is  from  one  year  ^minimum)  to  four  years,  (maximum,) 
without  romiffsion. 

77.  TJie  prisoner  confined  in  a  house  of  correction  shall  undergo  a  preliminary  cel- 
lular imprisonment,  whose  duration  shall  be  fixed  by  the  court.  If  tliis  duration  is 
not  meiilioiied  in  tlie  sentence,  tlic  prisoner  shall  be  isolated  only  during  the  legal 
lerni.  In  l)oMi  cases  the  administration  has  the  right  to  reduce  the  period  of  comidete 
isolation  to  lh(!  ininimum  fixed  by  tlu'  law.t 

7H.  The  syslciti  fur  houses  of  (•(urcc) ion,  in  lis  rigor,  shall  be  that  of  work  in  associ- 
alion  l>y  «lay  and  (>f  s(|)araiion  )>y  night. 

79.  Every  person  confined  in  .-i  house  of  correction  is  bound  to  work  ten  hours  a  day 
witiiont  rfceiving  any  part  of  his  cariiiiigs.  This  hibor  is  employed  in  domestic  serv- 
ice, laundry-work,  and  tillage.  'J'he  prodiwt  of  this  lahor  is  applied  to  the  support  of 
l,hf)  [irison. 

80.  'J'he  dnralion  of  this  labor  may  be  reduced  to  four  hours  a  day,  if  the  prisoner 
oxprcHHCH  a  desiro  to  occupy  himself  during  the  other  8i.x.  hours  in  mechanical  labors 


^  •  An  ardiine  is  a  Russian  measure  of  about  tw  o-thirds  of  a  yard,  and  a  sagrnc  of  about 
two  yards  and  one-third. — E.  C.  W. 

f 'I'his  ])aragraph  was  strongly  confested.     NevcrtlKilesH,  the  opinion  that  a  i)e.riod  of 
|)rclimiiji»iy  isolation  is  unnecessary  did  not  obtain  a  majority  of  votes. 


REFORMS RUSSIA.  Ill 

Tvhich  require  no  special  knowledge.  This  is  callerl  "meclianical  work,"  (travail  mi- 
canique.)  A  third  of  his  earnings  when  thus  engaged  goes  to  the  workman;  the  other 
two-thirds  are  to  the  profit  of  tlie  prison. 

81.  Those  who  do  not  desire  to  work  ten  hours  a  da>y  at  "  rough  "  work,  nor  sis  hours  at 
"mechanical"  work,  may  learn  any  trade  they  prefer,  whicli  requires  an  effort  of  will 
and  a  sustained  study.  This  is  called  "  professional  work,"  {travail jyrofcssionel.)  Those 
who  are  learning  a  trade  receive  no  benefit  from  their  labor,  and,  in  addition  to  eight 
hours  given  daily  to  their  apprenticeship,  must  spend  two  liours  ou  "rough"  work. 

82.  As  soon  as  a  prisoner  becomes  master  of  a  trade,  he  shall  receive  two-thirda  of 
all  he  earns  ;  the  remaining  third  is  applied  to  the  profit  of  the  prison. 

83.  Any  prisoner  who  already  knows  a  trade  on  his  arrival  at  the  house  of  correc- 
tion shall  receive  one-half  the  earnings  of  his  labor;  the  other  half  shall  go  to  the 
profit  of  the  establishment. 

84.  The  foremen  and  apprentices  of  each  trade  constitute  a  distinct  section. 

85.  The  Y>ersons  who  supply  constant  orders  to  the  sections  are  denominated  cura- 
tors (curatenrs)  of  the  sections. 

Observation. — The  director  of  the  pi'ison  can  have  work  done,  in  exceptional  cases, 
conformably  to  the  regulations  mentioned  above. 

86.  The  rights  and  duties  of  the  guardians  (tuteurs)  of  the  sections  shall  be  regulated 
by  law. 

87.  The  curators  of  the  sections  shall  settle  weekly  their  accounts  with  the  director 
•of  the  prison  iu  cash,  and  the  sums  due  to  the  prisoners  who  have  become  master-work- 
men, for  their  labor,  shall  be  inclosed  in  the  portfolios  of  each  section  separately. 
These  portfolios  shall  be  kept  in  a  s^iecial  case,  which  is  itself  locked  up  in  the  strong 
box  of  the  government. 

88.  The  key  of  the  case  which  contains  the  money  of  the  prisoners  shall  be  kept  by 
the  cashier,  chosen  by  the  sections.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  cashier  to  be  present  at  the 
weekly  settlements  between  the  curators  of  the  sections  and  the  sections  themselves. 

89.  No  prisoner  may  keep  his  own  money,  nor  exact,  under  any  pretext,  what  has 
been  set  to  his  account  under  the  name  of  profit.  He  receives  only  a  little  book,  in 
which  is  kept  the  account  of  the  product  of  his  labor  for  each  week. 

90.  As  an  exceptional  encouragement  to  industry  and  good  conduct,  one-fourth  of 
their  gains  maj'  be  allowed  to  the  sections  for  the  purchase,  through  the  agency  of  an 
inspector,  of  tea  and  any  other  authorized  article. 

91.  Each  section  will  choose  a  chief,  who  shall  be  responsible  for  the  order  of  the 
section. 

92.  Each  section  shall  be  responsible  for  the  escape  of  its  foreman,  and,  in  case  of 
such  escape,  the  said  section  shall  forfeit  its  profits. 

93.  The  monitor,  the  inspector  of  the  prison,  and  the  chief  shall  be  resiionsible  for 
the  order  of  each  section  during  the  hours  of  work. 

94.  The  movements  of  the  prisoners  will  take  place  by  couples,  in  military  order,  at 
the  word  of  command  and  at  the  hours  indicated. 

95.  A  school  shall  be  established  in  every  house  of  correction. 

96.  The  time  spent  in  school  shall  be  counted  as  time  spent  at  "rough  work,"  (travail 
<]romer.) 

97.  On  Sundays  and  holidays,  after  mass,  the  chaplain  and  the  professors  attached, 
to  the  prison  shall  hold  conferences  with  the  prisoners  ;  these  conferences  shall  relate 
to  religion,  sacred  liistory,  geography,  and  scientific  subjects. 

9.8.  During  the  night  the  prisoners  shall  be  confined  in  separate  cell's,  from  which  no 
one  can  go  out  without  leave  from  the  director  of  the  prison.  Silence  is  obligatory  at 
night.  The  inspector  is  charged  witk  the  duty  of  supervision.  The  dormitories  must 
be  kept  lighted. 

99.  Interviews  with  relatives  and  strangers  shall  be  permitted  at  the  times  indica- 
ted by  the  regulations. 

100.  When  the  term  of  the  imprisonment  ends,  there  shall  be  given,  from  the  cash- 
box,  to  those  liberated,  the  money  earned  by  them,  after  which  no  interview  shall  be 
permitted  them,  under  any  pretext,  with  their  former  comrades. 

6.  For  convict-prisons : 

101.  Convict-prisons  shall  be  established  for  the  imprisonment  of  all  persons  con- 
victed of  felonies. 

102.  The  convict,  who  shall  have  merited,  by  his  Industry  and  good  conduct,  an  abbre- 
viation of  his  imprisonment,  may  obtain  it  on  the  order  of  the  administration  of  the 
prison,  but  not  before  he  shall  have  undergone  two-thirds  of  his  punishment. 

103.  The  prisoners  who  have  not  deserved  an  abbreviation  of  their  sentences  shall 
undergo  in  the  convict-prison  the  entire  punishment  to  which  they  shall  have  been 
sentenced. 

104.  Those  prisoners  who  serve  out-  their  whole  time  are  called  convicts  ;  those  who 
have  merited  a  shortening  of  their  punishment  receive  the  designation  o£  improved. 

105.  In  order  to  a  transfer  from  the  class  of  "convicts"  to  that  of  the  "  inqn-oved," 


112  INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

the  prisoner,  in  addition  to  good  conduct,  must  have  earned  a  sum  determined  by  the 
regulation. 

106.  In  case  of  ill-conduct  and  indolence,  the  "improved"  prisoner  is  again  placed  in 
the  class  of  "convicts." 

107.  The  prisoner,  on  his  admission  to  the  convict-prison,  shall  be  isolated  from  fif- 
teen days  to  a  month,  according  to  the  determination  of  the  administration. 

108.  Tiie  families  6f  prisoners  are  not  admitted  into  the  convict-prisons. 

109.  The  convict-prisons  are  adapted  to  hard  labor. 

110.  The  work  is  subdivided  into  "hard  labor"  and  "prison-work." 

111.  The  "hard  labor"  is  performed  by  the  convicts  in  chains,  which  must  be  made 
according  to  the  legal  model;  the  "prison-work"  is  done  without  chains. 

Observation. — The  chains  may  be  removed,  even  during  the  execution  of"  hard  labor," 
by  permission  of  the  director,  in  testimony  of  his  confidence.  The  chains  shall  be 
re-imposed  on  those  who  show  themselves  unworthy  of  this  indulgence. 

112.  The  convict-prisons  should  be  established  in  localities  which  offer  guarantee.? 
for  hard  labor,  such  labor  constituting  the  punishment  of  the  convicts.  These  guaran- 
tees are  always  necessary,  and  should  be  independent  of  accidents. 

113.  The  convict-prisons  shall  be  established  only  in  localities  aff'ording  ready  com- 
munisation,  or  offering  facilities  for  the  sale  of  the  products  of  prison  labor  on  the 
spot. 

114.  The  industries  for  which  the  convict-prison  is  adapted  may  belong  to  the  gov- 
ernment, or  to  a  company  or  private  person,  if  the  latter  can  offer  the  requisite  guar- 
antees. 

115.  The  administration  of  the  prison  shall  not  interfere  with  the  industries. 

116.  The  convicts  form  only  the  motive-power  of  the  industries. 

Ohservaiion. — Payment  of  the  laborers  shall  be  made  at  the  times  fixed  by  the  con- 
tract and  in  cash. 

117.  The  places  where  the  labor  is  performed  shall  not  be  more  than  3^  miles  distant 
from  the  prison. 

118.  No  convict  can  remain  during  the  night  outside  of  the  prison  inclosure. 

119.  The  duration  of  hard  labor  shall  be  fixed  at  twelve  hours  per  day  in  summer 
and  ten  in  winter. 

1'20.  The  administration  of  the  prison  reserves  a  certain  number  of  prisoners  to  be 
employed,  in  rotation,  in  farm-labor,  trades,  and  the  domestic  service  of  the  prison, 
conformably  to  a  special  regulation. 

121.  Convict-labor  may  be  of  two  categories :  1,  obligatory,  for  a  fixed  number  of 
hours  per  day  ;  2,  voluntary. 

122.  The  product  of  obligatory  labor  belongs  to  the  establishment. 

123.  The  product  of  voluntary  labor  forms  a  personal  income,  which  is  paid  to  the 
prisoner  on  his  liberation. 

124.  The  prisoners  may  not  engage  in  voluntary  labor  till  they  have  finished  their 
daily  task  of  "hard  labor"  or  "prison-labor." 

125.  The  director  of  the  prison,  in  conjunction  with  the  directors  of  the  industries, 
shall  determine  the  tasks  to  be  performed  by  the  convicts. 

126.  The  tasks  allotted  shall  be  performed  by  order  of  the  administration. 

127.  The  administration  of  the  prison  must  see  that  the  prisoners  do  the  full  quantity 
of  work  assigned. 

128.  The  prisoner  may  engage  in  voluntary  labor  on  account  of  the  director  of  the 
industries,  or  at  some  mechanical  occupation,  as  he  shall  elect. 

129.  Prisoners  under  short  sentences  shall  receive  higher  pay  for  voluntary  labor  thau 
tliose  sent<;nced  to  long  terms. 

130.  During  the  Iu)nrs  of  labor,  the  prisoners  shall  be  superintended  by  the  inspect- 
ficH,  and  by  tiie  chiefs  of  sections,  clidsen  by  tliemselves.  Tiio  work  is  to  be  performed 
under  tlie  direction  of  persons  clnirged  with  tiiat  fluty  by  the  directors  of  the  industries. 

131.  According  to  tlio  nature  of  tiio  work,  the  convicts  may  separate  into  sections, 
under  jiledge,  ofalistaining  from  all  disorder. 

132.  The  regulations  for  sections  in  houses  of  correction  may  bo  adapted  to  couvict- 
prJHonerH. 

i:{3.  One-fourth  of  the  personal  earnings  of  the  convicts  may  be  used  in  aiding  their 
r«iniilies. 

131.  Hetween  imiJrisoiunent  in  convict-prisons  and  the  definitive  establishment  of 
tiie  lii)eratc<l  )>riHoncrs  in  a  country  named  by  the  government,  the  convicts  will  pass 
into  a  teiniiorary  CHtalilislinient  under  the  form  of  an  agricultural  penitentiary  colony, 
where  tiiey  may  be  pr<-pared  Cor  their  fntnr*!  alKxh'. 

135.  The  penitentiary  eoh)nies  Nhall  b(!  cHtalilished  in  districts  selected  and  set  apart 
to  lie,  defmilivcly  peojded  liy  liherated  convict.s. 

Klf!.  fliiniinalH  who  have  passed  into  the  class  of  the  "improved"  shall  be  trans- 
ferred to  the  j)enite,ntiary  colony  of  the  government,  if  tiiey  have  earned  the  autn  nece.s- 
H.'iry  to  colonization.  Those  who  have  not  earned  the  requisite  sum  must  renraiu  in 
prison  till  they  have,  without,  however;  passing  the  term  fixed  by  their  sentence. 


REFORMS  SUGGESTED — SWITZERLAND UXITED  STATES.  113 

137.  The  convicts  sent  into  the  peniteutiaiy  colonics  of  the  government  shall  remain 
there  till  the  date  indicated  by  the  sentence.  Nevertheless,  the  term  of  the  sentence 
luaj'  be  reduced  by  the  authority  of  the  colony.  Criminals  who  have  nnderjijone  their 
entire  sentence  iu  the  convict-prison  must  still  pass  one  j-ear  in  the  colony  of  the 
goveninient. 

138.  Labor  is  obligatory  in  the  penitentiary  colonies.  It  must  be  performed  accord- 
ing to  the  orders  ai!il  under  the  direction  of  tlie  authorities  of  the  crtlony. 

139.  Any  person  discharged  from  the  penitentiary  cohniy  may  choose,  according  to 
liis  liking,  the  place  of  his  definitive  abode,  but  not  without  the  limits  or  the  frontier 
of  the  same  country. 

140.  Prisoners  sent  to  the  colonies  may  be  followed  by  their  families. 

141.  The  laws  and  regulations  for  the  colonies  shall  be  fixed  by  special  decree. 

The  princii)les  relating  to  finance  and  to  the  mode  of  administration  proposed  by  this 
projct,  being  based  on  local  considerations,  cannot,  as  a  matter  of  course,  be  set  forth  iu 
the  present  writing. 

§  8.  The  Swiss  report  limits  itself  to  a  short  resume  of  the  reforms 
thou,iiht  to  be  needed,  as  follows  : 

1.  The  uiiilication  of  the  peual  code,  based  ou  the  priiiciide  of  the 
moral  reformatiou  of  prisoners. 

2.  The  reforui  of  prisons  for  i^ersons  awaiting  trial. 

3.  The  increase  of  the  number  of  reformatories  for  juvenile  delinquents 
and  vicious  bo^s,  and  also  the  reform  of  work-houses  and  houses  of  cor- 
rection for  vagrants  and  idlers. 

4.  The  erection  of  penitentiaries  in  cantons  which  have  only  the  old- 
fashioned  prisons,  which  are  incapable  of  proper  transformations.  Two 
or  more  cantons,  it  is  thought,  might  come  to  an  agreement  to  establish 
a  penitentiary  in  common,  or  they  nsight  make  arrangements  with  a 
caiitou  which  already  has  one,  or  found  other  establishments  to  be  used 
as  intermediate  prisons,  agreeably  to  the  progressive  Crofton  prison 
system. 

5.  The  special  education  of  prison  officers  and  employes. 

6.  The  reform  of  the  disciplinary  and  educational  regime  of  the  peni- 
tentiaries, with  a  view  to  the  moral  regeneration  of  the  prisoners. 

7.  The  direction  and  supervision,  not  only  of  the  administration  of  all 
the  prisons,  but  also  of  preventive  institutions,  (such  as  public  assist- 
ance, orphan-houses,  agricultural  colonies,  retuges,  patronage  societies, 
&c.,)  in  the  hands  of  special  oflicers  of  the  government. 

8.  The  united  action  of  the  state  and  voluntary  philanthropic  societies 
and  societies  of  ])ubiic  utility. 

9.  Finally,  the  perfecting  of  all  institutions  whose  aim  is  the  preven- 
tion of  crime,  whether  in  the  domain  of  education,  social  condition,  &c., 
or  that  of  police  and  of  justice. 

§  9.  The  tendency  of  thought  in  the  United  States  on  the  question  of 
prison  reform  is  toward  the  Crofton  system,  which,  in  proportion  as  it 
is  understood,  is,  year  by  year,  gaining  friends  and  adherents.  Xo  State 
has  yet  introduced  it  fully,  or  even  its  main  features;  but  it  can  hardly 
be  many  years  before  this  will  be  done.  No  doubt  some  injustice  has 
been  done  in  the  United  States  to  the  cellular  system,  but  the  intro- 
duction of  the  Crofton  plan  may  permit  us  to  use  the  more  desirable 
features  of  that  system.  The  great  evil  in  our  minor  prisons  and  iu 
many  of  those  of  the  higher  grade  is  that  there  is  no  system  at  all,  but 
a  mixture  of  routine  and  caprice  in  the  prison  administration,  from 
which  good  results  can  come  only  by  hazard  or  by  miracle.  Particu- 
larly is  this  true  in  regard  to  female  prisons,  and  in  the  whole  United 
States  there  is  scarcely  a  single  good  woman's  prison.  Considering 
the  number  and  excellence  of  our  reformatories  for  girls,  this  is  the 
more  astonishing.  Eftbrts  are  making  in  several  States  to  establish 
special  prisons  for  women,  which  will  no  doubt  prove  successful  in  the 
end;  and,  in  some,  the  day  for  this  reform  hastens. 
H.  Ex.  185 8 


114  INTERNATIONAL   PENITENTIAEY    CONGEESS. 

CHAPTEE    XV. 

JUV.ENILE  REFOEMATORIES. 

Host  of  tlie  sets  of  qnestions  sent  out  did  not,  tlirougli  a  mischance 
in  the  office  where  they  were  jjiinted,  contain  any  interrogatory  rehitin^ 
to  juvenile  reformatories.  This  fact  will  account  for  the  small  number 
of  countries  which  furnished  the  congress  witli  information  on  this 
most  important  branch  of  the  work  looking  to  the  prevention  of  crime. 

§  1.  In  Denmark  there  are  three  educational  establishments  for  neg- 
lected and  misguided  boys,  with  an  aggregate  of  about  one  hundred  and 
sixty  inmates.  Besides  these,  th^re  is  a  society  which  undertakes  to 
have  children  placed  in  families.  The  latter  has  worked  with  great  suc- 
cess. 

§  2.  Saxony  has  had,  for  above  a  generation,  two  reformatories  for 
the  education  and  reformation  of  children  of  both  s<3xes,  besides  a  house 
of  correction  for  young  persons  aged  from  sixteen  to  twenty  years. 

The  industrial  occupation  in  these  houses  is  agriculture,  but  mechan- 
ical occupation  for  the  Mants  of  the  reformatory  itself  is  not  excluded. 
The  adnjission  of  children  takes  phice  mostly  at  the  request  of  their 
relations,  of  societies,  or  of  police  authorities,  who  are  asked  to  contribute 
a  small  sum  of  money.  Children  uj)  to  twelve  years,  and  young  persons 
up  to  eighteen  years  of  age,  are  ])laced  under  this  reformatory  treatment. 
According  to  age,  school-instruction,  occupation  in  the  field  .and  garden, 
and  domestic  work  are  the  means  of  education.  At  tlie  proi)er  time,  those 
promoted  for  good  conduct  are  first  sent  into  agricultural  or  domestic 
service,  or  apprenticed  to  tradesmen,  under  pro];)er  supervision,  by  the 
authorities  of  the  reformatory.  Conditional  libeiation  must,  as  a  rule, 
precede  complete  freedom.  Well-disposed  inmates  of  the  reformatories, 
of  the  age  of  less  than  twelve  years,  are  sent  to  board  in  carefully-chosen 
families,  the  reformatory  paying  for  the  board.  Even  these  have  to 
undergo  a  period  of  conditional  lil)eration  before  attaining  full  freedom. 
The  term  of  probation  for  children  is  at  least  two  years  ;  that  of  young- 
people,  one  year.  The  results  obtained  in  these  reformatories,  since 
1S5(),  have  shown  that  su(;h  as  \Yere  liberated  after  a  ])robationaTy  period, 
and  who  on  account  of  rela])se  were  sent  again  into  the  penitentiary, 
amounted  to  oidy  7  per  cent.  Keformatories  and  houses  of  safety, 
(asylums.)  established  and  supported  by  societies  or  by  associations, 
endeavor  to  reform  neglected  childnni  by  giving  them  domestic  disci- 
])line  and  separate  or  pnl^lic  schooling.  They  mostly  keep  the  children 
till  they  are  Jonrteen  years  of  age.  Unmanageable  (;liildren  are  sent  for 
further  education  to  the  above-mentioned  scate  reformatories.  The  num- 
ber admitted  into  the  stale  reformatories  amounted,  in  the  year  1871, 
to  three  hundred  and  f(uty-five  children  ami  to  thirty  one  young  per- 
sons. Tlu;  nund)er  of  inmates  in  asylums,  «Sic.,  during  the  year  1871, 
is  estinmtj'd  to  be  about  two  hundr<'d. 

§;j.  'J'hc  estal)lishm(Mits  devoted  to  the  (torrectional  education  of  juve- 
nile d('lin(pienls  in  J^'ram-.e  icceivc^  minors  of  sixlecMi  years  ami  under,  of 
both  sexes.  1'liey  ai'e  divi<led,  for  young  m;dei»rison<'rs,  into  penitentiary 
colonies  and  <;orre(;lion;d  <'oh)nies.  In  tln^  (irst  are  ))laced  :  1,  children 
^U'<pii(led  ashavingacfed  without  knowledge,  but  who  arenot  sent  back  to 
their  jtarents;  li,  young  prisoners  sentenced  to  ;in  impiisonment  of  more 
tlian  six  months  and  not,  exceeding  two  years.  'I'hese  establishments 
4ir('iiid>lic  or  private:  public,  when  they  lia\e  been  founded  by  the  state,  and 
the  stale  names  and  pays  the  directors  and  employes;  and  private  when 


REFORMATORIES FRANCE ITALY SWITZERLAND,  ETC.    115 

tliey  are  fouiKled  and  directed  by  private  persons,  with  the  authoriza- 
tion of- the  state.  The  correctional  colonies  receive:  1,  youn^  prison- 
ers sentenced  to  an  iin[)risonnieut  of  more  than  two  years;  2,  yonn^ 
prisoners  from  the  ijcuitentiary  colonies  who  have  been  dcxthired  insub- 
ordinate.    The  correctional  colonies  are  all  jmblie  establislunents. 

A  similar  classiiication  has  been  established  for  young  female  prison- 
ers. They  are  received  either  in  a  correctional  ward  directed  by  the 
state,  or  into  pemit«ntiary  houses  connected  with  religious  establishments. 
Of  penitentiary  an<l  correctional  colonies  for  boys,  tiie  number  is  thirty- 
iwo,  three  being  public  colonies,  four  correctional  wards,  and  twenty- 
five  private  colonies.  Of  establishments  devoted  to  young  female  pris- 
oners, there  are  twenty,  one  of  which  is  directed  by  the  state;  the  rest 
are  private. 

§  4.  The  number  of  reformatories  in  Italy  is  thirty-three,  of  which 
twenty-two  are  for  boys  and  nine  for  girls.  They  are  rather  of  an  educa- 
tive than  punitive  nature.  Tliey  are  entirely  private  in  their  charac- 
ter, having  been  instituted  either  b}'  individual  benevolence  or  by 
charitable  associations.  Grovernment  makes  use  of  them  for  those 
juveniles  who  fall  under  the  censure  of  police-law  {pnhblica  sicure.zza)  for 
idleness  or  vagrancy  ;  also,  for  the  detention  of  those  who  are  i)laced  in 
them  for  correction  by  paternal  authority.  Ot  these  establishmeiits, 
tweuty-tive  are  industrial  and  six  agricultural.  Their  discipline  not  being 
as  severe  as  that  in  the  houses  of  custody,  government  makes  use  of 
them  also  as  a  reward,  gathering  into  them  those  minors  who,  having 
been  overtaken  by  penal  law,  have  shown  an  exemplary  behavior. 

The  average  number  of  juveniles  sheltered  in  the  reformatories  in 
1870  was  2,208,  of  whom  1,805  were  boys  and  373  girls.  The  total 
number  on  the  31st  December,  of  the  same  year,  was  2,465,  of  whom 
2,0BG  were  boys  and  399  girls,  thus  classified :  For  idleness  and  vagrancy, 
boys,  1,931;  girls,  399.  Paternal  discipline,  boys,  135;  girl,  0.  Parents 
are  under  no  obligation  to  provide  for  the  maintenance  of  a  child  who  is 
confined  in  a  reformatory  for  idleness  or  vagrancy;  but  when  a  father 
places  him  in  one  of  these  establishments  for  correction,  the  state 
charges  him  with  36  cents  per  day.  He  is,  however,  exonerated  in  part 
or  entirely  from  his  charge,  if  he  can  prove  himself  indigent. 

§  5.  The  number  of  reformatory  institutions  in  Switzerland  destined 
to  the  treatment  of  juvenile  delinquents  is  seventy,  besides  certain  es*- 
tablishmentvS  founded  by  Messrs.  Kich'ter-Lindor,  Zellweger,  and  others, 
the  number  of  which  is  not  stated.  Only  four  of  these  have  been  founded 
by  the  state;  all  the  rest  by  charitable  citizens,  by  societies  of  public 
utility,  or  b^^  religious  and  philanthropic  associations.  The  average 
number  of  inmates  in  these  establishments  in  1870  was  2,573,  of  whom 
1,472  were  boys  and  1,101  girls. 

§  6.  The  first  American  reformatory,  and  still  the  largest  one,  was  the 
New  York  House  of  Eefuge,  opened  in  1825,  It  grew  out  of  the  eftorts 
made  by  Edward  Livingston  and  other  enlightened  philanthrophists, 
to  train  the  young  in  cities  to  a  life  of  honest  industry.  In  1826,  a 
similar  reformatory  was  oi)ened  in  Boston ;  and  in  1828,  another  in  Phila- 
delphia. All  these  establishments  received  boys  under  sentence,  and 
were  supported,  in  whole  or  in  part,  by  grants  from  the  public  revenue. 
They  were  not  managed  by  the  State  directly,  however,  nor  did  they 
become  a  component  part  of  the  penal  system  of  the  State  where  they 
existed.  The  first  step  in  this  direction  was  taken  by  Massachusetts,  in 
1847,  when  the  State  Eeform  School  at  Westborough  was  established 
by  law.  Since  1847 — that  is,  in  the  last  twenty-five  years — the  policy 
thus  initiated  has  been  carried  far  forward,  and  is  now  adopted  in  more 


116  IIsTERXATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGEESS. 

than  ball  the  States  of  tlie  Union.  Eeforniatories,  either  wholly  de])eud- 
ent  on  the  States  or  materially  aided  by  them,  exist  now  in  Maine,  New 
Hampshire,  Vermont,  IMassachusetts,  Ehode  Island,  Connecticut,  New 
York,  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  Maryland,  Ohio,  District  of  Columbia, 
Iowa,  Illinois,  Indiana,  Minnesota,  Michigan,  Wisconsin,  and  California, 
■while  otlier  semi-public  reformatories,  under  municipal  or  j)rivate  man- 
agement, are  found  in  these  States,  and  in  Missouri,  Kentucky,  Loui- 
siana, &c.,  that  is,  in  States  containing  an  aggregate  of  at  least  25,000,000 
people.  The  number  of  large  reformatories  in  these  States  must  exceed 
forty,  while  the  smaller  establishnjents  are  still  more  numerous.  Tiie 
average  number  of  reformatory  pupils,  in  1871,  cannot  have  been  less 
than  12,000,  of  whom  more  than  1,000  were  girls;  nor  does  this  include 
the  strictly  educational  or  })reveutive  establishments,  like  the  State 
Primary  School  for  poor  children,  at  Monson,  Massachusetts,  the  Boston 
Farm  School,  and  many  other  such  schools,  in  which  it  is  probable  there 
are  as  many  more  children,  (say  12,000,)  in  all  parts  of  the  country. 

The  general  results  of  these  reformatory  and  i-reveutive  schools  are 
good,  as  has  been  intimated.  Of  the  estimated  12,000  in  reformatories, 
strictly  so  termed,  at  least  00  per  cent,  will  probably  be  trained  into  good 
citizens.  Some  would  claim  more  than  this,  say  75  or  80  per  cent.,  but 
there  are  no  statistics  that  quite  bear  out  this  claim.  Perhaps  the  per- 
centage of  v.'orthy  citizens  trained  up  among  the  whole  21,000  in  preven- 
tive and  reformator}'  schools  would  be  as  high  as  75. 

In  some  of  the  States,  parents  ma)/  be  held  reapousible  for  the  support 
of  their  children  in  reformatories,  at  least  in  part,  but  this  provision  of  law 
is  seldom  enforced.  A  largo  majority  of  the  children  are  either  orphans, 
abandoned  children,  or  of  such  poor  parents  that  little  or  nothing  can 
be  collected  from  them.  In  some  of  the  private  Catholic  reformatories, 
it  is  understood  that  the  payjuent  of  board  by  parents  and  kindred  is 
strictly  enforced,  so  far  as  i)racticable.  There  is,  however,  far  less  de- 
sire to  throw  children  on  the  i)ublic  for  support,  in  this  manner,  in 
America  than  in  England  or  France. 

§'7.  An  extended  and  very  satisfactory  paper  on  the  reformatory  sys- 
tem of  Great  Britain  was  furnished  by  llev.  Sydney  Turner,  inspector 
of  reformatory  and  industrial  schools.  The  substance  of  this  paper, 
Hlightly  moditicd,  is  given  below. 

Tile  ivformatory  system  of  Great  Britain  was  not  created  by  the  laws 
which  now  regulate  its  operation,  but  was  itself  the  occasion  and  source 
of  those  laws.  The  condition  of  Llie  younger  classes  of  criminals  engaged 
tlie  att<'ntion  of  many  persons  interested  in  the  social  improvement  of  the 
community  for  many  years  before  any  changes  were  effected  in  the  laws 
relating  to  them.  It  was  not  until  the  efforts  of  private  zeal  and 
benevolence  liad  sliown,  by  actual  experiment,  that  reformatory  schools 
could  bo  (jstablishcd  and  worked  succ(\ssfnlly,  that  the  legislature  was 
induced  to  pass  the  acts  whi(;h  gave  Hn(^h  schools  their  [)resent  recog- 
nized status,  sanctioned  their  being  lai'gely  supi)orte<l  by  the  government, 
and  allow»Ml  magistrates  to  send  ciuldicn  for  detention  in  them. 

Al)out  a  <;entniy  agoa chaiitable  association,  called  the  Philanthropic 
Society,  founded  a  scliool  lor  the  reform  ol' Juvenile  delincpicnts  and  for 
the  pi()te<;tion  and  training  of  the.  destiluie  children  ot  (convicts,  in  the 
neiglilxtiliood  of  London,  This  was  CoIIowihI  at  a  later  i)eriod  by  two 
or  tliie,esom(nvhat  similar  insi  itulions  in  liondon  and  elsinvhere,  of  which 
one,  a,  small  school  at  Stretton-onDiinsmore,  in  Warwickshire,  was 
remarkable  as  tin^  tirst  at  which  it  was  atiem|>ted  to  ingraft  farm  and 
out-door  labor  into  the  indnstiial  training  (tfthe  inmates. 

In  18.'>S,  an  a<;t  was  [lasst'd  lor  the  establishment  of  a  separate  prison 


REFORMATORIES ENGLAND.  117 

for  offenders  under  the  ai?e  of  sixteen,  at  Parkburst,  in  tbe  Isle  of  Wifjht. 
Land  was  attaclied  to  this  for  cultivation  by  the  inmates,  and  the  dis- 
cipline was  intended  to  he  of  a  specially  edueational  and  reformatory 
character.  By  a  clause  in  this  a(;t,  the  Queen  was  empowered  to  grant 
pardons  to  such  young  oifen<lers  as  nught  be  desirous  of  an  opportunity 
of  reformation,  oil  condition  of  their  entering  some  benevolent  insti- 
tution of  tiie  reformatory  chiss,  renmining  in  it,  and  being  subject  to 
its  reguhitions  till  duly  discharged  therefrom.  Under  this  clause  a  con- 
siderable number  of  young  offenders  under  sentence  of  transportation 
or  imprisonuient  were  received  into  such  reformatory  institutions  as  then 
existed. 

In  1847,  the  attention  of  the  managers  of  the  Philanthropic  Society  was 
drawn  to  the  remarkable  effort  of  Monsieur  Demetz  and  others  in  France, 
for  the  establishment  of  iiu  agricultural  reformatory,  without  walls  or 
sentries,  for  French  juvenile  delinquents,  at  Mettray,  near  Tours,  Being 
then  the  superintemlent  or  director  of  the  Philanthropic  Institution,  Mr. 
Turner  visited  Mettray,  reported  on  its  arrangements  and  system  of 
management,  ajid  induced  the  directors  and  supporters  of  the  society  to 
attempt  a  similar  experiment  in  England.  The  Philanthropic  Farm 
School  at  Redhill,  Surrey,  which  Mr.  Turner  thus  established  and  organ- 
ized, and  which  he  directed  until  appointed,  in  1S57,  to  the  ofQce  of  in- 
spector of  reformatories,  was  the  fruit  of  this  movement.  It  was  fol- 
lowed by  smaller  schools  on  similar  principles  of  domestic  management — 
absence  of  walls  and  warders  and  the  use  of  outdoor  employment — 
founded  by  Mr.  Barwick  Baker,  at  Hardwicke,  in  Gloucestershire;  Mr. 
Adderley  and  Mr,  Joseph  Sturge,  near  Birmingham;  Mr.  Compton,  in 
Hampshire;  and  Miss  Carpenter,  at  Bristol. 

The  additional  impulse  thus  given  to  the  public  interest  in  the  ques- 
tion "  how  juvenile  delinquency  should  be  dealt  with"  led  to  the  assem- 
bling of  a  conference  at  Biruiingham  of  those  most  interested  in  the 
subject  in  1853,  and  the  results  of  this  were  the  reformatory  schools  act 
for  Great  Britain  and  the  industrial  schools  act  for  Scotland  of  1854. 

Under  the  first  of  these,  which  was  brought  in  by  ^Ir.  (now  the  Eight 
Honorable  Sir  Charles)  Adderley,  the  secretary  of  state  was  empowered 
to  license  reformatory  schools  approved  by  him  and  to  make  an  allow- 
ance for  the  maintenance  of  the  young  offenders  committed  for  deten- 
tion in  thenu  Powers  were  givesi  to  courts  of  assize  and  quarter 
sessions,  and  to  two  magistrates  acting  iu  petty  sessions,  or  to  any  sti- 
pendiary magistrate,  acting  alone,  to  commit  young  offenders,  under  six- 
teen years  of  age,  to  such  schools  for  any  term  of  detention,  not  less 
than  two  nor  more  than  five  years.  The  managers  of  the  schools  were 
invested  with  the  necessary  powers  of  control,  and  the  inspection  and 
general  supervision  of  the  schools  by  the  secretary  of  the  home  depart- 
ment were  ])rovided  for. 

Under  the  second  act,  introduced  by  the  late  Mr.  Dunlop,  destitute 
and  vagrant  children,  under  fourteen  years  old,  in  Scotlnnd,  were  simi- 
larly ])rovided  for  in  industrial  atid  ragged  schools.  Such  schools  were 
partly  under  the  supervision  of  tlie  committee  of  education  of  the  privy 
council  and  received  what  government  aid  they  had  from  the  education- 
grant. 

In  the  same  year,  1854,  a  special  act  was  obtained  by  the  magistrates 
of  the  county  of  Middlesex,  enabling  them  to  erect  an  industrial  school 
for  that  county,  (including  the  greater  part  of  Loudon,)  to  which  young 
offenders  under  fourteen  years  of  age  might  be  committed  for  three 
years'  detention.  The  school  erected  under  this  act  has  since  been  cer- 
tified under  the  general  act  of  180G. 


118  INTEENATIONAL   PENITENTIAKY    CONGRESS. 

A  most  valuable  proTisioii  iu  botb  the  acts  allows  of  the  inmates  of 
tbe  scliools  being  placed  out  on  probation  before  tbe  expiration  of  their 
sentence  of  detention  under  a  license  from  the  managers  of  the  school, 
liable  to  be  revoked  for  misconduct. 

The  prison  authorities  of  counties  awd  boroughs  are  empowered  to 
contribute  to  the  schools  by  grants  from  the  county  or  borough  rates. 
Such  grants  in  1870  exceeded  £40,000.  The  schools  are  m  general  more 
or  less  aided  also  by  voluntary  contributions. 

The  results  of  botb  the  reformatory  and  the  iDdustrial  schools  have 
been  very  encouraging.  In  many  schools  of  either  class  80  per  cent, 
and  ui)\Yard  of  the  inmates  have  turned  out  well  after  their  discharge, 
and  the  general  average  for  all  has  reached  nearly  70.  These  re- 
sults are  taken  from  the  returns  which  the  ma,nagers  of  each  school 
have  to  make  for  the  tbree  years  succeeding  each  inmate's  discharge  of 
his  or  lier  character  and  circumstances.  They  would  certainly  be  still 
more  fiivorable  if  there  were  more  etiectnul  powers  iu  the  acts  for  re- 
straining the  after-interference  of  the  child's  friends  and  relatives. 

Tlie  results  of  the  operations  of  the  reformatory  and  industrii^l  schools 
must  not,  however,  be  judged  of  only  by  the  proi>ortion  of  those  received 
into  them  who  turn  out  afterward  honest  and  industrious,  reformed  from 
the  criminal  habits  or  weaned  from  the  vagrant  disorderly  dispositions 
with  which  they  were  growing  up  to  be  dangerous  in  themselves  and. 
instruments  for  corrupting  others. 

The  results  are  seen  still  more  decisively  in  the  diminution  of  the 
numbers  of  the  younger  classes  of  criminals  and  the  lighter  character 
of  the  crimes  with  which  our  juvenile  oiienders  are  now  more  commonlj- 
convicted. 

In  the  year  1856,  when  the  reformatory  school  system  began  to  be 
in  more  active  operation,  the  number  of  juvenile  offenders  [i.  e.,  boys 
and  girls  under  sixteen  years  old)  comnutted  to  prison  (for  the  twelve 
months  ended  September  2i>)  was  13,9SL ;  in  1S5S,  when  the  systeiu 
had  spread  and  taken  root,  the  number  sank  to  7,022;  and  in  1870,  m 
s))ite  of  the  very  large  increase  of  our  population,  and  especially  of  t\ui 
pojjulation  of  our  larger  towns,  friuu  which  juvenile  crime  draws  its 
m(jst  numerous  recruits,  the  number  of  young  offoidcrs  committed  was 
but  1)/J08,  tl)e  number  of  adult  commitments  having  advanced  fron^ 
00,7;")5,  in  18i">(>,  to  147,225,  in  1870 — an  inci'ease  of  aljove  50  per  cent. 

Tliere  is  no  doubt  that  the  reformatory  school  system,  laying  hold  on 
a)id  j)lacing  under  loiig  corrective  discii)line  and  training  the  boys  anc^ 
girls  who  had  become  familiar  with  ciime  and  adej)ts  iu  its  piactice, 
not  only  in  a  jnajority  of  cases  reformed  the  individual,  but  broke  up 
those  Hchooh  of  crime  and  vice  which  were  becoming  so  formidable. 
The  change  in  the  type  or  character  of  the  young  offenders  themselves, 
who  are  laid  hold  of  by  the  system,  is  as  remarkable  as  the  falling  otl'iii 
their  numbers.  The  clever,  ex]>erienced  ))ickpocket,  with  his  five  or  six 
satellites  or  apj)rentices,  convicted,  jterhaps,  six  or  seven  times,  and 
laughing  at  the  offers  of  jeju-ntance  and  the,  opportunities  of  honest  life 
ollered  to  liim,  has  tlis;i})|»e;ii<d.  'The  inmates  of  the  refoi  inatories  are 
jiow  cliietly  an  I  rained  or  ill-tiained  children,  with  little  (;rimiiial  science., 
and  generally  mueii  moie  dull  and  imlolent  than  sharp  or  active,  tho 
)»i(»(lMcts  of  negleited  e«lncation  and  loose  liunte  disi',i)>line  rather  than 
of  criminal  training  or  of  special  criminal  disposition. 

The  results  of  the  industrial  schools  so  far  tend  in  the  same  ilirec'tion, 
tlie  (-xtinction,  thatis,  of  the  vagabonil  and  liall-thievish  class  they  were 
originally  designed  to  deal  with,  and  llic  substitution  in  its  stead  o4' 
merely  poor  and  neglected  chikheu,  u  Uiige  propoitiou  of  whom  might 


REFORMATOEIE.S ENGLAND.  119 

be  effectually  cared  for  by  a  good  system  of  day-feediug  schools — 
schools  ill  which  they  might  be  kept  throughout  the  day,  so  as  to  be 
taiieti  out  of  the  streets,  and  the  oversight  and  traiuiug  sup[)lied  which 
the  circumstances  aud  cmi)loyaieutsof  their  parents  i>reveut  them  from 
receiving  at  home. 

The  whole  uuniber  of  young  offenders  committed  to  reformatory 
schools  since  the  passing  of  the  iirst  reformatory  schools  act  in  1854 
amounted  at  the  end  of  1870  to  21,991  in  Great  Britain,  and,  of  children 
sent  to  industrial  schools,  to  11,151. 

The  reformatory  schools  act  was  amended  by  successive  statutes  in 
1855  and  185G,  and  an  industrial  schools  act  was  passed  for  England  in 
1857  and  amended  aud  enlarged  in  18()L  By  this  last  act  industrial 
schools  for  botli  England  and  Scothind  were  placed  under  the  home 
office,  and  an  allowance  for  the  maintenance  of  the  inmates  from  the 
treasury,  similar  to  that  given  to  reformatory  schools,  provided  for. 
In  18G0  the  reformatory  and  industrial  schools  acts,  now  in  force,  were 
passed,  and  the  system  uov/ in  operation  finally  sanctioned  and  defined, 
similar  but  separate  statutes  being  enacted  for  Ireland  in  1858  and  1S()8. 

Under  these  acts,  the  number  of  reformatory  schools  in  Great  Britain 
bad  increased  by  December  31,  1870,  to  64,  containing  5.133  actual  in- 
mates, and  that  of  industrial  schools  to  91,  containing  8,280  inmates. 
Adding  to  those  the  numbers  who  were  out  on  license  or  absent  by  de- 
sertion, &c.;  the  total  number  of  young  offenders  under  sentence  of  de- 
tention in  reformatories  was  0,502,  and  of  children  sent  to  industrial 
schools  was  8,788. 

The  distinction  between  reformatory  and  industrial  schools  is  that 
the  first  are  more  directly  for  correction  and  the  second  for  prevention. 
No  boy  or  girl  can  be  committed  to  a  reformatory  school  unless  con- 
victed of  some  positive  offense,  punishable  by  imprisonment  or  penal 
servitude,  and  sent  in  the  first  instance  for  not  less  than  ten  days  to  jail. 
They  must  be  under  sixteen  years  of  age  and  above  ten  years,  unless 
previously  convicted  or  sentenced  at  a  superior  court. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  industrial  school  is  for  destitute  and  vagrant 
children,  found  begging  or  wandering,  without  home  or  visible  means  of 
subsistence  or  proper  guardianship.  Such  children  must  be  under 
fourteen  years  old,  and  they  are  sent  direct  to  the  school,  and  do 
not  pass  through  the  jail.  Oiiildreu  uncontrollable  by  their  parents 
can  be  sent  to  them  on  their  parents'  application,  but  for  snch  childreu 
the  treasury  allowance  is  limited  to  two  shillings  per  week.  Children 
under  twelve  years  old,  who  are  guilty  of  any  petty  offense,  caii  be  also 
sent  to  them,  instead  of  being  committed  to  prison  and  a  reformatory, 
at  the  magistrate's  discretion. 

The  allowance  from  the  treasury  for  inmates  of  reformatories  is  six 
shillings  per  week ;  for  inmates  of  industrial  schools  above  ten  years 
old,  five  shillings;  under  ten  years,  three  shillings.  For  the  year  1870 
the  total  amount  of  the  treasury  payments  was  £177,381,  the  total  ex- 
penditure of  the  schools  being  £311,791. 

The  fundamental  principles  on  which  the  reformatory  system  is  based 
are  thus  stated  by  Mr.  Turner: 

1.  The  iinioii  of  private  and  hencrolcnt  agency  with  government  super- 
vision and  support. 

All  the  reformatory  schools,  and,  with  two  exceptions,  all  the  indus- 
trial schools  now  in  operation,  have  been  established  and  were  at  first 
materially  sujiported  by  voluntary  contributions.  Many  of  them  still 
derive  a  portion  of  their  income  from  pri\ate  sources,  and  all  are  man 


120  INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

aged  by  committees  or  individuals  appointed  by  the  subscribers  and 
contributors  by  whom  tbey  were  founded. 

The  government  interferes  as  little  as  possible  with  the  ordinary  su- 
perintendence, prescribing  certain  regulations  as  to  the  lodging,  cloth- 
ing, and  feeding  of  the  inmates  of  the  schools,  and  as  to  the  instruction 
they  receive  and  the  discipline  they  are  subjected  to ;  but  leaving  all 
the  details  of  the  management,  the  appointment  of  the  officers,  the 
admission  of  inmates,  the  expenditure,  &c,,  to  the  committee.  The 
state  may  be  said  to  contract  on  certain  terms  with  the  several  insti- 
tutions for  the  work  which  it  wants  done,  and  so  long  as  the  work  is 
fairly  performed  it  exercises  no  further  interference. 

Important  advantages  accrue  from  this  arrangement.  A  far  greater 
degree  of  freedom  and  elasticity  is  secured  to  the  working  of  the  sys- 
tem ;  much  of  the  merely  n)e(ihanical  routine  which  is  inseparable  from 
government  establishments  is  dispensed  with  ;  the  schools  are  more 
thoroughly  adapted  to  the  <lifferent  localities  they  are  planted  in  ;  a 
greater  variety  of  moral  and  social  influences  is  brought  to  bear  upon 
their  inmates ;  religious  interest  and  zeal,  without  which  little  impres- 
sion can  be  hoped  for,  are  enlisted  ;  and  economy  in  the  expendiinre  and 
efficiency  in  the  industrial  training  of  the  schools  are  more  thoroughly 
insured.  Two  advantages,  uot  otherwise  attainable,  are  especially  se- 
cured :  the  one,  the  freedon»  of  the  religions  teaching  of  the  inmates: 
the  other,  their  disposal  in  the  world  when  discharged  from  the  schools. 

If  the  state  founded  and  aduiinistered  the  schools,  what  is  called  the 
religious  difficulty  would  be  met  v.ith  at  the  very  outset,  and  each  dif- 
fering section  of  the  religious  community  would  be  struggling  for  the 
assertion  of  its  own  peculiar  views  and  practices,  or  protesting  against 
those  of  others.  But  all  tlsis  is  avoided  by  the  employment  of  the  vol- 
untary system  under  goveiiimeut  supervision  and  through  government 
aid. 

lieformatory  or  industrial  schools  may  be  established  in  connection 
uith  any  of  our  different  religions  bodies,  and,  in  ])oint  of  fact,  we  have 
schools  founded  and  managt'd  by  Presbyterians,  Ivoman  Catholics,  and 
jnembers  of  the  Society  of  Fric^nds.  But  the  law  secures  the  religious 
rights  and  liberties  of  the  (liiihiren  by  enacting  that,  if  the  managers  of 
any  school  receive  a  child  of  a  ditlerent  religious  denomiiiation  from  that 
of  the  school,  they  shall  allow  a  minister  of  the  child's  denomination  to 
attend  and  instruct  it,  and  the  rules,  which  are  sanctioned  by  the  secre- 
tary of  state,  prescribe  that  such  a  (ihild  shall  not  ho  required  to  learn 
the  catechism  or  to  be  instructed  in  the  do(;trines  of  any  other  persua- 
sion than  its  own.  The  same  rules  provide  generally  that  the  children 
in  the  school  shall  receive  daily  religious  instruction  agreeably  to  the 
demimination  of  the  s(;hool,  and  shall  have  reguhir  0[)portnnities  of 
worsiiip  on  the  Sunday. 

The  otiier  advantage  following  the  n>ingling  of  ])ublic  and  private 
agejicy  in  the  lelbrmatory  system  is  the  better  and  easier  disposal  of 
the  inmates  on  tluMr  disciiarge.  W  the  scihools  were  a(]minisrered  by 
the  state,  it  is  believe*!  that  they  must  inevitably  take  more  or  less  of 
the  ibrm  and  complexion  of  prisons,  and  thc^  boys  and  girls  (b"s(';harged 
from  them  would  \h',  looke<l  on  with  the  same  sort  of  distrust  and  sus- 
l)icion  that  alta<;h  to  discimrge<l  convicsts. 

2.  A  Hcconil  e.sscntlnl  ]>riiuuj)le  of  the  IJufjIis'h  reformatory  syfitem  is  tJie 
Kse  of  moral  in  prrfrrcnrc  to  phynicitl  discipline. 

The  institutions  are  organized  and  carried  on  ess(Mitially  as  fiohoolSy 
not  liouses  of  conlinemcnt  or  (;orre(;tion,  the  greatest  degree  of  per- 
sonal liberty  ami  ficcdom  of  a(;tion  l)eing  allowed  that  is  comjiatible 
with  real  personal  supervision  an<l  the  exaction  of  prompt  and  strict 


REFORMATORIES ENGLAND,  121 

obedieuco.  Most  of  the  reformatories  are  foiiiuled  on  the  phiii  of  farm- 
schools,  with  a^ricnltnral  hibor  as  the  cliief  employment.  There  are  no 
walls,  no  warders,  no  sentries.  The  men  who  have  charge  of  the  work- 
ing- parties  usually  work  with  the  boys,  guiding  and  instructing  them 
in  their  labor,  while  they  overlook  them  and  report  on  them  as  to  their 
coudnct.  The  boys  are  taught  to  hold  themselves  responsible,  and  to 
regulate  their  own  conduct  as  far  as  i)ossible  by  a  system  of  rewards 
(or  marks)  for  labor  and  improvement,  and  fines  for  misconduct  and 
idleness,  which  tliey  are  fully  acquainted  with,  and  by  acting  on  which 
they  can  increase  tlie  comforts  of  their  position,  avoid  punishment,  and 
effectively  advance  their  final  liberation.  Every  inmate  of  a  reforma- 
tory or  industrial  school  is  allowed  free  communication  with  his  rela- 
tives, and,  if  they  are  of  tolerably  good  character,  is  allowed  from  time 
to  time  to  visit  them.  The  cases  in  which  this  privilege  has  beea 
abused  and  advantage  taken  of  the  leave  to  abscond  from  the  school 
have  been  and  are  very  rare  indeed. 

3.  It  is  an  esseiiUal  characferktic  of  the  reformatory  system  that  the 
schools  have  a  thoroughly  religious  character. 

There  are  none  of  the  class  called  secular.  Religious  teaching  is  an 
essential  feature  of  the  instruction.  The  superintendents  have  hitherto 
been  generally  jiersonally  religious  agents,  capable  of  taking,  and  ac- 
customed to  take,  an  active  i)art  in  the  scriptural  instruction  and  daily 
worship.  In  the  majority  of  the  schools,  the  Bible  is  the  recognized 
source  and  chief  instrument  of  the  religious  teaching,  the  catechism 
not  being  required. 

4.  Great  stress  is  laid  on  the  industrial  training. 

In  the  reformatory  schools  more  especially,  regular  daily  labor  in  the 
field  or  workshop,  or  for  girls  in  the  laundry,  the  house,  or  the  needle- 
room,  is  insisted  on ;  the  working-time  being  generally  from  six  to 
eight  hours  per  day.  The  employments  of  the  inmates  in  industrial 
schools  are  necessarily  less  laborious,  the  children  being  usually  much 
younger,  but  the  same  principle  is  kept  in  view,  that,  as  the  evil  to  be 
cured  has  been  always  more  or  less  the  result  of  idleness  and  license, 
the  remedy  must  especially  prescribe  and  provide  for  labor  and  exer- 
tion, ajid  the  self-restraint  which  these  require. 

5.  The  importance  of  supervision  and  occasional  assistance  after  the  in- 
mates have  left  the  schools,  and  ichile  they  are  making  good  their  footing  in 
the  tcorld^  is  fully  recognized. 

They  are,  as  a  rule,  carefully  kept  in  view  and  reported  on,  and,  where 
necessary,  aid  afibrded  them.  The  differences  which  the  annual  reports 
and  returns  show  in  the  success  with  which  the  operations  of  the  schools 
have  been  conducted  may  geiierally  be  traced,  more  or  less,  to  the  differ- 
ent degree  m  which  this  after-supervision  has  been  maintained. 

6.  It  is  a  fundamental  principle  of  the  system  that  the  responsihilify  of 
the  child's  parents  to  provide  for  its  maintenance  and  training  should  be 
enforced. 

This  is  a  feature  peculiar  to  the  system  as  carried  out  in  Great  Britain, 
and  has,  undoubtedly,  materially  secured  it  from  becoming  a  source  of 
injury  to  the  community  at  large. 

The  parents  of  each  child  committed  to  a  reformatory  or  industrial 
school  (if  it  has  aiiy  alive)  are  summoned  before  a  magistrate,  their 
circumstances  inquired  into,  and  a  payment  toward  the  cliild's  mainte- 
nance enforced,  proportioned  to  their  means  in  every  possible  case.~  The 
acts  allow  of  this  payment  being  assessed  as  high  as  five  shillings  per 
week,  but,  as  a  rule,  the  contributions  are  rarely  higher  than  from  one 
to  three  shillings.    In  a  large  number  of  cases,  especially  as  regards  the 


122  INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

cLiltlren  in  iiulustrial  schools,  tlie  parents  are  too  poor  to  pay;  mauy  are 
widows,  themselves  almost  wholly  destitute,  and  such  are,  of  course, 
excused.  Mauy  of  the  children  are  also  orphans.  But  a  very  consid- 
erable proportion  of  i)arents  are  brouoht  under  contribution,  and  the 
amounts  thus  obtained  have  steadily  increased,  and  uow  reach  nearly 
£10,000  a  year.  The  enforcing  of  these  contributions  is  a  part  of  tlie 
business  of  the  inspector,  who  has  a  staff  of  assistants  appointed  for 
tlie  purpose.  It  is  chiefly  carrieil  out  through  the  police  authorities  of 
the  district  in  which  the  parents  reside,  by  whom  the  j^ayuients  are 
received  and  transmitted  to  the  inspector,  to  be  paid  over  to  tlie  treasury. 
The  justice  and  necessity  of  this  part  of  the  system  are  evident.  No 
parent  has  a  right  to  escape  his  share  of  the  penalties  of  his  child's 
misconduct,  too  often  the  fruit  of  his  own  neglect  or  dissolute  conduct; 
and  but  for  some  such  check,  the  temptation  to  the  parent  of  shifting 
the  burden  of  his  child's  support  and  education  on  the  public  would 
increase  the  number  of  candidates  for  reformatory  training  faster  than 
the  means  of  providing  it  could  be  supplied.  The  disease  would  be 
spread  by  the  very  means  employed  to  remedy  it,  and  the  charge  on  the 
treasury,  that  is,  eventually  on  all  classes  of  tax-payers,  would  become 
insupportable.  It  is  held  in  England  that  no  system  of  reformatory 
training  can  be  adopted  with  justice  or  safety  to  the  community  at  large 
in  which  this  element  is  omitted. 


CHAPTEE  XVI. 

STATE  OF   PRISONS   IN   SUCH    OF  THE   BRITISH  POSSESSIONS   AS  WERE 
REPRESENTED   IN    THE   CONGRESS. 

^ieports  on  prison  discipline  as  it  now  exists  in  India,  Ceylon,  Vic- 
toria, and  Jamaica  were  submitted  to  the  congress  by  delegates  present 
from  those  countries.  They  were,  however,  not  framed  on  the  same 
plan  as  the  reports  whose  substance  has  been  given  in  the  preceding 
chai)ters,  and  the  information  contained  in  them  could  not,  therefore,  be 
embodied  with  that  furnished  by  said  reports.  A  separate  chapter  is, 
conse(]uently,  devoted  to  a  re.siimeoi  their  contents. 

§  1.  India. — Little  si)ecial  legislation  has  been  given  in  India  to  pris- 
ons and  i)ris()ii  systems.  J'rison  regulations  have  been  made,  for  the 
most  part,  witiiout  any  direct  sanction  of  law.  Of  tlie  few  prison  acts 
which  have  been  ])assed,  none  lays  down  any  broa<l  i)rinciples  of  juison 
disi'ipliiie.  One  of  them,  however,  that  of  J.SIM,  contains  some  import- 
ant i>rovisions:  it  a!)olislies  (jorjxn'al  piinislnnent,  substitutes  lines  in 
certain  cases  foi-  lalxn-,  and  eini»owers  the,  government  to  introduce  by 
degrees  a  reformatory  ])rison  discipline. 

Nearly  every  i)residen(;y  and  province  of  India  has  its  own  special 
jail  code.  That  of  JJengal  provides  for  a  system  of  rewards  to  be  given 
to  w<'ll-(;on(hic,t('d  jtrisoners.  There  Ims  also  been  established,  for  all 
India,  a  system  of  remission  (►!' sentence  in  reward  of  good  conduct. 

Jn  the  whole  of  Indiii  therci  was,  in  round  numbers,  in  1S70,  a  daily 
averagf'of  <i  1,(100  prisoners,  in(;lu(liiig  the  lile-(,H)Uvicts  at  I'ort  Blair. 
There  were,  in  the  s;ime  yeiii',  two  hundred  ;nid  twenty  eight  Jiiils  and 
an  indelinite  numlier  of  lock  ups.  Of  these  prisons  two  are  entirely 
eelluhir  ;  t  he  i'emain<lei'  ;ire  built,  on  ex'ery  <'onceivable  phiii,  a  larg(!  iiuiu- 
ber  of   them   being    iniseiable  mud-structures,   which   are  constantly 


STATE    OF    PRISONS INDIA.  123 

washed  away  by  heavy  rains.  In  most  of  them  male  and  female  prison- 
ers are  separated  at  ni<;ht.  All  Avork  is  in  association,  ^yith  the  excep- 
tion of  cases  of  discipliiiiiry  i)nnishment.  There  are  sixteen  central  jails, 
intended  for  prisoners  sentenced  to  an  imprisonment  of  more  than  a 
year,  but  this  intention  is  not  rigidly  observed.  Tliere  are  no  reforma- 
tories, and  bnt  two  si)ecial  prisons  for  women.  Until  recently  there 
were  no  female  warders,  and  even  now  they  are  not  found  in  all  the 
jails.  Prison  officers,  as  a  rule,  are  incompetent,  corrupt,  and  under- 
paid, and  no  systematic  effort  is  made  to  remedy  this  state  of  things. 
The  annual  cost  of  prisoners  per  capita  is  about  $.!]().  Economy  is  i)rac- 
tised  at  the  expense  of  efficiency.  Greater  attention  is  paid  to  the  dim- 
iiuition  of  expenditure  than  to  the  carrying  out  of  any  sound  and  sensi- 
ble system  of  prison  discipline. 

There  is  little  cell-accommodation — scarcely  enough  for  the  punish- 
ment of  breaches  of  prison  regulations — nor  is  there  any  system  of  class- 
ifying the  prisoners  of  any  practical  value.  No  general  measures  of 
reform  are  possible  till  tliis  state  of  things  is  remedied. 

Imprisonment  for  debt  still  exists  in  India,  but  separate  accommoda- 
tion is  i)rovided  for  imprisoned  debtors,  and  they  are  in  all  respects 
treated  with  humanity  and  a  due  consideration  of  their  rights  and 
necessities. 

Much  attention  has  recently  been  paid  ii^i  India  to  prison  statistics 
and  the  results  obtained  form  the  most  reliable  collection  of  facts  in 
existence  relating  to  the  civil  state  of  the  British  Empire  in  the  east. 
The  information  gathered  is  divided  into  three  categories — judicial, 
financial,  and  vital — and  under  each  head  a  few  of  the  most  salient  i)oints 
of  interest  are  noted.  The  vital  statistics  of  the  prisons  of  Lower  Ben- 
gal since  1807  have  been  drawn  up  in  the  manner  suggested  by  Dr. 
Earr,  the  president  of  the  Statistical  Society  of  London,  than  whom  no 
higher  authority  exii-:ts.  They  show  the  average  number  of  prisoners 
in  custody,  the  number  and  causes  of  deaths,  sickness  and  death- 
rates,  average  terms  of  sentence,  duration  of  imprisonment,  «&c.,  &p. 
In  addition,  the  Bengal  returns  contain  facts  connected  with  age, 
sex,  caste,  religion,  occupation  ]>rior  to  and  during  im})risonment, 
sentence,  dietaries,  state  of  health  on  admission  and  discharge,  and 
the  locality  of  imprisonment  in  its  intiuence  on  sickness  and  mortality. 

Originally  the  chief  occupation  of  prisoners  in  India  was  extramural, 
either  in  making  imperial  roads  or  in  station-improvements.  Subse- 
quently remunerative  industrial  labor  was  introduced,  and  each  prisoner 
had  a  task  assigned  him  equal  in  amount  to  that  performed  by  a  fairly 
skilled  artisan  of  the  same  class.  It  is  sought  tomake  it  as  much  as  possi- 
ble an  instrument  of  reformation,  which  is  accomplished  by  teaching- 
each  convict  some  handicraft  that  will  enable  him  to  earn  an  honest  liv- 
ing on  his  release,  and  by  inculcating  habits  of  industry  that  will  coun- 
teract the  idleness  that  is  the  proxiuuxte  cause  of  much  of  the  vice  that 
leads  to  crime. 

Industrial  labor  is  the  basis  of  the  Indian  system,  although  Avithin 
the  last  two  years  out-door  work  has  been  revived,  and  large  gangs  of 
convicts  are  now  employed  on  the  canals;  a  system  which,  on  moral 
grounds,  njust  be  considered  a  retrograde  measure. 

Prison  dietaries  in  India  have  been  arranged  with  a  view  to  giving  all 
that  is  really  re<piired  tpr  health  and  strength,  and  withholding  every- 
thing that  would  place  the  prisoner  in  a  better  condition  than  the  ])oor 
and  honest  in  his  own  walk  of  life.  The  hospital  dietary  is  unrestricted. 
A  penal  dietary,  for  serious  breaches  of  prison  discipline  and  for  short- 
term  prisoners,  has  also  been  introduced.    The  other  xjuuishments  em- 


124  INTERNATIONAL   PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

ployed  for  prison  offenses  are  fetters,  separate  confinement,  flo<^ging, 
and  penal  labor.  Separate  confinement  cannot  always  be  resorted  to, 
on  account  of  inadequate  cell-accommodations,  so  that  flogging  is  em- 
ployed to  an  extent  that  is  lamentable. 

Edncation — i.  e.,  instruction  combined  with  moral  and  religious  train- 
ing— is  unknown  in  Indian  jails.  Keligious  acts  and  observances  are  prac- 
tically forbidden  to  native  prisoners,  for  whom  no  ministration  is  or  can 
be  provided.  Christian  prisoners  have  the  aid  of  i^astors,  and  other 
prisoners  may  obtain  similar  aid  on  application.  Proselytizing  by 
Christian  missionaries  is,  however,  peremptorily  prohibited.  For  secu- 
lar instruction  no  special  provision  is  made,  though  much  has  been  done 
by  zealous  individual  officers  in  the  way  of  primary  instruction. 

One  of  the  chief  peculiarities  of  Indian  prison  management  is  the  em- 
ployment of  convict  agency.  The  small  salaries  allowed  render  it  dif- 
ficult to  procure  suitable  persons  as  prison  keepers.  This  led  to  the  trial, 
many  years  since,  of  well-behaved,  long-term  ].)risoner8  in  this  capacity. 
So  successful  was  the  experiment  that  the  practice  has  now  been  ex- 
tended to  the  whole  of  India,  special  ijrovision  for  it  having  been  intro- 
duced in  all  the  jail  codes.  As  a  reward  for  good  conduct  and  strict 
obedience  to  prison  rules,  all  convicts  whose"  behavior  has  been  exeni- 
plary  throughout,  and  who  have  completed  the  prescribed  term  of  hard 
labor,  are  eligible  for  the  offices  of  convict-warder,  guard,  and  work- 
overseer,  which  offices  can  never  exceed  10  per  cent,  of  the  criminals  in 
custody.  The  financial  and  reformatory  results  of  this  system  have  been 
satisfactory.  It  teaches  self-respect  and  self-control,  and  few  prisoners 
who  have  held  such  ofiices  have  relapsed  into  crime. 

There  are  no  prisoners'  aid  societies  in  India.  In  the  large  stations, 
a  few  philanthropic  individuals  occasionally  interest  themselves  in  the 
matter,  but  the  constant  changes  in  Indian  society  have  rendered  con- 
tinual and  combined  action  impossible.  Convict  artisans,  trained  in  jail, 
find  no  difficulty  in  obtaining  em[)loymeut,  and  few  who  have  attained 
any  degree  of  skill  ever  return  to  prison. 

The  governors  of  provinces  and  the  viceroy  of  India  possess  absolute 
power  of  pardon,  but  such  powers  are  never  exercised  without  careful 
inquiry  and  grave  deliberation. 

To  nearly  every  prison  is  attached  a  garden,  wherein  are  raised  the 
vegetables  and  fruit  required  for  prison  consumption,  any  balance  over 
and  above  the  prison  wants  being  sold.  Tiie  chief  object  of  the  garden, 
however,  is  to  counteract  the  scorbutic  tendency  of  sedentary  employ- 
ment in  work-sheds,  by  affording  a  wholesome  amount  of  out-door  occu- 
pation in  useful  directions. 

§  2.  Ceylon. — The  i)rincipal  prison  upon  the  island  in  Ceylon  is  that 
at  Wellikada,  an  ac(;ount  of  which  was  prepared  for  the  congress  by  Mr. 
II.  .J.  Duval,  inspector-general.  Ilerci  separate  confinement  with  rigor- 
ously penal  labor  is  enforced  during  the  whole  term  of  short  sentences 
and  the  fust  six  months  of  long  sentences.  Long  terms  of  imprisonment 
are  divided  into  three  stages,  (jailed,  respectively,  the  penal,  secondary, 
and  upper  stage. 

On  atlmission,  every  piisoner  is  placcnl  in  iho  j)enal  stage,  tlier(^  to  pass 
the  first  six  months,  in  the,  ense of  a  long  seuK'uce,  or  tlu^  whole  term,  in 
that  of  a  shoil  one.  No  part  of  tliis  stage,  is  remissible,  but  it  may  be 
])r(>longed  by  miseonduet.  This  stage  is  found  t^o  exer(!is(3  a  most  bene- 
ficial intbien(!e  in  subduing  the  ]»risoners,  and  pre|)aring  them  for  the 
next.     In  the  case  of  short-term  men,  it  is  highly  deterrent. 

At  the  termination  of  tlu^  penal  stage,  prisoners  are  removed  into  the 
fiecondary  or  industrial  hard-labor  stage.     Here  the  mark  system  begins. 


STATE    OF    PRISONS CEYLON JAMAICA.  125 

Each  convict  is  debited  with  a  number  of  marks  corresponding  to  the 
number  of  days  in  his  sentence,  minus  the  first  stage.  By  industry  and 
good  conduct,  he  may  earn  nine  marks  per  week,  and  this  nuiximum 
continued  will  close  his  mark  account  at  seven-ninths  of  the  period,  the 
remaining'  two  ninths  being  remitted.  If  he  earn  only  eight  marks  weekly 
the  reduction  of  time  is  only  one-ninth. 

Breaches  of  discipline  are  rare.  The  punishments  employed  are  for- 
feiture of  marks,  a  return  to  the  penal  stage,  and  flogging,  which  latter, 
however,  is  never  used  except  in  cases  of  mutiny,  and  the  number  of 
lashes  never  exceeds  twelv^e.  The  wholesome  dread  of  a  return  to  the 
penal  stage  is  usually  sufficient  to  stimulate  the  convicts  to  industry  and 
obedience.  In  this  stage,  they  are  employed  at  such  hard  labor  as  they 
may  be  fitted  for  by  their  previous  habits  and  occupation  in  life,  the 
object  being  to  make  their  labor  as  productive  as  possible. 

Eeligious  instruction  cannot  possibly  be  general  in  a  country  settled 
by  many  races,  professing  a  multitude  of  religious  or  superstitious  creeds. 
At  the  large  prisons,  the  ministers  and  native  catechists  of  various  mis- 
sionary bodies  hold  service  on  Sunday",  but  attendance  on  these  minis- 
trations is  optional  with  the  prisoners.  ]!S[ative  school-masters  also  give 
instruction  in  the  vernacular  languages  on  each  Sunday  afternoon  ;  but, 
attendance  at  school  being  optional,  few  avail  themselves  of  the  offered 
instruction,  the  great  majority  preferring  to  spend  the  day  in  idleness. 

The  third  or  upper  stage  is  a  privilege  awarded  only  to  the  few. 
Prisoners  who  have  served  at;  least  two-thirds  of  their  sentence,  and 
who  have,  while  in  the  industrial  stage,  distinguished  themselves  as 
good  prisoners  and  skillful  w^orkmen,  are  promoted  to  be  prison  consta- 
bles, their  duties  being  to  assist  the  subordinate  officers  in  the  mainte- 
nance of  order  and  discipline  in  the  prison.  When  em[)loyed  on  public 
works,  they  act  in  the  capacity  of  foremen,  being  generally  selected 
with  a  view  to  their  fitness  for  such  work.  While  holding  this  appoint- 
ment, they  are  credited  with  one  rupee  per  month,  which  is  paid  to  them 
on  discharge  from  prison. 

§  3.  Jamaica. — On  the  island  of  Jamaica  there  are  four  classes  of  pris- 
ons: 1st,  the  general  penitentiary;  IM,  county  jails;  3(1,  district  prisons; 
4th,  sliort-term  prisons.  To  the  first  of  these  establishments  are  sent 
all  convicts  whose  term  of  sentence  exceeds  twelve  months  and  all  soldiers 
and  sailors  condemned  by  court-martial.  The  labor  is  both  penal  and  in- 
dustrial. The  tread-mill  is  made  slightly  remunerative  by  being  attached 
to  a  mill  for  grinding  corn.  Prisoners,  when  not  at  work  on  the  tread- 
mill, are  emjiloyed  in  quarrying  and  cutting  stone,  and  as  brick-makers, 
lime-burners,  carpenters,  coopers,  masons,  blacksmiths,, tinsmiths,  tailors, 
shoe-makers,  &c.,  under  the  instruction  of  competent  tradesmen  employed 
for  that  purpose,  and  supervised  by  an  intelligent  overseer  of  works  from 
England.  The  convicts  work  in  association,  but  in  silence.  The  women 
are  employed  in  the  domestic  work  of  the  prison  and  in  picking  coir. 

The  diet  is  designed  to  keep  the  prisoners  in  good  health,  but  without 
pampering  them.  The  cost  per  diem  for  each  convict  during  the  past 
year  was  a  little  more  than  3^d. 

A  clergyman  of  the  church  of  England  is  employed  as  chaplain,  but 
all  prisoners  are  allowed  to  see  the  clergy  of  the  denomination  to  which 
they  may  belong. 

The  reward  for  good  conduct,  awarded  to  all  prisoners  except  recidi- 
vists and  those  guilty  o"f  a  peculiar  class  of  crimes,  is  promotion  to  the 
"license-class,"  a  position  much  coveted,  and  to  which  a  convict  is  eligi- 
ble after  having  satisfactorily  served  half  his  time.  This  promotion 
carries  with  it  a  remission  of  one-fourth  of  the  original  sentence. 


126  INTEENATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

The  puuisbments  employed  in  the  case  of  males  consist  of  degradation 
from  the  "license-class,"  solitary  confinement  on  bread  and  water,  and, 
in  exceptional  cases,  the  cat,  which,  however,  is  never  administered 
except  with  the  approbation  of  the  governor  of  the  island,  to  whom  is 
sent  a  full  statement  of  the  case.  The  only  pnnishmeiits  for  women  are 
solitary  confinement  on  bread  and  water  and  degradation  from  or  de- 
nial of  admittance  to  tlie  license-class.  This  degradation,  whether  in 
the  case  of  men  or  women,  involves  the  loss  of  all  the  time  earned  by 
the  prisoner  through  good  conduct.  So  wholesome  a  dread  is  felt  by 
the  convicts  of  this  penalty  that  it  has  not  been  found  necessary  to  in- 
flict it  in  a  solitary  instance  during  the  last  two  years. 

The  county  jails  are  used  chieliy  for  the  confinement  of  debtors  and 
persons  awaiting  trial.  They  are  employed  as  places  of  punishment 
only  for  misdemeanants.     No  labor  is  carried  on. 

In  the  district  prisons  (five  in  number)  are  confined  prisoners  whose 
sentence  does  not  exceed  twelve  months.  The  inmates  are  visited  daily 
by  a  government  medical  officer,  and  by  the  insi)ector  of  prisons  not  less 
than  once  in  three  months.  The  magistrates  of  the  parish  also  act  as 
oflicial  visitors,  and  have  power  to  infiict  punishment — /.  e.,  to  sentence 
to  solitary  confinement  on  bread  and  water.  The  nearest  clergyman 
acts  as  chaplain  on  Sundays.  The  prisoners  are  confined  in  association 
wards,  the  only  separation  being  that  of  the  sexes. 

The  short-term  prisons  (of  which  there  are  also  five)  are  designed  to 
supplement  the  district  prisons,  by  obviating  the  necessity  of  sending 
petty  criminals  twenty  or  tliirty  miles  to  undergo  a  sentence  of  a  few 
days'  duration,  the  whole  of  which  was  before  their  establishment  some- 
times occiri)ied  in  making  the  journey.  Prisoners  may  be  received  into 
these  prisons  for  periods  not  exceeding  sixty  days.  They  are  supervised 
by  a  sergeant  of  constabulary,  whose  wife  acts  as  matron,  and  by  a  task- 
master. They  are  employed  on  the  main  roads  breaking  stones  and 
picking  coir. 

The  inspector-general  of  prisons  on  the  island,  Mr.  Shaw,  in  the  paper 
submitte(l  by  him  to  the  congress,  of  which  this  section  is  ai!  ei)itome, 
calls  attention  to  the  very  marked  falling  off  in  the  number  of  crimes 
committed  by  women,  the  d(M'rease  since  ISdl  having  been  70  per  cent. 
This  reduction  he  attributes  to  the  fact  that,  in  18()4,  orders  were  given, 
to  have  the  hair  of  women  sentenced  to  hard  labor  cut  close;  immediately 
the  decrease  commenced.  A  negro  woman  i)ri/es  nothing  so  highly  as 
her  hair,  and  it  is  a  common  practice  for  many  of  them  to  have  their 
liair  cut  off  before  trial,  ami  kept  for  them  until  their  release,  when 
they  fasten  it  on  again.  Those  who  are  less  provident  sedulously  seclude 
themselves  until  their  hair  has  grown. 

.Mr.  Sliaw  says  that  after  considerable  exi)erience  with  prisoners,  and 
having  paid  much  attention  to  all  that  has  been  said  and  wiitten  on  the 
l)ractical)ility  of  deterring  ])eo])I(^  IVom  (trime,  he  is  compelled  to  conless 
that  he  knows  no  i)reventi\'e  measure  so  ellicacious  as  cutting  olf  the 
liair  f)f  negro  women. 

§  1.  Vii'lofid. — Ther(^  is  lint  one  eonvict-pi'ison  in  Victoria-,  whicih  "s 
for  mah's  only.  The  oflicers  ;ire  iippointe<l  by  the  governor  in  (;onn(nl, 
to  hold  ollice  <liiring  good  behavior,  and  after  service  they  have  retiring 
giatnities  and  yearly  pensions. 

'J'he  pi'isoners  are,  divided  into  six  class(>s  and  may  earn  ;i  remission 
of  a  poition  of  their  sentence  by  good  (M)nduct.  Those  in  the  first  class 
are  kei)t  in  stiict  separate,  confinement,  eating,  workitig,  and  sleeping  in 
their  <;ellK;  those  in  the  second,  third,  and  Ibnrth  classes  labor  in  asso- 
ciation, but  are  sei)arated  by  night;  in  tin-  fifth  and  sixth  classes  they 


STATE    OF    PRISONS VICTORIA.  127 

are  employed  on  public  works,  recei\  in.^-  rations  of  tea,  sugar,  and  tobacco, 
besides  bein.i;-  allowed  a  jj^ratuity  ainoiiiitiii^  to  2(1.  a  day  in  the  fifth  and 
(ul.  ])er  day  in  the  sixth  cUiss.  The  punishments  emi)l()yed  are  solitary 
confinement  and  extension  of  the  term  of  imprisonment.  Itesort  is  never 
had  to  corporal  punisliment.  The  prisoners  do  not  wear  the  parti-colored 
dress,  the  effect  of  wliicli  is  believed  to  be  merely  de;4radin<4-. 

Tliere  are  four  chaplains  connected  with  the  English,  Koman  Catho- 
lic, Wesleyan,  and  Presbyterian  churches,  each  of  whom  holds  one 
service  every  Sunday.  A  schoolmaster  instructs  all  the  prisoners  in 
reading,  writing,  and  arithmetic  for  one  hour  every  day,  and  facilities 
are  aftbrded  for  the  study  of  grammar,  geography,  and  the  elementary 
mathematics. 

There  is  no  strictly  penal  labor,  nor  is  the  prison  labor  let  on  contract. 
The  chief  kinds  of  work  are  quarrying,  building,  shoe-making,  taik)ring, 
carpentering,  weaving,  and  mat-making.  The  value  of  the  labor  per- 
formed has  averaged  during  the  last  five  years  about  $S5  per  head, 
exclusive  of  work  done  for  the  prison  itself  The  average  annual  cost 
per  capita  in  excess  of  this  sum,  including  food,  clothing,  and  a  propor- 
tionate share  of  the  salaries,  besides  the  estimated  rent  of  the  prison- 
property,  has  been  about  $12. 

Xo  supervision  is  maintained  over  discharged  prisoners,  nor  is  any 
interest  taken  in  their  subsequent  career. 

The  county  jails  are  divided  into  two  classes,  one  class  being  under 
the  charge  of  the  penal  department  of  the  government,  the  other  under 
the  police;  about  six  months  in  the  former,  in  tlie  latter  a  few  days,  is 
the  average  sentence.  In  none  of  the  jails  is  there  penal  labor,  and  in 
the  police  jails  there  is  no  labor  of  any  kind.  The  prisoners  work  in 
association,  and  the  average  annual  net  enrniugs  per  capita,  exclusive  of 
any  portion  allowed  to  the  prisoner  himself,  have  been  during  the  lasc 
five  years  about  $18.  The  shortness  of  the  sentences  (nearly  one-half 
being  for  less  than  a  month)  prevents  any  permanently  reformatory 
results. 

There  are  three  reformatories  in  Victoria,  two  of  which  are  wholly, 
and  one  partially,  supported  by  the  state.  As  far  as  practicable  the 
children's  parents  are  required  to  contribute  to  their  support;  but  the 
amount  received  from  this  source  is  insignificant.  The  limits  of  age 
within  which  children  are  received  are  eight  and  fifteen. 

The  boys  are  employed  in  tailoring,  shoe-making,  carpentery,  sail- 
making,  and  seamanship.  The  girls  perform  the  domestic  work  and 
are  instructed  in  needle-work.  The  products  of  the  inmates'  labor  are 
not  sold,  the  work  done  being  entirely  for  the  use  of  the  institution. 

In  nearly  every  case  the  children  obtain  a  situation  or  are  sent  to 
their  parents.  In  the  latter  case  they  are  no  longer  under  the  care  of 
the  institution.  Wlien  licensed  to  emi)loyers  they  are  considered  still 
under  its  control,  and  may  be  returned  to  it  if  not  doing  well. 

Prizes  are  given  for  proliciency  in  school  and  in  labor,  and  early  dis- 
charge to  service  for  good  conduct.  Those  who  distinguish  themselves 
in  this  i)articular  are  appointed  monitors,  captains  of  messes,  &c.  The 
punishments  are  extra  drill,  privation  of  food  for  short  periods,  and  cor- 
poral punishment,  not  exceeding  twelve  stripes,  on  hand  or  breech. 

Eecord  is  made  of  the  children's  conduct  while  in  the  institution,  and 
also  after  their  discharge,  as  far  as  it  can  be  ascertained. 


PART     SECOND. 

WORK    OF    TEE    CONGRESS. 


INTRODUCTORY. 

It  is  Cfbvious,  on  tue  slightest  reflection,  tliat  a  body  like  the  Congress 
of  London,  coming  together  from  so  many  different  countries  and  com- 
posed of  members  having  little  i^revious  knowledge  of  one  another, 
and  ignorant  especially  of  each  other's  o})inions  on  the  questions  which 
they  had  met  to  consider,  would  be  ill-suited  to  intelligent,  harmonious, 
and,  above  all,  effective  work,  without  some  carefully  prepared  chart  to 
guide  them  in  their  labors.  Impressed  with  this  idea,  the  national 
committee  of  the  United  States  had  embodied  in  its  final  circular  letter, 
addressed  to  the  national  committees  of  other  countries,  a  recouimen- 
dation  that  an  international  committee,  to  be  composed  of  one  or  several 
members  from  each  country  which  proposed  to  take  part  in  the  con- 
gress, should  meet  in  London  on  the  24th  of  June,  ten  days  in  advance 
of  the  congress  itself.  Conformably  to  this  recommendation,  the  pro- 
posed committee  convened  at  the  time  and  place  named,  and  organized 
by  choosing  the  undersigned  as  chairman  and  Edwin  Pears,  esq.,  as 
secretary,  the  latter  gentleman  to  act  as  such  throughout  the  sessions 
of  the  congress.  Even  the  international  committee  found  itself  too 
unwieldy  a  body  to  do  the  work  assigned  it  in  a  satisfactory  manner, 
and  designated  a  sub-committee,  which  it  named  an  international  ex- 
ecutive committee,  consisting  of  one  member  from  each  country  repre- 
sented in  the  general  committee.  Of  this  smaller  body,  G.  W.  Hast- 
ings, esq.,  of  England,  was  made  chairman.  These  bodies  met  usually 
on  alternate  days,  though  sometimes  on  the  same  day  at  different  hours, 
the  smaller  piei)aring  the  business  aiul  reporting  it  to  the  larger  for  a 
broader  ctMisideraticni  and  a  final  determination.  The  two  committees 
thus  labored  assiduously  at  the  work  of  arranging  the  programme  of 
I)r<)ceedings,  and  all  other  matters  of  a  preparatory  kind,  down  to  the 
very  eve  of  the  opening  of  the  congress.  IJefore  dissolving  itself,  the 
larger  comuiittee  constituted  the  smaller  a  periuanent  committee,  to  sit 
every  morning  for  .the  i)urpose  of  consid(unng  any  questions  that  miglit 
arise  in  the  progress  of  the  labors  of  the  congress,  and  especiall}'  to 
prei)are  business  for  it  from  day  to  day.  It  also  named  the  Kight  Honor- 
able tlie  ICarl  of  Carnarvon  i)ermanent  ])resident  of  the  body,  although, 
owing  to  the  state  of  his  lordsiiip's  health,  it  was  understood  that  he 
wouhl  l)e  al)l(;  to  preside;  only  at  the  first  session,  when  he  would  deliver 
the  opening  a(hlress.  Tlie  arrangement  resolved  upon  for  securing  a 
l)ie,si(bng  officer  throughout  the  continuance  of  the  cougress  was  to 
s('le(;f  a  meinlK'r  as  viceprcsldcMt  each  <lay.  The  giMieral  committee, 
bef'ori!  its  dissolution,  did  the  undersigned  the  honor  to  name  him  for 
the  first  day,  and  left  the  <bity  to  the  executive  committee  of  designat- 
ing the  gentlcMnan  to  act  as  eliairman  for  (;a<;h  of  tlie  succeeding  days. 

The  i)i-ogramme  of  qiieslions  to  be  sul)mitted  to  the  (;ongress  was 
arr.uigeil  upon  the  principle  of  considei'ing,  fh'st,  the  treatment  o!"  the 
piisoner  b(!fbre  conviction  ;  secondly,  his  treatment- during  the  time  of 


PAET    SECOND INTRODUCTORY DR.    WINES'    ADDRESS.      1-29 

])nnisliiiient;  and,  thirdly,  bis  treatment  after  discbarge.  But  a  con- 
siderable number  of  questions,  deemed  important  to  be  discussed  at  this 
meetiufi-,  do  not  properly  fall  within  eitlier  of  the  above  categories  ; 
besides  which,  the  whole  subject  of  juvenile  delinquency  and  its  treat- 
ment, and  that  of  penitentiary  systens,  refuse  ecpially  the  strictly  logi- 
cal classification  indi(;ated  above.  These  matters  are  accordingly  treated 
in  three  distinct  chapters  of  the  present  report. 

The  English  government  had  not  originally  given  that  cordial  hospi- 
tality to  the  idea  of  the  congress  which  had  been  extended  to  it  by 
other  governments,  both  European  and  American.  Jiut  whatever  cool- 
ness it  may  have  shown  at  first  was  amply  atoned  for  by  the  fullness 
and  warmth  of  its  sympathy  after  the  congress  had  been  organized  and. 
had  gotten  fairly  at  work.  It  deputed  Major  Du  Cane,  chairman  of  the 
directors  of  convict-prisons,  to  attend  the  sessions  of  the  congress,  and 
instructed  him  to  give  all  possible  information  concerning  the  Eng- 
lish convict-system  and  its  workings.  It  threw  open  to  the  members 
every  prison  and  reformatory  in  the  United  Kingdom,  and  gave  instruc- 
tions to  their  governors  to  afford  sj^ecial  facilities  for  observing  and  un- 
derstanding everything  connected  with  their  organization  and  manage- 
ment, even  to  the  minutest  details.  His  Royal  Highness  the  Prince  of 
Wales  attended  a  soiree  given  to  the  congress  by  the  people  of  London, 
at  which  members  wei'e  individually  presented  to  hiui,  with  many  of 
M'hom  he  conversed  freely,  expressing  a  warm  interest  in  the  meeting, 
and  in  its  objects  and  work.  The  lord  chancellor  gave  a  state  dinner 
to  the  American  judges  and  some  other  leading  American  delegates; 
ami  the  Earl  of  Granville,  secretary  for  foreign  affairs,  invited  the  en- 
tire congress  to  a  magnihcent  soiree  at  his  rooms  in  the  foreign  office. 
Several  n^embers  of  Parliament  also,  besides  attending-  and  partici- 
pating in  the  proceedings  of  the  congress,  gave  dinners  or  soirees  to  its 
members  at  their  residences  in  town  or  invited  them  to  their  country 
seats  in  the  neighborhood.  The  home  secretary,  the  Ivight  Honorable  H. 
A.  Bruce,  to  whose  department  the  care  of  prisons  belongs,  attended  in 
person  one  of  the  sittings  of  the  congress;  and,  in  an  ekxjuent  address 
to  the  body,  he  expressed  the  gratification  he  experienced  in  a[)pearing- 
before  it  and  in  conveying  to  it  his  own  and  the  chanks  of  tlie  govern- 
ment for  having  chosen  England  as  the  place  of  meeting,  and  their  high 
appreciation  of  the  spirit  in  which  the  members  had  undertaken  their 
task ;  adding  highly  interesting  statements  in  regard  to  prison  work 
and  prison  reform  in  England,  and  particularly  iu  reference  to  the  dim- 
inution of  crime  iu  that  country,  as  shown  by  the  penitentiary  returns 
received  at  his  office  during  the  last  ten  years. 

As  has  been  already  stated  iu  the  general  introduction  to  this  report, 
the  congress  was  opened  on  the  evening  of  the  3d  of  July  by  an  address 
from  Lord  Carnarvon ;  and  on  the  morning  of  the  4th  its  real  work 
began.  The  undersigned,  appointed  president  for  the  day,  opened  the 
work  of  the  congress  with  tlie  short  address  which  follows: 

Ladies  and  Gentlemen:  Called  by  the  kindness  of  the  interna- 
tional committee  to  preside  over  this  dignified  assemblage,  on  this  its 
first  working'-day,  while  expressing  my  gratitude  for  so  distiuguished 
an  honor,  I  beg  to  offer  a  remark  or  two  touching  the  occasion  which 
has  brought  us  together  from  so  many  different  countries.  This  con- 
gress is  convoked  in  the  interest  of  humanity,  of  civilization.  It  is 
composed  of  thinkers  and  workers  in  one  of  the  great  departments  of 
social  science  and  social  reform,  representative  men  and  women  gath- 
ered literally  from  the  ends  of  the  earth.  We  have  here  representa- 
tives of  government-s,  of  prison  societies,  of  penal  and  reformatory  ia- 
H.  Ex.  185 9 


130  INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

stitntioDs,  of  governing:  boards  of  penitentiary  establishments,  of  high 
courts  of  criminal  jurisdiction,  of  police  boards,  of  associations  of 
jurists,  of  the  penal  law  departments  of  universities,  and  of  the  acad- 
emy of  moral  and  political  sciences  of  the  Institute  of  France.  There 
are  present  also  many  other  persons  who,  though  not  belonging  to 
either  of  the  categories  named,  have  long  been  devoted  to  i)eiiitentiary 
and  humanitarian  studies,  and  who  have  brought  their  great  knowledge 
and  their  great  hearts  to  help  us  in  our  labors.  The  special  work  of 
this  congress  is  to  study,  and,  if  possible,  to  solve,  the  problems,  as 
grave  as  they  are  difficult,  involved  in  the  treatment  ot  crime  and 
criminals.  The  congress,  composed  as  has  been  ex[)laiued,  and  em- 
bodying, therefore,  representatively,  the  knowledge,  experience,  and 
"wisdom  of  the  world  on  this  subject,  has  a  great  o])portunity  before  it, 
great  and  full  of  promise.  It  is  as  great  an  opportunity  as  the  noblest 
ambition  could  dl^sire,  but  equally  great  is  the  responsibility  which  it 
brings  with  it;  for  let  it  be  remembered  that  opportunity  and  duty  are 
evermore  correlative.  God  has  joined  them  together,  and  man  cannot 
put  them  asunder.  The  business  of  this  congress,  if  I  conceive  it 
aright,  is  not  to  fritter  away  its  time,  strength,  and  zeal  in  minute  de- 
tails, and  especially  not  to  give  expression  to  a  preference  for  one  peni- 
tentiary system  over  others,  but  to  agree  upon  certain  broad  principles 
ajid  propositions  ^Yhich  may  be  made  to  underlie,  pernzeate,  vivity,  and, 
above  all,  to  render  fruitful  any  and  all  systems  of  criminal  treatment. 
We  have  come  together  to  give  shape,  point,  and  practical  force  to  a 
great  movement  in  favor  of  penitentiary  reform,  may  I  not  almost  say 
a  great  upheaval  of  the  public  conscience  througliout  the  civilized 
world  on  this  subject  ?  Let  us  see  to  it  that  we  rise  to  the  full  height  of 
our  duty.  Let  us  see  to  it  that  we  give  a  wise  direction,  as  we  can 
hardly  fail  to  impart  a  strong  impulse,  to  the  movement  which  I  have  indi- 
cated. If  we  do  not  fail  in  this,  as  I  feel  sure  we  shall  not,  and  if  we 
follow  up  our  pn^sent  work  w  ith  some  permanent  organization  that  shall 
perpetuate,  enlarge,  and  intensify  its  results,  it  seems  to  me  not  an  un- 
reasonable hope  that  the  next  lifty  years  will  see  a  progress  in  the 
methods  and  processes  of  ciiminal  treatment,  and  especially  in  the 
])rincii)les  and  a])plication  of  a  reformatory  prison  discipline,  which  all 
the  ages  hitherto  have  scarcely  witnessed. 

Ladies  and  gentlemen  of  the  congress,  let  us  addi'css  ourselves  to  our 
work  with  courage,  resolution,  intelligence,  and,  above  all,  with  a 
liearty  love  of  trutli  and  a  genuine  brotherly  accord,  and  we  cannot 
doubt  that  the  guidance  and  blessing-  of  Ueaven  will  attend  our  labors. 


CIIArTER    XVII. 

THE  rilLSONER  AFTER  ARREST   AND  BEFORE   CONVICTION. 

This  (piesfion  was  stated  in  the  following  terms :  "What  should  be 
the  treatment  of  prisoui'is  befoi'e  conviction  ?"  The  discussion  Avas 
opened  by  Oount  de  l-'oicsta,  i»r<>eni<'ur-g(''n<''ral  of  Aneoiia,  Italy.  lie 
expressed  himself  as  oi>posed  to  associaletl  imi)risonment  piior  to  con- 
vi»;tion,  more  especially  in  cases  where  there  was  reason  to  fear  that  a 
inisoner  by  sueli  association  might  defeat  <  he  ends  of  justice.  J  le  thought 
if  an  alisc.bite  «bity  of  the  authorities  to  j)rovide  isolation  for  such  pris- 
oners under  arrest  as  might  desirt,'  it  ;  and  in  no  case  should  a  man  who 


TREATMENT    OF    TRISONERS    BEFORE    COKVICTIOX.  131 

was  still  (leemed  innocent  be  compelled  to  associate  with  others  in  a 
prison  a,ti,'ainst  liis  will.  It  was,  at  best,  a  hard  necessity  that  a  man 
should  be  locked  up  in  a  jail  l)efore  he  was  convicted  of  any  crime. 

The  IJev.  Mr.  Collins,  of  Tremardale,  Bodmin,  tliought  that  the  fre- 
quency of  imprisonments  before  conviction  niijiht  be,  and  oiir>ht  to  be, 
largely  reduced.  The  plan  he  suggested  to  effect  tliis  was  that,  in  all 
cases  at  ])resent  bailable,  a  system  of  personal  bail  should  be  substituted 
for  a  money  bail.  Instead  of  the  existing  arrangement,  Ijy  which  a  sum 
of  money  is  forfeited  on  the  prisoner's  failure  to  answer  his  recognizance, 
he  would  make  the  forfeit,  in  case  of  his  non-appearance  a  full  day 
before  that  appointed  for  his  trial,  liability  to  the  full  penalty  of  the 
crime  with  which  he  stands  charged.  He  thought  that  this  would  secure 
his  attendance  much  more  effectively  than  the  present  system  of  bail, 
since  no  sane  man  would  expose  himself  to  a  certain  and  extreme  pen- 
alty, when,  by  surrendering  himself,  he  would  have  all  the  chances  of 
escape  which  a  trial  olfers.  Such  a  plan  would  have  the  advantage  of 
placing  the  poor  man,  now  often  unable  to  obtain  sureties,  on  a  level 
with  his  richer  neighbor.  It  would  also  tend  to  imbue  the.  public  mind 
with  the  idea  that  imprisonment  is  in  itself  a  punishment  and  a  dis- 
grace; it  would  save  nuiny  an  innocent  man  from  an  imprisonment  not 
deserved;  it  was  in  strict  accord  with  the  maxim  that  every  man  was 
to  be  deemed  innocent  until  proved  guilty;  it  was  an  economical  arrange- 
ment, as  it  vfould  save  the  cost  of  the  prisoner's  sujiport,  and  humane, 
since  it  prevented  the  sundering  of  wives  and  families  from  their  bread- 
winners. 

Mr.  Stevens,  of  Belgium,  said  that  in  his  country  safe  custody  was 
regarded  as  the  only  object  of  ])reiimiuary  detention,  and  hence  all  who 
were  able  were  allowed  to  purchase  small  luxuries.  Before  trial,  all  pris- 
oners were  well  accommodated. 

Mr.  Pownell,  of  England,  said  that  the  bench,  with  which  he  was  con- 
nected, had  anticii)ated  this  question.  Every  man  being  considered,  iu 
law,  to  be  innocent  until  jiroved  guilty,  it  seemed  that  an  undeserved 
stigma  was  inliicted  upon  a  man  by  sending  him  to  jail  before  convic- 
.tion.  Hence  a  house  of  detention  had  been  built  for  tlie  reception  of 
jtersons  awaiting  trial.  The  inmates  were  isolated,  thus  saving  them 
from  contamination  and  also  from  taunts  flung'  at  them,  after  liberation 
or  acquittal,  of  having  been  incarcerated  in  a  felon's  cell.  Various  priv- 
ileges were  allowed  them,  such  iis  the  purchasing  of  their  own  food,  if 
their  means  were  sufficient,  daily  visits  from  friends,  unrestricted  con- 
sultation with  their  legal  adviser,  &g.  This  plan,  he  believed,  was  more 
just  than  to  brand  with  the  prison  mark  an  untried  man. 


CHAPTER    XYIII. 

THE    PRISONER    DURING   HIS    INCARCERATION'. 

§  1.  Proper  maximum  of  prisoners  for  any  single  prison. — The  question 
"What  ought  to  be  the  maximum  number  of  prisoners  or  convicts  de- 
tained in  any  prison?"  was  introduced  before  the  congress  by  Mr. 
Ekert,  of  Germanj^  who  said  that  during  the  many  years  through 
which  he  had  been  head  of  the  prison  at  Bruchsal,  this  question  had 
received  much  of  his  attention.  He  believed  that  live  hundred  should 
be  made  the  maximum,  and  that  the  number  should  rather  fall  below 


132  IXTERXATIONAL    PEXITENTIARY    COXGEESS. 

tliau  exceed  that  figure.  This  proposition  he  urged  ou  the  triple  ground 
of  security,  justice  to  the  prisouer,  and  liope  of  reformation.  A  larger 
number  would,  in  his  opinion,  render  individualization  extremely  diffi- 
cult, without  which  there  can  be  no  effective  reformatory  treatment  of 
prisoners.  Xor  does  an  increased  number  of  subordinates  obviate  the 
difficulty.  The  above  view  is  in  accordance  with  one  of  the  fundamental 
principles  of  the  Crofton  prison  system.  The  question  of  cost  should 
not  be  made  paramount,  since  where  money  considerations  prevail,  all 
reform  too  frequently  comes  to  an  end.  He  had  arrived  at  his  opinion 
after  consultation  with  many  competent  authorities,  whose  belief  coin- 
cided with  that  which  had  sprung  up  in  his  own  mind  after  many  years' 
experience  as  a  prison  officer  and  as  president  of  the  German  Prison 
Society,  in  which  latter  capacity  he  had  had  an  opportunity  of  obtaining 
information  from  all  parts  of  the  world  on  the  operation  of  different 
prison  systems. 

Sir  John  Bowring,  of  England,  was  of  opinion  that  large  prisons 
were  preferable  to  small  ones,  not  only  on  the  ground  of  economy,  but 
also  as  atibrding  a  wider  scope  for  emulation  and  moral  improvement. 
The  larger  the  scale  ou  which  labor  is  coiulucted,  the  more  profitable 
are  its  returns,  and  he  believed  the  same  principle  to  hold  true  in  the 
case  of  the  operation  of  moral  influences.  Instrnction  is  most  easily 
imparted  in  universities,  and  a  clergyman  is  more  likely  to  make  an  im- 
pression on  a  large  congregation  than  on  a  small  one.  The  elements  of 
improvement  and  the  tendencies  to  deterioration  should  be  considered 
in  the  treatment  of  each  prisouer,  and  the  larger  the  scale  on  which 
such  observations  are  made,  the  more  valuable  would  be  the  results. 

31.  Vaucher-Cremieux,  of  Switzerland,  agreed  with  Herr  Ekert,  while 
admitting  that,  for  financial  reasons,  a  large  number  might  be  desirable. 
The  difficulties  of  supervision,  however,  particularly  in  cellular  prisons, 
were  greatly  increased.  He  quoted  M.  Deinetz,  director  of  the  reforma- 
tory at  3Iettray,  France,  as  holding  that  three  or  four  hundred 
was  a  sufficient  number  for  prisons  of  this  class,  and  expressed  his  be- 
lief that  in  prisons  conducted  ou  the  congregate  system  one  thousand 
should  be  the  maximum. 

31.  Stevens,  of  Belgium,  thought  that  the  question  of  expense  should 
be  subordinated  to  that  of  reformation.  Looking  at  the  (juestion  from 
that  stand-point,  he  tiiought  that  in  no  prison  should  the  number  of 
convicts  exceed  five  hundred,  and  in  cellular  prisons  it  should  be  even 
less. 

JJr.  3Iouat,late  inspector-general  of  prisons  in  the  province  of  Bengal, 
India,  while  agreeing  with  M.  Stevens  as  to  the  superior  importance  of 
n-formation  over  economy,  believed  that  excessive  subdivision  of  jirisons 
might  be  jnstly  opposed  as  too  costly.  He  believed  that  individual 
treatment  was  entirely  practicable  in  a  prison  containing  one  thousand 
inmates,  if  the  staff  of  subordinates  were  large  enough  to  attend  to  the 
details  and  to  the  treatment  of  each  juisoner.  This  number  had  been 
miule  the  ]iia\iinum  by  law  in  India,  in  lS(»t,  ])artly  on  financial  grounds, 
and  i)artly  with  a  view  to  moral  and  dis('ii)liiiary  treatment. 

31.  I'eteiseii,  of  Norway,  iiad,  in  the  i)rison  of  which  he  was  the  head, 
an  average  ol  two  hundred  and  t  wenty-four  convicts.  He  considered  this 
number  too  snuill,  l)elieving  that  huge  i)risons  could  be  more  easily 
managed  than  small  ones.  With  a  small  number  of  prisoners  there 
waH  a  ten<lency  to  go  too  much  into  detail  and  s])eak  too  much  with 
tliem.  Prisons  conducted  ou  the  se)>aiate  system  should,  he  thought, 
have  between  three  hundn-d  an<l  four  hnndied  inmates. 

Hon.  II.  II.  Leavitt.  of  Ohio,  said  that  the  stale-prison  of  that  State 


MAXIMUM   AND    CLASSIFICATION    OF    PRISONERS.  133 

contained  one  thonsand  prisoners,  which  number  had  not  been  found 
so  large  as  to  prevent  reformation. 

Mrs.  Janney,  of  Ohio,  remarked  that  the  authorities  of  the  Oliio  state- 
prison  were  of  the  opinion  that  six  hundred  was  a  sunicient  number, 
and  that  it  woukl  be  impossible  for  a  warden  to  become  individually 
acquainted  with  ojie  thousand. 

Colonel  Colville,  for  eighteen  years  governor  of  Coldbath  Fields  Prison, 
London,  stated  that  the  number  of  prisoners  under  his  care  at  any  one 
time  had  varied  from  one  thousand  live  hundred  to  two  thousand  two 
hundred.  He  favored  large  prisons  on  financial  grounds,  ami  believed 
that,  by  the  employment  of  a  proper  number  of  otticials,  all  the  advan- 
tages of  smaller  prisons  might  be  secured,  though  he  admitted  that  there 
was  a  tendency  to  limit  the  number  of  ofticials.  Thus,  while  ten  small 
prisons  would  have  had  ten  schoolmasters,  Coldbath  Fields  had  but  one. 
He  had  never,  however,  met  with  any  difficulty  in  maintaining  disci- 
pline, and  a  cheerfulness  had  prevailed  which  had  often  surprised  him. 

Dr.  Frey,  of  Austria,  thought  it  impossible  to  fix  a  precise  number. 
The  great  question  was  how  far  tlie  head  of  the  prison  would  be  able  to 
come  into  personal  contact  with  each  prisoner.  If,  as  in  Austria,  he 
was  free  from  all  economical  matters,  and  had  nothing  to  do  but  manage 
the  prisoners  and  see  that  they  were  well  treated,  he  could  attend  to  a 
large  number  ;  but  if  he  had  other  duties,  the  number  must  be  smaller. 

General  Pilsbury,  of  New  York,  thought  that  five  hundred  or  six  hun- 
dred should  be  the  maximum.  He  felt  sure  that  he  himself  would  not 
be  able  to  give  personal  attention  to  one  thousand  prisoners. 

Professor  Foynitsky,  of  Russia,  thought  that  individual  treatment 
should  not  be  sacrificed  to  financial  considerations. 

Mr.  Frederic  Hill,  of  England,  contended  that  there  might  be  indi- 
vidual treatment  in  large  prisons.  The  Glasgow  prison,  when  he  was 
acquainted  with  it,  had  many  hundreds,  but  there  was  individual  treat- 
ment nevertheless. 

Baron  von  Holtzendorf,  of  Prussia,  considered  number  dependent  on 
the  system  of  management.  In  a  cellular  prison,  five  hundred  should 
be  the  maximum,  and  perhaps  three  hundred  would  be  better,  but  in 
public-works  prisons  there  might  be  six  hvindred  or  one  thousand. 

§  2.  Chifisijication  of  prisoners. — The  question  whether  the  classifica- 
tion of  iirisoners  ought  to  be  considered  the  basis  of  all  penitentiary 
systems,  associate  or  separate,  was  introduced  by  privy  councilor 
d'Alinge,  of  Saxon3',  who  prefaced  his  remarks  by  saying  that  the  crim- 
inal is  a  moral  iuvalid,  whom  we  desire  to  help.  Tliis  help  can  be  ren- 
dered only  by  interrupting  his  criminal  course,  and  by  saving  him  from  • 
a  relapse.  In  order  to  eftect  this  end,  three  things  are  necessary :  1, 
care  must  be  taken  to  ascertain  the  moral  failing  which  prompted  him 
to  crime;  2,  means  must  be  employed  adequate  to  the  removal  of  this 
failing;  3,  the  convalescent  must  be  provided  with  the  full  power  of 
resisting,  by  dint  of  his  own  efforts,  a  relapse.  The  only  means  for  the 
achievement  of  this  triple  end  are  education  and  classification.  The 
first  problem  of  the  penitentiary  authorities,  then,  is  to  obtain  as  clear 
an  image  as  possible  of  the  mental  and  moral  condition  of  the  prisoner. 
To  the  practised  eye  of  the  oflQcial,  such  an  image  is,  in  many  cases, 
I)atent.  In  others,  it  will  be  necessary  to  isolate  and  watch  the  prisoner. 
Having  made  a  moral  diagnosis  of  the  state  of  each  prisoner,  we  shall 
find  that  he  belongs  to  one  of  two  classes  :  Either  he  is  so  depraved  as 
to  have  no  power  of  will  to  do  good  remaining,  (in  which  case  another 
will  must  be  substituted  for  his  own,)  or  he  has  sufficient  power  Uft  to 


134  INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

rouse  himself  aiul  strike  ont  a  better  path  on  the  strength  of  his  spon- 
taneous resolve.  To  one  of  the  former  class  we  say,  "  You  shall  become 
a  better  man  ;  "  those  in  the  latter  say,  "  I  will  become  a  better  man.'' 
Thus  the  inmates  of  a  penitentiary  naturally  divide  themselves  into 
three  sections,  which  are  best  designated  as  disciplinary  classes.  Those 
who  show  little  or  no  inclination  to  meet  the  educational  endeavors  of 
the  authorities,  only  bending  at  the  words  "you  s/irti/,"  form  the  third 
disciplinary  class,  or  lowest  grade.  Those  who,  with  the  thought  "  I 
will  be  better"  in  their  minds,  co-operate  readily  with  the  exertions  of 
the  authorities  in  raising  their  moral  culture,  and  who,  with  a  deter- 
mined will  and  all  their  strength,  profit  by  the  means  placed  at  their 
disposal,  form  the  second  disciplinary  class.  Those,  lastly,  who  for  some 
time  have  endeavored  to  improve,  and  justify  a  hope  of  steady  progress 
on  their  return  into  society,  form  the  Jirst  discii)linary  class.  Such  a 
classification  demands  of  the  managers  a  course  of  action  similar  to  that 
of  the  physician.  They  must,  by  employing  adequate  modifications  of 
prison  discipline  and  educational  agencies  at  their  command,  treat  the 
l)ri.soner  operatively,  curatively,  and  dietetically.  Such  a  classification, 
based  on  true  psychological  individualization,  will  and  must,  in  every 
j)rison  system,  work  to  the  highest  benefit  of  the  prisoner,  and,  in  con- 
sequence, improve  the  political  condition  of  the  country  adopting  it. 
In  Saxony,  this  systeiu  has  been  applied  to  50,000  prisoners  with  the 
greatest  success. 

M.  Stevens,  of  Belgium,  said  that  in  that  country  there  are  two  sys- 
tems of  classification.  One  is  based  on  external  conduct:  obedience, 
submission,  and  industry.  Under  this  system  there  are  three  classes : 
the  good,  the  passable,  and  the  bad.  The  other  rests  ui)on  moral  char- 
acter, a  much  more  diljlicult  matter  to  ascertain,  since  God  alone  can  judge 
the  heart. 

Dr.  Mouat,  of  England,  had  formerly  had  sixty  prison  officers  under 
his  control  in  India.  It  was  their  unanimous  opinion  that  moral  classi- 
fication was  impossible,  and  that  a  moral  barometer  was  a  chimera, 
since  i)risoners  did  their  best  to  conceal  their  real  character,  lest  they 
should  suffer  harsher  treatment. 

^Ir.  Tallack,  of  I^^ngiand,  agreed  with  Dr.  IMouat,  and  thought  that 
the  im])ossil>ility  of  moral  classilication  was  one  of  the  strongest  argu- 
it)ents  for  the  cellular  system,  under  which  ever}'  i^risoner  was  a  class 
by  himself. 

Dr.  3Iar(juardsen,  of  Gernmny,  member  of  the  Reichstag,  believed 
moial  (;]assifi<'ati<)n  to  be  im]»ossihh'.  No  doubt  any  system  of  classifi- 
cation was  better  than  none  at  al!,  but  he  believed  the  cellular  system 
to  be  tlui  true  basis. 

.Air.  Scijeant  Gox,  of  iMigJaiid,  was  of  opinion  that  there  was  a  wide 
diffciciice,  morally  speaking,  between  the  man  who  committed  a  crime 
ol'  viohMice  under  sudden  )»assi()n  aiul  the  habitual  thief.  The  former 
was  IVcfjuently  far  nu)rc  severely  i)unished  than  the  latter,  although  his 
otfense  did  not,  of  itself,  indieat<^  great  moral  depravity.  lie  thought 
it  monstious  tliat  the  two  should  be  treated  i)recisely  alike  in  jjiison.  A 
classifiealioii  which  only  recognized  these  two  categories,  wouhl  be  bet- 
tei'  than  none. 

Dr.  JJiltinger,  of  Pennsylvania,  ])()inted  out  that  tlu^  necessity  for 
classification  of  some  sorij  had  always  been  re(;ognized — (hst,  in  the 
Hi'j)aralion  of  dilferent  sex<'s  and  different  ages,  and  afterward  in  the 
construction  of  jirisons  for  offenses  of  vaiious  grades.  He  thought, 
with  Mr.  (Jox,  that  the  man  who  had  committed  a.  crinui  in  hot  blood", 
or  while  into.\i<'ale(l,  and  the  habitual  criminal  ought  not  to  be  treated 


PRISON    MANAGEMENT    AND    LEGISLATION.  lo5 

alike  in  prison.  The  latter  was  liopcloss,  crime  being  his  profession  ; 
while  the  former  might  be  the  victim  of  misfortnne.  A  sense  of  justice 
was  essential  to  reform  ;  and  if  they  were  put  on  the  same  footing,  the 
pick-i)ocket  would  despise  justice,  while  the  other  would  resent  being 
made  a  felon.  An  employer  knew  the  character  of  his  men,  and  he  be- 
lieved that  a  prison  officer  might  judge  of  the  moral  character  of  his 
prisoners  by  the  same  standard,  i.  e.,  their  actions. 

Colonel  Katclilfe,  of  England,  while  admitting  that  classification  was 
im])Ossible  in  prisons  where  the  sentences  were  for  a  few  weeks  or 
months,  thought  it  practicable  in  convict-prisons  where  the  sentences 
were  of  long  duration. 

Baron  von  Holtzendorff,  of  Prussia,  said  that  M.  d'Alinge's  practical 
experience  had  refuted  the  allegation  of  impossibility.  Isolation  and 
the  cellular  system  had  arisen  from  the  alleged  impossibility  of  classifi- 
cation, but  the  progressive  system  involved  classification,  and  the  prob- 
lem had  been  solved  by  Germany  and,  to  a  certain  extent,  by  Sir  W. 
Oroftou's  system.  The  mark  system  was  a  self  acting  method  of  classi- 
fication according  to  behavior.  God  alone  could  gauge  the  inner  man, 
but  the  outer  man  could  be  tested  by  behavior  and  industry.  If  he 
played  the  hypocrite,  he  must  be  left  to  God. 

§  3.  Prison  management — how  far  to  he  regulated  hy  legislation. — The 
discussion  on  this  question  was  opened  by  Mr.  Stevens,  of  Belgium. 
He  thought  that  prisons  should  be  ])laced  under  the  direction  of  a  Cen- 
tral aut'jority.  The  regulations  of  the  public  administration  should 
determine  the  prison  administration,  the  mode  of  surveillance,  and  the 
moral  and  material  treatment  to  be  adopted  in  conformity  with  the  law  5 
but  a  certain  latitude  should  be  left  to  the  {^xecutive  authority,  making 
obligatory,  however,  a  due  regard  for  the  principles  fixed  l)y  the  law. 
When  prison  treatment  is  not  regidated  by  law,  this  latitude  is  too 
large  and  extremely  liable  to  abuse. 

Baron  Mackay,  of  Holland,  agreed  with  Mr.  Stevens  that  the  general 
principles  of  prison  discipline  should  be  laid  down  by  legislation,  but 
thought  that,  in  view  of  the  rapid  advances  made  in  this  science,  it  would 
be  unwise  to  attempt  to  prescribe  details,  which,  when  fixed  by  statute, 
could  not  be  easily  altered. 

Mr.  Frederic  Hill,  of  England,  said  that  the  plan  suggested  by  Mr. 
Stevens  had  been  adopted  in  Scotland.  Under  the  Scotch  system  all 
details  were  left  to  the  authorities  in  charge  of  the  prison,  who  were 
thus  enabled  to  make  such  changes,  from  time  to  time,  as  experience 
might  suggest.  He  thought  that  tlie  English  system  fettered  the  prison 
officials  too  much.  There  should,  however,  always  be  some  one  directly 
responsible  to  government  for  the  working  of  the  regulations  adopted 
in  each  prison. 

Dr.  JMouat  said  that  the  Indian  system  approximated  to  the  Scotch. 
Minute  rules  should  not  be  embodied  in  acts  of  Parliament,  but  left  to 
experienced  authorities,  to  be  altered  whenever  it  might  become  neces- 
sary. 

Baron  von  Holtzendorff  said  that  the  criminal  code  of  Germany  had 
formerly  given  oilly  the  names  of  different  kinds  of  punishment,  but  the 
Eeichstag  had  asked  the  government  to  frame  a  rule  defining  each  kind 
of  imprisonment.  In  Germany,  and  especially  in  Prussia,  all  regula- 
tions for  local  prisons  enumated  from  the  government.  There  was,  con- 
sequently, great  uniformity,  and  no  such  diiference  could  exist  as  pre- 
vailed in  England  between  jails  and  convict-prisons.  Some  prison 
governors  had  no  confidence  in  any  system  but  their  own,  and  it  was 
necessary  to  put  some  restraint  on  them.    The  question  whether  or  not 


136  INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

corporal  punisliment  onglit  to  be  inflicted  slioiikl  be  determined  by  the 
lejiislatnre,  and  not  left,  as  in  Germany,  to  the  discretion  of  tlie  governor. 
The  maximum  and  minimum  of  severity  should  also  be  laid  down  by 
law,  but  the  application — the  determining  what  degree  of  severity  to 
inflict — should  be  left  to  the  authorities. 

Mr.  Beltrani-Scalin,  of  Italy,  said  that  in  that  country,  for  a  long 
time  past,  the  law  had  laid  down  principles  and  left  the  mode  of  exe- 
cuting them  to  the  authorities. 

Mr.  Hastings,  of  England,  objected  to  any  attempt  to  obtain  the 
benefit  of  a  uniform  system  by  sacrificing  local  action.  He  considered 
diversity  of  exj^eriment  the  only  way  of  arriving  at  the  best  treatment. 
It  was  impossible  to  say  what  was  the  best  system  of  prison  admin- 
istration under  all  circumstances,  in  all  countries,  or  even  in  all  parts 
of  the  same  country.  The  legislature  should  lay  down  certain  broad 
principles,  but  within  those  limits  entire  liberty  should  be  left  to  local 
administration.  Under  a  stereotyped  system,  which  fettered  the  ad- 
ministrators, its  faults — and  there  would  certainly  be  some — would  be 
without  hope  of  remedy  ;  whereas,  by  leaving  room  for  experiment  and 
diversity  of  action,  a  much  better  S3'stem  would  ultimately  be  reached. 

Mr.  Berden,  of  B,elgium,  said  that  in  that  country  a  special  law,  a 
modification  of  the  Code  Na])oleon,  laid  down  the  principles  of  prison 
administration,  but  left  sufficient  discretion  to  i)rison  authorities  to 
deal  witli  individuals  as  circumstances  might  dictate.  Thus,  although 
most  of  the  prisons  were  being  adapted  to  the  cellular  system,  which 
system  was  favored  by  the  legislature,  prisoners  who  from  ill-health  or 
other  causes  were  unfit  for  the  cellular  system  were  not  subjected  to  it. 

§  4.  Whether  whipping  should  be  employed  as  a  discipAinary  punishment. 
— ^Ir.  Stevens  was  of  oj)inion  that  it  should  not.  Its  tendency  was  to  bru- 
talize the  prisoner,  and  thus  neutralize  the  reformatory  intiuences  that 
should  be  brought  to  bear  upon  him.  He  deprecated  the  use  of  physical 
y)unishnient  of  all  kinds,  believing  that  moral  means  were  all-sufficient, 
if  proi)er]y  applied.  The  bastinado  can  never  open  the  way  to  the  heart. 
Such  ]>nnisliinents,  in  the  words  of  a  French  workman,  afl'ect  only  the 
])risoner's  liide^  wliile  degrading  him  to  the  level  of  the  brute.  In 
iJclginm,  any  prison  olficial  w  ho  liad  resort  to  the  lash  would  be  promptly 
dismissed  from  his  ])(>st.  It  should  never  be  forgotten  that  imprisonment 
is  but  a  severe,  thongh  benevolent,  means  to  the  accomplishment 
of  the  prisoner's  rcfoiniation.  Ivx'ixnienee  has  i)roved  that  good  dis- 
cipline can  be  niaintaiiicd  without  frecjuent  re(;ourse  to  i)unishments, 
and  that  many  ])risoncrs  arc  led  to  obedience  by  the  moderation 
and  Justice  disi)layed  toward  them  by  the  administration.  The  idea 
that  ])risoners  can  be  governed  only  by  severity  ])roceeds  upon  the 
mistaUen  belief  that  they  are  forever  lost  as  regards  an  honest  life. 
Su(!h  a  Ix'lief  overlooks  the  relation  subsisting  between  crime  on  the 
one  sid(^  and  ignorance  and  i)arental  neglect  on  the  other,  and  those 
whf)  emph>y  sm-h  chastisement  as  leaves  in  the  heart  only  sentiments 
of  hatred  and  veng(Mi(;e  may  justly  b(^  held  responsible  for  the  neglect 
of  tliose  moral  and  religious  influences,  which  alone  are  able  to  lead 
men  to  obedience  and  dnty. 

Major  l)n  ( "ane,  director  of  l-^nglish  convict  prisoners,  beliexcd  that 
prisoners  were  peisons  whom  disci|»line  must  rednce  to  a  i)roper  frame 
of  mind.  He  believed  it  would  l)e  impossible,  to  i)r(^serv(^  disci|)line  and 
jirotect  the  ol'ticeis — a  lew  men  amid  large  bodies  of  ))risoners,  many  of 
tMibiilenI  dispositions — without  the  fear  of  corporal  punisliment.  He 
li;i(l  liiniself  known  prisoners  to  aeknoaledge,  that,  but  for  flogging  they 
would  not  have  become  tractable  and  reformed  characters. 


WHIPPING    AS    A    DISCIPLINARY   PUNISHMENT.  137 

Dr.  Mount  said  that  in  Indian  prisons,  owing:  to  their  imperfect  cou- 
strnction,  the  cane  had  been  much  more  larjifely  employed  than  the 
sugar  extracted  from  it.  Its  inliictiou  shoukl,  in  hisopinion,  be  restricted 
to  cases  where  convicts  were  so  degraded  and  brutalized  that  the  lash 
alone  would  compel  them  to  good  behavior;  but,  wliile  agreeing  that 
moral  means  should  be  pushed  to  the  utmost,  he  would  still,  in  Jealouslj- 
guarded  cases,  retain  the  power,  in  the  hope  that  this  would  render  its 
exercise  unnecessary. 

Mr.  Shei)herd,  for  thirty  years  governor  of  the  Watefield  prison,  Eng- 
land, with  an  averageof  one  thousand  inmates,  stated  that  during  all  that 
time  no  corporal  punishment  was  inflicted  there  for  prison  oiienses. 
He  doubted  whether  in  cases  where  it  was  inflicted  every  other  means 
had  first  been  tried.  He  favored  its  entire  abolition.  Up  to  his  resig- 
nation (six  years  ago)  he  had  remarked  that  nearly  every  prisoner  sub- 
jected to  corporal  punishment  returned  to  the  prison  again. 

Dr.  Marquardsen,  of  Bavaria,  said  that  in  his  country  corporal  i>un- 
ishment  had  been  abandoned  several  years  ago,  both  as  a  means  of  pub- 
lic punishment  and  as  an  agency  of  prison  discipline.  The  respect  and 
obedience  shown  by  prisoners  had  since  greatly  increased,  breaches  of 
discipline  had  diminished,  and  no  prison  authority  desired  a  revival  of 
the  practice.  The  committee  of  the  Keichstag,  of  which  he  had  been  a 
member,  charged  with  the  framing  of  a  military  code  for  Germany,  had 
also  set  aside  corporal  punishment,  so  that  not  a  blow  could  be  struck 
in  the  whole  empire. 

Dr.  Frey,  as  the  governor  of  a  prison  with  many  hundred  inmates,  said 
that  in  Austria  the  use  of  the  lash  was  abolished  in  18GG,  ex))erience 
having  shown  that  it  was  demoralizing.  It  deprived  the  prisoner  of 
that  self-esteem  which  formed  the  basis  of  his  moral  i?nprovement,  and 
the  strictest  discipline  might  be  maintained  by  other  means. 

Dr.  Guillaume,  of  Switzerland,  said  it  was  also  being  abolished  in 
his  country. 

Major  Fnlford,  governor  of  the  jail  in  Staffordshire,  England,  said 
that  he  was  required  to  be  present  at  every  infliction  of  corjjoral  pun- 
ishment in  his  prison,  and  that  he  was  invariably  ill  in  consequence. 
Still,  he  believed  it  impossible  to  dispense  with  it  in  a  prison  where,  as 
was  the  case  with  his,  the  prisoners  were  thoroughly  degraded  and 
vicious.  There  was  a  class  of  men  who  thought  nothing  of  disgrace, 
but  cared  only  for  the  stripes  that  they  received. 

Mr,  Wills,  governor  of  Nottingham  prison,  England,  agreed  with  Major 
Fnlford  that  flogging,  though  it  should  rarely  be  administered,  was  a 
useful  power  in  reserve. 

Mrs.  Julia  Ward  Howe,  of  Massachusetts,  thought  the  only  thing  to 
be  said  for  flogging  was  that  it  was  a  time-saving  process.  Reason  would 
gain  as  much  in  time.  She  was  sure  that  no  brutally  ill-treated  woman 
would  thank  the  prison  ofiticials  for  sending  her  husband  home  more 
brutalized  than  before.  She  would  never  say  to  any  prisoner,  "You 
area  brute?"  Rather  would  she  say,  "You  are  God's  ciiild ;  do  not 
dishonor  His  image,  as  I  cannot,  no  matter  what  have  been  your  faults, 
dishonor  it  in  yon." 

Mr.  Frederic  Hill  said  that  for  seven  years,  while  he  was  inspector  of 
prisons  in  Scotland,  no  corporal  inflictions  were  allowed,  nor  did  he  hear 
au}^  prison  governor  express  a  wish  for  the  power  to  inflict  such  chas- 
tisement. 

Mr.  Hastings,  of  England,  was  glad  to  say  that  it  had  not  been  found 
necessary  to  use  the  lash  in  the  county  i^risou  of  which  he  was  a  visit- 
lug  justice. 


138  INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

Sir  Walter  Cioftoii  said  that  EnjjHshuien  ji^eiierally  favored  the  reten- 
tion of  the  power  of  corporal  pnnisliinent,  in  order  that  the  necessity 
miglit  never  arise  for  its  exercise.  Prison  ^^overnors  had  not  tlie  power 
of  enforcing-  discipline  by  this  means,  which  could  be  eiujtloyed  only  on 
magisterial  sanction.  Its  nse  was  very  exceptional,  and  resort  was 
never  had  to  it,  until  every  other  resource  had  been  exhausted.  In 
conntries  which  had  abolished  Hogging  in  prison,  other  punishments 
"were  emi)loyed,  and  if  an  nnobjectionable  substitute  could  be  found  for 
England,  he  would  be  rejoiced  to  hear  of  it.  Every  magistrate  and 
prison  governor  had  a  horror  of  it,  but  all  clung  to  the  necessity  of  re- 
taining the  power  to  inflict  it. 

General  Pilsbury,  of  New  York,  said  he  was  no  advocate  of  corporal 
punishment.  He  knew  from  experience,  how^ever,  that  all  i)risoners 
could  not  be  governed  by  moral  suasion;  a  few  require  sevei'er  disci- 
pline. He  was  convinced  that  no  prison  could  be  well  and  safely  gov- 
erned, nnless  ample  power  were  vested  in  the  chief  officer  to  inflict 
special  punishment,  when  called  for,  promptly,  summarily,  and,  if  need 
be,  severely.  He  was  of  opinion,  however,  that  this  power  should  be 
given  to  the  chief  officer  alone,  and  that  not  through  the  intervention 
of  an  advisory  board.  If  prisoners  knew  that  he  i^ossessed  sucli  a  pow- 
er, occasion  for  punishment  would  seldom  arise j  the  knowledge  would 
prove  sufticieut  of  itself  to  enforce  discipline. 

Br.  Marquardsen,  of  Bavaria,  thought  that  the  actual  experience  of 
what  had  been  accomj)lished  without  the  power  to  inflict  cori)oral  pun- 
ishment furnished  a  stronger  argument  than  the  alleged  maintenance 
of  disci])line  l^y  the  existence  of  ])ower  which  was  seldom  exercised. 
Such  a  method  of  reasoning  he  could  not  accept. 

§  ~).  Kinds  and  limits  of  instrvction  suited,  to  tlte  rcform(dorii  treatment 
of  prisoners. — Mr.  Stevens,  of  Belgium,  opened  the  discussion  by  saying 
that  the  means  of  moral  influence  should  consist  chiefly  in  education, 
wliich  should  be  of  a  quadruple  character:  industrial,  scholastic,  moral, 
and  religious. 

1.  Industrial  education. — The  object  of  this  part  of  his  education  is  to 
]»rovide  the  prisoner  with  the  mea;is  of  earning  a  livelihood  on  his  dis- 
charge. Consequently,  in  the  work-sh()])s,  more  care  should  be  taken  to 
teach  him  his  trade  thoroughly  than  to  make  his  labor  i>r()ductive.  The 
]»rimary  object  of  labor,  as  an  element  of  ])rison  discipline,  is  to  reform 
Die  piisoner  and  aid  him  to  lead  a  reformed  life  on  his  (lis(;harge ;  hence  it 
should  be  organized  and  conducted  with  a  view  rather  to  the  future  of 
flie  pi  isoiier  tiian  to  its  effect  u])()n  tlu^  tieasury. 

2.  tSeliolaslir  instrvetion. — This  shouhl  comiuise  reading,  writing, arith- 
nu'tic,  the  elements  of  graniniar,  history,  geograi)]iy,  geometry,  and 
linear  diawing,  the  latter  esjx'cially  in  refeieiu-e  to  trades  and  useful 
arts.  'I'hc  (act  that  i)ublic  instiuction  has  received  so  great  an  exten- 
sion within  the  last  few  years  renders  it  all  the.  more  imi)ortant  that  a 
\  igoroiis  impuls*^  he  given  to  i)rimary  instruction  in  prisons.  Illiterate 
jtcrsons  should  be,  the  object  of  special  care. 

.'{.  Moral  etliicaliou. — 'i'he  teaclicr  sliould,  by  special  iiistruction  in  the 
school,  incidcatc  the  perCormance  of  social  duties.  This  instru(ttion 
should  review  I  lie  )irincii»al  existing  vices  oi' society  and  den)onstrate 
their  sad  an<l  shaniclul  conseiiuences.  Alternately  the  teaching  should 
be  based  on  the  \  ill uc  oj)pose(l  to  the  ]>arti('ular  vice  discussed  at  the 
preceding  lesson,  and  should  set  forth  as  well  its  inherent/  beauty  as  the 
moral  and  mateiial  ad\antages  associated  with  its  exercise.  Other  les- 
sons should  be  given  on  the  most  IVefiuent  \iolalioiis  of  the  ]»eiial  code, 
t'S))ccially  noting  su(;h  crimes  as  robbery,  swindling,  rape,  assault,  mur- 


PENITENTIARY    EDUCATION ITS    KINDS    AND    LIMITS.         139 

der,  &c.  lu  all  moral  instruction,  an  effort  should  be  nja<le  to  develop 
the  sentiments  of  justice,  family  affection,  and  })atriotism. 

4.  ReUijioas  education. — By  tliis  is  understood  the  Hpfctal  religious 
instruction  giveu  by  the  ministers  of  each  laith  to  the  [)risoners  attached 
to  it  who  are  ignorant  of  the  essential  truths  of  religion.  The  use  of 
the  word  special  in  describing  this  jtart  of  the  prisoner's  education 
signifted  that  such  instruction  should  be  entirely  indei)endent  of  the 
religious  instruction  given  by  the  chaplain  to  the  prisoneis  in  general. 
The  sentiment  of  religion  should  be  always  deemed  the  lust  and  strong- 
est inflnence  in  a  penitentiary  education. 

Mv.  Tallack,  of  England,  said  that  the  prisons  act,  passed  by  Parlia- 
ment in  18(!.>,  subordinated  moral  and  religions  instruction,  which  he 
believed  to  be  an  unsound  principle.  He  deplored  the  small  attention 
which  was  paid  to  convict  education  in  the  prisous  of  the  United  King- 
dom. 

Mr.  Merry,  a  Berkshire  magistrate,  deprecated  the  pursuit  of  indus- 
trial labor  to  the  exclusion  of  a  proper  attention  to  education,  maintain- 
ing that  silent  congregate  labor  left  the  head  empty  and  the  heart 
hard. 

Mr.  McFarlane,  of  England,  said  that  every  care  was  taleen  in  the 
Irish  prisons  to  provide,  first,  for  religious  and  then  for  industrial  and 
literary  instruction.  He  was  surj)rised  to  hear  Mr.  Tallack  arraign  the 
prisons  of  Ireland  on  the  score  of  neglect  in  this  particular. 

Dr.  Varrentrap,  of  Germany,  thought  that  secular  should  include  physi- 
cal education,  since  the  mental  and  moral  equilibrium  dej)euded  so  largely 
on  the 2)lii/sique.  He  believed  that  no  limit  should  be  i)laced  on  secular 
instruction,  and  favored  the  task-system  of  labor  as  affording  the  pris- 
oner a. better  opportunity  for  study. 

Miss  Mary  Carpenter,  of  England,  thought  that  society  was  bound  to 
cultivate  tlie  powers  God  had  given  to  a  prisoner,  and  so  enaUie  him  the 
better  to  discharge  his  duties  as  a  prisoner  and  a  man,  and  the  dilliculty 
attending  the  education  of  adults  should  form  no  obstacle.  She  regretted 
that  government  did  not  recognize  this  duty.  Instruction  shouhl  be  so 
imparted  as  to  be  in  itself  a  pleasure,  and  its  intiuence  would  then  be 
most  salutary,  as  tending  to  wean  })risoners  from  the  indulgence  of  their 
lower  passions.  Scholastic,  moral,  and  religious  instructions  were  closely 
allied,  and  should  not  be  separated. 

§  0.  Wlicther  it  is  expedient  in  eertain  cases  to  employ  an  imprisonment 
consisting  in  mere  privation  of  liberty  icithout  ohligation  to  work. — Count 
de  Eoresta,  of  Italy,  thought  that  crimes  of  passion,  not  implying  great 
moral  p/erversity,  should  not  be  punished  by  ordinary  imprisonment, 
but  by  simple  tletention  in  a  fortress  or  other  secure  ]>lace,  without 
the  prisoner  being  required  to  labor,  and  without  association  with  those 
sentenced  to  ordinary  imi)risonmeut.  The  natural  distinction  between 
crimes  of  jtassion  and  of  reflection  seemed  to  indicate  the  propriety  of 
making  a  difference  between  the  ])unishments  awarded  them.  Crimes 
of  the  former  category  are  frequently  committed  by  persons  v  ho  are 
young,  well  educated,  and  uncorrupted.  For  such  prisoners  he  consid- 
ered the  solitude  of  a  cell,  with  forced  labor,  merely  an  aggravation  of 
^pitnishment,  and  not  calculated  to  have  a  reformatory  intlueuce.  He 
believed  that  simple  detention,  with  the  privilege  of  reading,  attending 
to  their  own  afiairs,  and  seeing  friends,  was  a  sufficient  punishment. 
AVhat  descriptions  of  criminals  should  be  treated  in  this  manner  should 
be  determined  by  the  penal  code. 

Professor  Wladrinoff,  of  Bussia,  remarked  that  simple  infractions  of 
the  law  did  not  involve  crimiualitv.    He  thought  it  should  be  left  to  the 


140  INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

jury  to  decide  to  which  chiss  a  prisoner  belonged,  it  being  a  matter 
involving  personal  liberty. 

Mr.  Chandler,  of  Pennsylvania,  said  that  tlie  plan  snggested  by  Count 
de  Foresta  was  in  most  successful  operation  in  Pennsylvania,  and  he 
believed  that  it  might  be  made  a  success  everywhere. 

Dr.  Mouat  dissented  from  this  view.  He  had  been  connected  with 
prisons  in  India  where  such  a  system  had  been  applied,  aud  he  believed 
it  to  be  very  corruptiug. 

Dr.  Marquardsen  said  that  the  code  adopted  in  Germany  three  years 
ago  recognized  the  principle  contended  for  by  Count  de  Foresta.  The 
distinction  made  there,  however,  was  not  between  crime  and  crime,  but 
between  criminal  and  criminal,  and  it  rested  with  the  judge  to  decide 
whether  the  offender  should  be  kept  at  hard  labor  or  in  eustodia  honesta. 
The  latter  class  of  criminals  were  imprisoned  in  a  fortress.  Speaking 
for  himself  personally,  he  believed  that,  in  general,  persons  guilty  of 
minor  offenses  should  not  be  left  without  labor.  He  believed  that  the 
law  of  Germany  embodied  the  true  principle  on  this  subject.  .  Under  its 
provisions,  criminals  were  divided  into  hard-labor  prisoners  and  such  as 
were  emploj'ed  in  the  trades  and  professions  to  which  they  were  accus- 
tomed. 

§7.  Whether  seniences  for  life  are  expedient. — Baron  von  Holtzendorff", 
of  Prussia,  in  opening  the  discussion  on  this  question,  called  attention  to 
the  very  decided  difference  in  the-view  at  present  taken  of  the  object  to 
be  attained  by  i^unishment  and  that  which,  as  history  discloses,  was 
taken  in  the  past.  Salvation  was  now  universally  regarded  as  a  primary 
end  of  correction,  and  this  recognition  of  the  principle  that  men  ought 
to  be  reclaimed  led  to  the  agitation  of  the  question  under  discussion. 
He  did  not,  however,  favor  the  abolition  of  life-sentences,  if  cajtital  pun- 
ishment were  expunged  from  the  penal  code;  and  he  believed  that  all 
who  favored  the  abolition  of  the  latter  measure  must  agree  with  him. 
Imprisonment  for  life  must  remain  the  substitute  for  one  or  two  cen- 
turies at  least.  But  such  a  punishment  should,  like  all  other  punishments, 
contain  the  elements  of  ho[)e  and  fear:  fear  lest  the  term  of  imprison- 
ment be  actually  for  life,  and  hope  of  release  after  ten  or  twelve  years 
on  satisfactory  proof  of  reformation. 

Dr.  Wines  stated  that,  under  the  law  of  Missouri,  a  prisoner  sentenced 
for  life,  who  conducted  himself  with  uniform  propriety,  became  entitled 
to  his  liiterty  after  lifteen  years  in  the  state-prison. 

Dr.  Mouat  said  that  the  same  i»rincii)le!  had  been  adopted  in  India. 

Hon.  D,  Haines,  of  New  Jersey,  said  tliat  his  objection  to  lile-sentences 
lay  in  the  fact  tiiat  they  left  no  ho])e  in  the  eonvie.t/s  breast,  without 
wliicli  tliei'e  (;ould  be  no  reformation.  I'^ven  if  hoi)e  remained,  it  was 
t^)o  uncertain  and  remote  to  lia\'e  much  inlluenceon  the  i)risomn\ 

-Mr.  Stevens  agree<l  with  P>aron  von  noltzen<lorlV,  that  life-long  im- 
prisonment was  hut  the  means  to  an  end,  and  not  an  end  in  itself,  but 
that  it  was  demanded  as  a  substitute  in  the  event  of  ca])ital  punishment; 
Ix'ing  al)oIisIie(l.  Theoretically  s[)eakiiig,  i)erpetual  penalties  should  not 
exist. 

Mi-.  V'aiu-Iier-('iemieu\',  of  Switzerland,  thought  that  the  security  of 
society  forlta<h'  tlu^  lilteratioii  of  an  assassin  or  ai  man  condemned  to 
imprisoiimeiil  for  life.     'J'he  possiltility  of  a,  iclease  would  iciidei'  society 

Une;is\'. 

Mr.  Hastings,  of  lOngland,  said  that  in  that  country  thei'e  was  ])racti- 
cally  no  such  thing  as  imprisonnu'iit  for  life.  '^IMiough  such  sentene«\s 
were  j)ass<'(l,  hope  always  remained,  the  prisonei-  being  unilbrmly  liber- 


SHOULD    KECIDIVISTS    RECEIVE    SEVERER    TREATMENT?      141 

ated  by  tlie  Tiome  secretary  in  the  event  of  good  conduct  for  a  number 
of  years. 

§  8.  Whether  prisoners,  on  reconviction,  should  he  subjected  to  a  more 
severe  disciplinary  treatment — Mr.  S.  Petersen,  of  Bavaria,  said  that  a 
recidivist  apparently  deserved  severer  treatment  for  the  obstinacy  of 
his  criminal  propensities.  Yet  in  view  of  the  fact  that  courts,  in  pro- 
nouncing- sentence,  always  took  into  consideration  the  circumstance  of 
a  previous  conviction,  and,  as  a  consequence,  increased  the  length  of 
the  sentence,  if  the  prison  authorities  also  increased  the  severity  of 
the  punishment  by  a  sterner  discii)linary  treatment,  the  prisoner  was 
punished  twice,  which  was  manifestly  unfair.  The  judge  alone  should 
award  the  increase  of  punishment. 

Mr.  Ploos  van  Amstel,  of  Holland,  was  of  the  same  opinion. 

Dr.  Frey,  of  Austria,  maintained  that  recidivists  should  be  more 
severely  treated.  They  felt  this  more  sensibly  than  longer  sentences. 
In  the  prison  of  Carlan,  in  Styria,  where  there  were  three  stages  of  im- 
prisonment, the  iirst  of  which  was  exceedingly  punitive,  recidivists 
might  be  kept  in  the  most  severe  stage  for  one-half  their  sentence,  while 
those  sentenced  for  a  first  otfense  were  never  kept  in  this  stage  for  more 
than  one-third  of  the  time.     The  results  of  this  system  had  been  good. 

Kev.  Mr.  Eobin,  of  France,  was  convinced,  by  fifteen  years'  experience 
as  prison  chaplain,  that  the  recidivist  was  never  reformed  by  aggra- 
vated treatment.  He  gave  an  account  of  two  men  in  a  prison  where  he 
had  been  chaplain,  on  whom  such  treatment  was  tried.  One  died  under 
it,  and  the  other  grew  morose  and  stubborn;  but  when,  at  his  request, 
the  discipline  was  a  little  relaxed,  the  convict  changed  his  course  of 
conduct,  and  eventually,  upon  release,  gave  satisfactory  evidence  of  refor- 
mation. Firmness  should  always  be  blended  with  kindness.  To  pro- 
vide a  discharged  prisoner  the  means  and  o])portunity  of  eating  honest 
bread  was  a  more  effectual  safeguard  against  relapses  than  a  severity 
which  was  hostile  to  humanity  and  Christianity. 

M.  Stevens  did  not  think  that  prison  authorities  should  aggravate 
the  punishment.  The  law  should  give  longer  sentences  to  recidivists, 
but  all  should  receive  the  same  treatment  in  prison;  otherwise,  there 
would  be  arbitrary  differences,  and  the  severity  would  go  on  iucreasing 
for  the  third  and  fourth  offenses.  It  should  be  remembered  that  relapse 
was  frequently  caused  by  the  prisoner  finding  every  door  closed  against 
him  on  his  discharge. 

Count  Sollohub,  of  Eussia,  thought  that  the  proper  punishment  of 
recidivisits  was  a  question  for  the  law,  and  not  for  the  prison  authori- 
ties. If  the  severity  of  the  disci [)line  were  increased  upon  each  convic- 
tion, a  degree  of  severity  would  ultimately  be  reached,  incompatible 
with  reformatory  influences.  He  agreed  with  Mr.  Eobin  that  ])risoners' 
aid  societies  were  the  best  means  of  preventing  relapses  and  re-instating 
a  prisoner  in  society. 

Dr.  Guillaume,  of  Switzerland,  said  that  in  that  country  recidivists 
were  sentenced  for  a  longer  period  than  other  criminals.  In  some  can- 
tons they  were  condemned  to  bread  and  water  two  or  three  days  a  week. 
This  practice  he  did  not  favor,  since  it  ofteu  left  the  prisoners  in  such  a 
state  of  debility  as  to  render  a  relapse  easier.  He  deprecated  recourse 
to  a  severity  condemned  by  Christianity. 

Count  de  Foresta  thought,  with  Count  Sollohub,  that  the  law,  and 
not  the  prison  authorities,  should  prescribe  the  punishment  of  recidi- 
vists. He  thought  that  any  other  plan  would  tend  to  cruelty.  As  Mr. 
Stevens  had  remarked,  the  fact  that  society  was  too  ofteu  responsible 
for  a  prisoner's  relapse  should  prevent  excessive  severity.    He  was  fur- 


142  INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

ther  opposed  to  the  term  recidivist  being;  applied  to  a  man,  one  of  whose 
two  oti'enses  bad  been  a  crime  of  passion  or  exoiteiiient. 

Rev.  Dr.  Bittiuger,  of  Pennsylvania,  advocated  an  increase  of  pnnish- 
ment  for  each  new  ofteuse.  In  order  to  effect  reformation,  we  must  ap- 
peal to  tlie  criminal's  sense  of  jnstice,  but  he  wonld  despise  the  justice 
which  had  the  same  pnuishmeut  for  the  bnrglar,  convicted  of  liis  fif- 
teenth oftense,  as  for  the  novice  in  crime. 

Mrs.  Julia  Ward  Howe,  of  Boston,  thought  that  the  criminal  should 
be  shown  something  better  than  his  own  savage  standard  of  Justice. 

§  9.  ^yhat  oufiht  to  be  the  ma.riniHni  of  imprisonment,  celluUir  or  other- 
wise, for  terms  less  than  life  ^ — Dr.  ]\[arquardsen,  of  Bavaria,  said  this 
question  was  not  so  much  one  of  principle  as  of  adaptation  to  local 
circumstances.  In  general,  however,  he  would  say  that  the  maximum 
ought  to  be  fifteen  years,  with  the  possibility  of  reduction  for  good  be- 
liavior.  He  believed,  however,  that  the  character  of  the  punishment, 
as  to  mildness  or  severity,  as  well  as  its  duration,  should  vary  according 
to  the  heinousness  or  veniality  of  the  offeuse ;  and  in  fixing  the  du- 
ration regard  should  be  paid  to  the  character  of  the  punishment.  In 
Germany,  cellular  imprisonment  was  generally  limited  to  three  years. 
He  disapproved  of  the  English  system  of  sentences,  under  which  there 
was  no  intermediate  term  between  two  years  and  five. 

Dr.  Frey  stated  that  in  Austria  the  term  of  isolated  confinement  did 
not  exceed  three  years,  while  the  longest  term  of  imprisonment  was 
twenty  years. 

Mr.  Stevens  stated  that  in  Belgium  the  maximum  of  cellular  confine- 
ment had  been  reduced  from  twenty  years  to  ten,  and  then  to  nine  and 
a  half,  when,  if  a  man  was  found  to  be  no  better,  he  was  placed  in  a  con- 
gregate prison.  It  had  not  been  found,  however,  that  prisoners  sufiered 
more,  either  in  mind  or  body,  under  the  cellular  than  under  the  congre- 
gate system. 

j\Ir.  ^b:)ncure,  of  Scotland,  said  that  in  the  prison  at  Perth  it  had 
been  found  that  cellular  confinement  for  more  than  three  years  pro- 
du(*ed  insanity,  notwithstanding  that  the  prisoners  had  employment 
and  conimunicated  with  chaplain,  magistrates,  and  otficers. 

Jiaron  ^lackay  said  that  in  Holland  the  nmxiinum  of  cellular  confine- 
ment was,  in  l.S.">l,  fixed  at  six  months,  but  had  been  increased,  first  to 
one  year  and  then  to  two,  and  a  further  increase  was  favored.  The 
term  would  proliably  be  extended  to  three  years  as  soon  as  the  number 
of  cells  was  sulficient. 

Sir  Walter  Crotlon  referred  to  experiments  carefully  made  at  Penton- 
villc,  England,  under  the  direction  of  Sir  Joshua  Jebb.  formerly  director 
of  (;()nvi<'t-[»risons,  tin;  results  of  which  showed  that  eighteen  months 
was  the  longest  possil)le  i»eriod  for  which  isolation  could  be  safely  main- 
tained. During  the  time  when  transportation  was  employed  as  a  means 
of  jtunislunent  under  the  English  law,  the  surgeons  at  the  penal  sta- 
tions in  the  colonies  reported  tiiat  the  condition  of  those  men  who  had 
been  kept  in  stiict  cellular  continement  for  a  period  of  from  two  to  two 
and  a  half  years  before  being  transported  was  particularly  unsatisfac- 
tory. They  were,  found  to  have  sutfered  to  some  extent  in  their  nnnds, 
and  their  wills  were  broken  down.  It  was  such  reports  as  these  that 
(;aused  the  reduction  of  t  he  term  of  cellular  confinement  to  ninc^  months. 

«  10.  Whclhrr  or  not  imprisonment  shonld  he  nniform  in  nidure,  and  dif- 
fer on  h/  in  hiif/th. — (!(.unt  SoPohub,  of  K'ussia,  in  oi)ening  the  discus- 
HJon  on  this  (|uestion,  remarked  that  the  ol)ject  of  a  hospital  was  not  to 
ke,<'p  its  [)atients,  hut  to  send  them  out  cured.  In  like  manner,  the 
ol)ject  of  a  prison  should  be  to  combat  the  moral  malady,  and  return 


PRISON   LABOR PENAL    AND    INDUSTRIAL.  14.3 

patients  to  society  cured.  As  hospitals,  moreover,  endeavor  to  ^uard 
aiiuinsr  a  rela|)se  into  physical  disease,  so  the  prison  authorities  shoukl 
direct  their  efforts  to  ])revent  a  rehipso  into  tlie  moral  disease  of  crime. 
It  should  be  considered  in  every  case  whether  the  offense  was  the  result 
of  perversity  and  a  passion  for  crime,  or  of  some  sudden  excitement  or 
temptation.  Different  classes  of  criuiiuals,  like  differently-affected  pa- 
tients, required  various  kinds  of  treatuient,  and  every  precautionshould 
be  taken  against  contagion,  by  which  the  disease  mijiht  be  aggravated 
and  a  cure  rendered  more  difficult.  Each  kind  of  prison  should  have  a 
s})ecial  aim  ;  a  prison  which  attempted  to  effect  two  different  objects 
would  succeed  in  neither.  There  should  be  two  classes  of  prisons:  one 
for  convicts  whose  characters  evidenced  moral  perversity,  the  other  for 
those  whose  offenses  were  the  result  of  a  sudden  break-down  of  princi- 
l»le  or  of  uncontrolled  passion.  This  was  the  principle  of  division  fol- 
lowed in  liussia. 

Dr.  Mouat  admitted  that  it  was  desirable  to  make  punislnneut  pro- 
portionate to  guilt,  but  feared  that  there  was  no  moral  barometer  by 
which  guilt  could  be  strictly  measured. 

Count  de  Foresta,  of  Italy,  said  there  existed  in  that  country  and  in 
France  three  classes  of  puinshment:  sentences  to  sim])le  imprisonment, 
to  reclusion,  and  to  hard  labor.  The  first  class  could  not  exceed  five 
years,  except  in  the  case  of  recidivists,  whose  term  might  be  doubled. 
The  prisoner  was  employed  in  industrial  labor.  Eeclusion  had  five 
years  as  a  minimum  and  ten  years  as  a  maximum,  and  involved  the 
loss  of  civil  rights.  Hard  labor  implied  civic  degradation  and  civil 
death,  and  persons  sentenced  to  it  for  a  term  remained  subject  for  their 
lives  to  police-supervision.  Speaking  for  himself,  he  did  not  favor  this 
system.  He  contended  that  there  should  be  but  one  kind  of  sentence, 
the  only  difference  being  in  length,  and  there  should  be  different  pris- 
ons with  different  disciplines  for  the  various  terms  of  imprisonment. 
Prisoners  for  three  or  four  years  should  not  be  placed  in  the  same 
buildings  or  treated  in  the  same  way  as  those  sentenced  for  ten  or  fif- 
teen years. 

'§11. — Prison  lahor — penal  and  industrial. — The  question  whether 
prison  labor  should  be  merely  penal,  or  whether  it  should  be  industrial 
only,  or  whether  there  should  be  a  mixture  of  both,  was  introduced  by 
Mr.  Frederic  Hill,  of  England.  Mr.  Hill  declared  himself  an  earnest 
advocate  of  industrial,  as  opposed  to  purely  lienal,  labor,  such  as  the 
crank,  tread- mill,  shot  drill,  &c.  He  recapitulated  the  main  arguments 
for  and  against  industrial  labor  in  prisons.  Its  opponents,  he  said, 
based  their  hostility  mainly  on  four  grounds:  1,  that  it  renders  im- 
prisonuieut  less  irksome,  and  consequently  less  deterrent,  than  it 
should  be;  2,  that  it  is  difficult  to  procure  for  prisoners  such  kinds 
of  work  as  Avill  be  really  remunerative;  3,  that,  however  suited  to 
long  imprisonments,  industrial  labor  is  not  adapted  to  short  sentences; 
and,  4,  that  its  introduction  into  prisons  subjects  the  honest,  free  laborers 
outside  to  unfair  competition.  In  reply  to  the  first  objection,  Mr.  Hill 
urged  that  irksonieuess  is  not  the  chief  end  of  prison  discipline.  It 
neither  prepares  the  prisoner  for  a  life  of  honest  industry  himself  nor 
eradicates  motives  to  corrui)t  others,  while  it  is  highly  improbable  that 
its  deterrent  effect  on  others  would  be  at  all  commensurate  with  the 
evils  it  engenders  in  those  who  are  brought  under  such  a  system — the 
irritation,  resentment,  obstinacy,  and  hardness  which  it  unquestionably 
produces;  besides  which,  the  confinement  of  a  prison  and  the  other 
privations  attendant  upon  a  convict's  life  are  in  themselves  sufliciently 
irksome.    The  only  true  test  whether  a  prison  has  become  attractive,  is 


144  IXTERXATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

to  opeu  wide  its  doors  to  all  comers,  witliout  demanding?,  as  now,  a 
qualification  of  crime.  But  altbougb,  during  a  considerable  part  of 
Mr.  HilFs  service  as  prison-inspector  in  Scotland,  free  entrance  was 
really  given,  altliougb  no  legal  provision  was  made  for  tlie  able-bodied 
poor,  and  altbougli  industrial  labor  was  required  of  all,  tbe  proportion 
of  paupers  to  compulsory  ])risoners  was  seldom  more  tban  one  to  fifty. 
To  tbe  second  objection,  Mr.  Hill  opposed  bis  own  experience  iis  in- 
spector in  Scotland,  where  tbe  main  difiticulties  be  encountered  lay  in 
tbe  shortness  of  tbe  sentences  and  tbe  indisposition  and  incapacity  of 
prison  governors  and  their  subordinates  for  this  special  duty.  The 
third  argument  Mr.  Hill  met  by  sbowing,  first,  that,  even  in  cases  of 
short  imi)risonment,  labor,  productive  in  some  degree  at  least,  can 
always  be  provided;  and,  secondly,  tbat  when  such  punishments  are 
but  repetitions,  often  twenty  or  thirty  times  in  succession,  of  the 
same  penalty,  the  true  remedy  is  not  to  render  tbe  system  of 
discipline  suitable  to  so  absurd  a  practice,  but,  by  a  change  in  the  law, 
to  get  rid  of  tbe  practice  itself. 

In  answer  to  the  allegation  of  injustice  done  to  honest  mechanics  by 
introducing  trades  into  prisons,  Mr.  Hill  pointed  out  tbat  from  the  ex- 
tremely small  amount  of  manufacturing  carried  on  at  penal  institutions 
the  competition  must  uecessarilj-  be  very  small ;  and  that  from  the  caiiB 
that  a  public  department  would  be  likely  to  take  to  avoid  precipitancy 
in  selling  below  tbe  market-rates,  the  danger  to  ordinary  trade  from 
prison  labor  would  probably  be  less  than  from  the  same  amount  of  free 
labor.  Moreover,  cheapness  in  price  is  an  advantage  to  the  greater 
number,  so  that,  even  granting  tbat  prison  manufactures  did  sensibly'' 
atiect  tbe  permanent  prices  of  articles,  which  he  denied,  such  effect 
would  be  a  good  rather  tban  an  evil.  And,  as  a  last  consideration,  he 
urged  that  every  shilling  saved  to  the  public  by  prison  earnings  is  a 
shilling  added  to  tbat  fund  from  which  wages  must  be  paid. 

Having  thus  noticed  tbe  arguments  of  tbe  advocates  of  penal  labor, 
Mr.  Hill  ]>roceede(l  briefly  to  enumerate  the  grounds  of  his  advocacy  of 
the  universal  introduction  of  remunerative  industrial  labor  into  prisons. 
The  following  is  a  summary :  1.  That  to  make  labor  useful  ami  i)rb- 
ductive  in  i)rison,  as  well  as  out  of  prison,  is  in  accordance  with  nature  ; 
tbat  to  strip  it  of  these  qualities  is,  if  ilot  absolutely  unnatural,  at 
least  artificial ;  a  course  demanding  justification  and  proof  of  its 
l)ropri«'ty — a  jtroof  not  given.  2.  Tbat  by  means  of  useful  and  produc- 
tive labor  much  of  tlie  cost  to  society  of  tbe  apprelieusion,  trial,  and 
imprisoniiient  of  <;riniinals  may  be  repaid  and  soinetbing  at  least  done 
toward  indemnifying  tbe  jiersons  wronged.  3.  Tbat  such  eniph^yment, 
being  ficc  Ijom  eveiytbing  tbat  is  rej)nlsive  and  degrading,  becomes 
associated  in  tbe  i)ris()ner\s  mind  witb  ])leusural)le  tboughts,  and  tends 
to  make  bim  look  upon  work  as  deseiving  of  respect.  4,  'JMiat  by  tbis 
kind  of  work  a  jirisoner,  besides  making  tbe  payments  mentioned  under 
tbe  se(;ond  licad,  may  help  to  sujtport  Ids  family  and  may  i)r()vi(le  afund 
Avitb  wliic]i,at  tLie  end  of  liis  continement,  (iitber  to  i»ay  tbe  (;ost  of  emi- 
gration or  to  liave  tlio  means  of  making  a.  fresh  and  honest  start  in  his 
own  country.  5.  Tbat  [)risoners  wbo  bave  been  emi)loyed  in  useful  and 
])roilu(;tive  work  ari^,  at  tlu;ir  liberation,  much  better  armed  against 
relapse  into  crime,  as  wellasmucb  better  i)re|)ai('d  to  obtain  an  honest 
li\  ing,  tban  tbose  wbose  lal»or  lias  l)eeii  merely  jienal,  and  tbat,  in  fact, 
tbe  proportion  snbse(|iiently  doing  well  is  niiieli  larger, 

-Majftr  i'liUbrd,  go\criior  of  Slalford  jail,  lOnglaiid,  contended  that 
]»iisons  were  not  lelbrmatories,  but,  sboiild  be  a,  terror  to  evil  doers. 
Jle  considered  tbat  penal  lal)or  was  necessary  in  the  case  of  "repeaters,'' 


PRISON    LABOR PENAL    AND    INDUSTRIAL.  145 

siuce  the  professional  thief  or  drunkard  was  utterly  insensible  to  high 
moral  teaching*.  He  thought,  however,  that  such  otfenders  should  not 
be  kept  in  a  county  jail,  but  sent  to  a  convict  establishment  for  a  period 
long  enough  to  eradicate  his  evil  habits. 

General  Pilsbury,  of  Albany,  thought  penal  labor  destitute  of  any 
reformatory  element.  He  had  always  found  in  American  prisons  that 
the  most  successful  institutions,  in  a  reformatory  point  of  view,  were 
those  where  industrial  labor  was  so  managed  as  to  produce  a  substan- 
tial income. 

Dr.  Wines  brought  to  the  attention  ot  the  congress  the  large  indus- 
trial prison  of  Count  Sollohub,  at  Moscow,  the  reformatory  results  of 
whose  discipline  were  remarkable,  only  nine  prisoners  having  returned 
during  six  years  out  of  2,100  discharged.  At  this  prison,  each  convict 
was  permitted  to  choose  the  trade  he  would  learn,  and,  on  mastering  it, 
was  allowed  two-thirds  of  his  earnings.  So  great  a  stimulus  was  this 
to  industry  that  a  man  often  became  a  skilled  workman  in  two  months. 
To  this  system  the  distinguished  count  attributed  the  surprising  reform- 
atory results  mentioned  above. 

Mr.  Hibbert,  M.  P.,  of  England,  said  that  an  act  of  Parliament  of  1SG5 
provided  that  the  visiting  magistrates  might,  under  the  sanction  of  the 
home  secretary,  substitute  other  forms  of  hard  labor  for  the  tread-mill, 
crank,  and  shot-drill.  In  Salford  prison,  penal  labor  was  required  of  all 
prisoners  during  the  first  three  months  of  their  sentence,  after  which 
they  might  be  employed  in  carpet-weaving,  cocoa-mat  making,  &c. 
Nor  was  the  penal  labor  wholly  unproductive,  siuce  the  tread-mill,  besides 
pumping  water  for  prison  uses,  supplied  motive-power  for  the  industrial 
labor.  The  prison  earnings  last  year  defrayed  all  expenses  except  the 
salaries  of  officers.  The  sentences  were,  as  a  rule,  too  short  to  allow  of 
industrial  labor  being  successfully  carried  on ;  out  of  (3,163  prisoners, 
4,110  having  been  sent  for  terms  less  than  a  month,  of  whom  2,031  were 
sentenced  for  only  seven  days.  Industrial  labor  being  impossible  under 
such  sentences,  he  favored  penal  labor  on  the  ground  of  its  deterrent 
inflnence. 

Sir  John  Bowring  vehemently  condemned  the  tread-mill,  and  rejoiced 
that  continental  languages  had  no  word  for  it.  It  should  be  called  a 
work- waster  or  wind-raiser.  It  hardened  the  old  jail-bird,  leading  him  to 
associate  labor' with  non-productiveness,  who  well  knew  how  to  cast  all 
the  burden  on  the  weaker  or  less  experienced  prisoners. 

Mr.  Ploos  van  Amstel,  of  Holland,  said  that  remunerative  industrial 
labor  was  adopted  in  the  Dutch  prisons,  a  portion  of  the  prisoners 
w^ages  going  to  himself.  He  believed  this  system  beneficial  alike  to  the 
state  and  to  the  prisoner. 

Colonel  Colvill,  governor  of  Coldbath  Fields  prison,  London,  said 
that  he  had  the  largest  tread-mill  in  England  in  his  prison,  six  hundred 
men  being  employed  on  it  at  one  time.  He  never  knew  a  man  improved 
by  it.  On  the  other  hand,  accidents  frequently  occurred;  many  had 
their  legs  and  arms  broken ;  vejy  recently  a  man  undergoing  a  short 
sentence  broke  both  his  legs.  It  was,  moreover,  unfair,  since  the  old 
hands  could  readily  shift  all  the  labor  on  their  younger  associates, 
who,  especially  if  weak-chested,  were  sometimes  injured  for  life. 

Mr.  Stevens,  of  Belgium,  protested  against  all  labor  the  tendency  of 
which  was  to  brutalize  the  prisoner.  Penal  labor  was  unknown  on  the 
continent. 

Dr.  Mouat  said  that  during  his  experience  in  India  he  had  found 
non-productive  labor  brutalizing.     The  tread-mill  was  tried  at  Calcutta, 
but  caused  many   accidents  and  was  abolished  as  cruel  and  unjust. 
H.  Ex.  185 10 


146  INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

The  anger  and  bitterness  shown  by  prisoners  on  asceuding  or  descend- 
ing it  had  always  made  him  feel  that  it  was  unchristian.  To  make 
prisoners  miserable  is  not  the  true  way  to  regenerate  them.  They  must 
have  an  interest  in  their  work,  and  be  taught  to  apply  it  to  useful  pur- 
poses. The  prisoners  under  his  charge  had,  during  the  last  five  or  six 
years  of  his  administration,  repaid  by  their  labor  40  per  cent,  of  the 
cost  of  their  maintenancej  thus  relieving  the  tax-payers  and  preserving 
the  convicts'  self-respect. 

Dr.  Frey,  of  Austria,  said  that  in  the  Austrian  prisons  industrial 
labor  prevailed.  This  alone  would  call  forth  the  full  working  powers  of 
the  prisoner. 


CHAPTEE  XIX. 

THE  PRISONER   AFTER   HIS   LIBERATION. 

§  1.  Best  mode  of  aidinfj  dlsoliarged  prisoners. — Mr.  Murray  Browne,, 
secretarj'  of  the  Metropolitan  Discharged  Prisoners'  Relief  Society  of 
London,  opened  the  discussion  with  a  paper  showing  the  operation  of 
the  English  system  of  aiding  liberated  prisoners.  The  thirty-four 
societies  established  for  this  purpose  are  all  voluntary  associations  of 
benevolent  persons.  The  majority,  however,  possess  a  semi-official 
character,  from  the  fact  that  the  gratuities  allowed  by  law  to  the  pris- 
oner on  his  discharge  are,  instead  of  being  given  to  him  dii-ectly,  placed 
in  the  hands  of  a  prisoners'  aid  society  in  trust,  the  society  being  re- 
({uired  to  account  for  each  sum  so  received,  which  varies  in  amount 
from  a  few  shillings  to  £3.  Tiie  additional  funds  required  by  the  socie- 
ties for  the  ])rosecution  of  their  work  are  raised  by  voluntary  contri- 
bution. 

These  societies  may  be  divided  into  two  classes :  those  which  'assist 
men  and  those  which  assist  women.  Of  the  former,  only  two  maintain 
homes  or  refuges.  The  most  important  of  these  is  the  Wakelield  In- 
dustrial Home,  where  discharged  prisoners  are  maintained  as  inmates, 
and  kept  at  industrial  work,  often  for  a  considerable  time,  until  employ- 
ment can  be  procured  for  them  elsewhere. 

Tills  system  has  been  tried  in  many  other  parts  of  England;  but, 
although  its  success  at  AVakelield  has  been  admirable,  elsewhere  it  has 
failed,  and  a  majority  of  the  societies  prefer  another  plan.  They  aim  to 
find  work  for  the  i)risoner  as  soon  as  possible,  to  provide  him  with  pecu- 
niary sui)port  while  waiting,  and  to  aid  him  morally,  by  advice  and 
assistance,  as  far  as  may  be  in  their  power.  The  most  difficult  part  of 
their  task  is  the  finding  of  employment.  Eor  this  purpose  a  paid  agent 
— usually  an  old  ])olice-officer — is  emi)loyed,  who  is  required  to  use  great 
judgnuMit  and  ]>erseverance.  It  is  found,  in  general,  that  the  prisoner's 
best  diance  lies  in  a  return  to  his  own  neighborhood,  there  to  resume 
his  former  trade  or  occui)ation.  Immigration  is  very  seldom  resorted  to, 
rhi(!Hy  on  account  of  (expense.  iMiiny  lads  are  sent  to  sea  in  the  mer- 
chant-scrvi(;(^  As  a  rule,  the  dilliculties  in  the  way  of  obtaining  situa- 
tions Ibr  (lischarg(!<l  male  jjrisoncrs  are  not  of  such  a  nature  that  they 
cannot  be  ovi-rcomci  by  tact  and  energy.  IMiere  ari^,  however,  some  per- 
sons fitted  only  for  situations  involving  trust,  such  as  clerks  and  others, 
leu-  whom  it  is  veiy  haid  to  fiiul  (Mnpioynu'ut.  The  society  with  which 
Mr.  Jlrowne  is  himself  connected  has,  for  the  jjast  eight  years,  aided  live 
liundred  liberated  luisoiu'rs  auuiuilly  ;  and  it  has  been  the  (experience  of 
that  oigaui/ation  that  it.  isiie\ei'  necessary  to  turn  adrill  a  nuiu  able 


AID    TO    DISCTfAliGED    PRISONERS.  147 

and  willing  to  work  becanse  no  work  could  be  found  for  him.  This,  Mr. 
Browne  stated,  was  the  general  experience  of  prisoners'  aid  societies 
throughout  England.  And  it  further  appears,  from  the  records  of  his 
society  and  others,  that  not  more  than  5  per  cent,  of  those  who  have 
been  assisted  in  finding  work  have  been  recommitted. 

The  societies  which  aid  discharged  female  prisoners  have,  in  some 
respects,  a  more  difticult  task,  since,  with  the  exception  of  a  certain 
number  of  first  convictions,  almost  all  convicted  women  in  England  are 
prostitutes  as  well  as  thieves,  thus  requiring  a  double  treatment.  Be- 
sides which,  private  families  very  naturally  object  to  receiving  women 
fresh  from  the  prison  walls,  the  genuineness  of  whose  reformation  has 
not  been  tested.  Accordingly,  all  female  prisoners'  aid  societies  employ 
homes  of  some  sort  or  other. 

The  refuges  for  convict-women  {L  e.,  women  who  have  been  sentenced 
to  five  years'  penal  servitude)  are  three  in  number,  and  possess  a  defi- 
nite ofiticial  character,  somewhat  resembling  the  intermediate  prisons  of 
the  Crofton,  or  Irish,  system.  No  prisoner  is  allowed  to  enter  them 
until  she  has  received  a  certain  number  of  marks  in  prison  and  has 
served  a  fixed  proportion  of  her  sentence,  when  she  receives  a  ticlcct  of 
leave  and,  at  her  own  request  enters  the  home,  from  which  she  may  be 
returned  to  the  prison  for  misconduct.  While  she  remains  at  the  refuge, 
she  is  employed  in  inilustrial  labor.  When  the  sentences  of  the  inmates 
expire,  the  managers  find  employment — usually  at  domestic  service — 
for  all  those  who  require  it.  The  results  are  of  the  most  satisfactory 
description.  These  homes  for  convict- women,  being,  in  one  sense,  a  part 
of  the  prison  system,  are  partially  supported  by  the  state,  but  in  part  also 
by  voluntary  contributions. 

Other  societies  aiding  discharged  female  prisoners  exercise  their  own 
discretion  as  to  the  women  they  receive  into  their  homes.  They  have 
no  legal  control  over  the  inmates,  nor  do  the}"  receive  any  considerable 
assistance  from  state  funds.  They  usually  place  their  proteges  at  do- 
mestic service  when  they  leave  the  homes. 

Mr.  Browne  stated  that  the  societies  in  general  found  themselves 
greatly  hampered  in  their  work  by  the  want  of  funds,  which,  he  re- 
marked, was  to  be  deplored  on  economic  as  well  as  reformatory  grounds, 
since  the  pecuniary  gain  to  the  state-coffers  from  the  reformation  of  even 
a  few  prisoners  would  i)ay  the  whole  expense  of  a  prisoners'  aid  society 
over  and  over  again.  He  was  of  opinion,  therefore,  that  liberal  assist- 
ance should  be  granted  from  the  public  funds  to  these  organizations. 

Mr.  Powell,  of  Xew  York,  believed  it  to  be  the  duty  of  government  to 
found  asylums  for  discharged  prisoners,  which  should  not  be  called 
prisons  or  houses  of  refuge,  but  industrial  institutions.  These  institu- 
tions he  would  have  conducted  in  some  measure  on  the  co-operative 
plan,  so  that  the  laborer  should  share  the  advantages  of  his  toil.  In 
addition  to  these  establishments  there  should  be  in  every  community 
voluntary  societies  for  aiding  discharged  inisoners.  Lastly,  he  believed 
that  prisoners  should  be  taught  the  lesson  of  abstinence  from  intoxi- 
cating liquors  as  a  beverage. 

M.  d'Alinge,  of  Saxony,  considered  the  question  under  discussion  a 
most  important  one.  There  were  in  his  country  several  societies  for  the 
aid  of  liberated  jirisoners,  King  John  having  founded  the  first  forty  years 
ago.  Lately  these  societies  had  been  extending  help  to-  the  families  of 
discharged  prisoners  also. 

Mr.  Kankin,  of  England,  said  that  he  was  honorary  secretary  of  a 
society  which  undertook  the  care  of  prisoners  discharged  from  convict- 
I)risons  exclusively,  while  the  other  thirty-three  societies  took  care  of 


148  INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

those  discbaroed  from  county  prisons.  The  record  of  re-convictious 
from  1809  to  1871  showed  that  of  those  whom  his  society  had  aided  less 
that  6  per  cent,  had  relapsed  into  crime. 

Baron  Mackay,  of  Holland,  stated  that  in  the  Ketherlauds  a  society 
for  the  aid  of  discharged  prisoners  had  existed  since  1823.  Members 
of  the  society  visit  the  prisons  and  distribute  good  books  to  the  in- 
mates. On  a  prisoner's  discharge  the  society  tries  to  find  a  situation 
for  him,  gives  him  clothing  and  tools,  or,  rather,  pays  for  his  emigration. 
Especially  are  juvenile  otieuders  made  the  object  of  its  care.  The 
society  formerly  maintained,  at  the  city  of  Ley  den,  a  school  for  the 
training  of  this  class  of  delinquents  for  the  navy.  Unfortunately,  how- 
ever, owing  to  the  refusal  of  the  government  to  receive  the  inmates  as 
volunteers,  this  institution  had  to  be  abandoned.  The  society  has  many 
branches  in  different  places  in  Holland,  and  in  sundry  towns  it  has 
ladies'  committees  to  visit  female  prisoners  and  promote  their  getting 
situations  after  their  discharge.  Experience  has  shown  how  eminently 
fit  ladies  are  for  these  duties. 

Mrs.  Meredith,  of  England,  founder  and  manager  of  an  establishment 
for  the  aid  of  discharged  female  prisoners,  presented  a  paper  in  which 
the  increased  proportion,  year  by  year,  of  recommitments  of  women 
■was  noticed,  and  the  proposition  that  it  was  impossible  to  help  this 
class  of  criminals  efiiciently  without  the  aid  of  women  was  strenuously 
urged. 

Kev.  Mr.  E.  Eobin,  honorary  secretary  of  the  Paris  Protestant  Dis- 
charged Prisoners'  Aid  Society,  said  that  in  Prance  the  work  of  caring 
for  discharged  prisoners  (called  patronage)  embraced  industrial,  moral, 
and  religious  instruction.  Its  aim  was  twofold,  ^iz  :  First,  to  improve 
the  prisoners'  moral  condition :  and,  secondly,  to  remove  the  distrust 
felt  toward  them,  thus  removing  the  two  chief  causes  of  their  relapse 
into  crime.  The  patronage  extended  by  the  Paris  society  commences 
by  making  a  selection  of  the  prisoners,  through  visiting  them  while 
in  confinement,  and  by  supplying  them  with  religious  books.  On  his 
discharge,  the  prisoner  receives  a  card,  and  is  thereby  constituted  a 
proiege  of  the  society,  who  furnish  him  Avith  food  and  clothing  (no 
money  is  given)  for  a  few  days.  When  he  obtains  work,  the  society 
still  Avatches  over  him,  and  he  is  reijuired  to  report  to  them  every 
change  of  residence,  tlie  society  still  lending  him  material  aid  and 
moral  support  until  he  has  become  completely  rehabilitated.  This  sys- 
tem luul  [)roved  very  efficacious,  not  more  than  5  per  cent,  of  those  so 
aided  liaving  relapsed  into  crime.  jNIr.  Pobin  ])articularly  urged  the 
necessity  of  the  aid  societies  having  free  access  to  the  prisoners  before 
their  discharge. 

Mr.  Murray  JJrownc  agreed  with  Mr.  Pobiii  that  patronage  should 
begin  in  the  prison,  and  observed  that  that  was  practically  dono  in 
England,  since  the  clia])lain  was  invariably  either  a  member  or  the  sec- 
retary of  a  jirisonei's'  aid  society. 

A  nu-mber  from  J''i'ance  i)resente(l  an  a(jcount  of  the  work  of  the  ])at- 
ronage  eoinmitlee  of  Protestant  ladies  at  JMontpelier.  Tiiis  society 
maintains  a  honu'  ibr  dis(;liitrged  I'lolestant  female  ])ris()ners,  where 
religious  inshuetion  is  given,  and  tlie  managers  of  which  eiidea^vor  to 
lind  situations  (bi-  those  inmates  who  give  satisfactory  evidence  of  ref- 
oiinatioM.     "J'lie  results  wer(;  re]>res(!nted  as  most  gratifying. 

Dr.  (luillaunie,  of  Swit/.erhmd,  tluaiglit  that  tlie  assistaiu'e  given  to 
discliMrged  prisoners  should  be  both  moral  and  industrial,  and  should 
be  given  both  by  the  .stat«'  and  by  voluntary  so(;ieties.  Nor  should  the 
iniporf:iTu*e  of  teaching  prisoners  a  trade  in  ]irison  bi*  overlooked,  since 


REHABILITATION    OF    PRISONERS.  149 

this  would  be  of  material  assistauce  to  them  on  discharge.  Employ- . 
ment,  too,  should  be  provided  for  them  as  soon  as  possible,  lest  the 
prisoner,  while  wandering  about  in  search  of  work,  should  lose  his 
desire  for  it  and  once  more  fall  into  evil  ways.  '  The  prevalent  opinion 
in  Switzerland  was  that  the  Crot'ton  system  best  attained  these  desired 
objects. 

Mr.  Bremner,  of  England,  said  that  the  experience  of  prisoners'  aid 
societies  in  that  country  showed  but  little  success  in  dealing-  with  female 
criminals,  which  he  attributed  in  great  measure  to  the  fact  that  female 
visitors  and  agents  were  not  employed.  The  aid  furnished  to  the  socie- 
ties by  the  state,  too,  was  inadequate.  So  important  did  he  consider 
the  work  of  aiding  discharged  i^risoners  that  he  believed  that  some  plan 
of  moral  and  material  assistance  should  be  embodied  in  the  criminal 
legislation  of  a  country,  to  become  as  definite  a  part  of  the  general  sys- 
tem as  are  the  trial  and  imprisonment  of  the  offender. 

§  2.  Best  means  of  securing  the  rehahiUtatlon  of  prisoners. — Mr.  Stevens, 
of  Belgium,  said  that  the  reliabilitation,  to  be  complete,  must  be  both 
moral  and  legal.  The  former  was  to  be  obtained  bj"  giving  each  prisoner 
instruction  in  the  particular  religion  which  he  professed.  The  most 
perfect  religious  freedom  is  preserved  in  the  Belgian  i)risons,  and  he 
earne^stly  contended  for  the  same  freedom  in  the  prisons  of  all  countries. 
The  legal  rehabilitation  of  the  prisoner  was  to  be  effected,  in  his  Judg- 
ment, b3'  freeing  him  from  all  restrictions,  save  those  to  which  honest 
men  are  subjected.  To  make  the  forfeiture  of  political  rights  consequent 
upon  imprisonment  was  to  hang  a  weight  around  the  prisoner  who  was 
striving  to  regain  his  position.  A  special  patronage  might  be  awarded 
to  convicts  whose  conduct  was  good  during  imprisonment,  which  should 
be  exercised  over  women  by  women  and  over  men  by  men.  He  did  not 
favor  police  supervision  of  criminals,  as  practised  on  the  continent, 
although  the  friendly  supervision  contemplated  by  the  Crofton  system 
met  with  his  approval. 

Mr.  Hastiugs,  of  England,  said  that  by  act  of  Parliament  any  bench 
of  magistrates  in  charge  of  a  jail  might  employ,  in  addition  to  the  regu- 
lar Protestant  chaplain,  a  Roman  Catholic  chaplaiu,  and  pay  his  salary 
out  of  the  funds  at  their  disposal.  There  was  then  a  bill  before  Parlia- 
ment making  the  employment  of  such  chaplains  compulsory. 

Sir  Walter  Crofton  said  that  in  all  the  Irish  prisons  there  were  em- 
ployed, in  addition  to  the  chaplaiu  belonging  to  the  Church  of  England, 
Roman  Catholic  and  Presbyterian  chaplains. 

Mrs.  Julia  Ward  Howe,  of  Boston,  thought  that  in  dealing  with  this 
question  it  should  be  borne  in  mind  that,  as  Mr.  Emerson  had  said  of 
the  death  of  his  child,  "perhaps  the  world,  and  not  the  infant,  failed." 
Too  frequently  the  "  failure"  was  rather  on  the  part  of  society  than  of 
the  prisoner. 

Baron  Mackay  was  not  in  favor  of  the  rehabilitation  of  prisoners  be- 
ing effected  by  a  judicial  decree.  The  most  perfect  religious  freedom 
prevailed  in  the  prisons  of  Holland  and  Germany. 

Mr.  Baker,  of  England,  salt)  that  the  loss  of  character  suffered  by  a 
prisoner  in  consequence  of  his  incarceration  was  a  wholesome  and 
natural  part  of  his  punishment.  He  maintained  that  it  should  not  be 
easy  for  a  liberated  convict  to  obtain  attractive  and  remunerative  situa- 
tions; he  ought  to  begin  his  new  career  with  alower  kind  of  work,  and  rise 
to  higher  positions  as  he  showed  himself  worthy.  Supervision,  as  prac- 
tised in  England,  was  a  powerful  instrument  iu  the  rehabilitation  of  the 
prisoner  ;  it  was  very  rare  to  find  a  man  under  supervision  out  of  work. 

Dr.  Wines  enumerated  the  civil  rights  which,  in  most  of  the  states  of 


150  INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

the  American  Union,  were  forfeited  by  a  conviction  for  felony,  and  ex- 
plained the  ''  commntation-laws  "  of  bis  country,  under  which  a  convict 
may  shorten  bis  term  by  good  conduct.  In  several  of  the  states,  be  said, 
an  irreproachable  prison  record  wrought,  of  itself,  a  complete  legal  re- 
habilitation of  the  prisoner,  restoring  him  at  once  to  all  his  civil  rights. 

Hon.  Mr.  Chandler,  of  Pennsylvania,  stated  that  a  conviction  for  fel- 
ony in  that  State  did  not  work  a  forfeiture  of  any  political  rights. 

Sir  John  Pakington,  of  England,  deprecated  what  he  had  conceived 
to  be  an  implication  on  the  part  of  Mr.  Stevens  that  lioman  Catholics 
were  not  allowed  religious  freedom  in  English  prisons.  He  claimed 
that  the  English  people  were  universally  opposed  to  the  ignoring  of  de- 
nominational differences  among  prisoners,  and  stated  that  as  a  member 
of  Parliament  he  had  supported  the  bill  mentioned  by  Mr.  Hastings,  re- 
quiring county  jail  authorities  to  employ  lioman  Catholic  chaplains.* 

§  3.  Best  mode  of  givinr/  remission  of  sentences  and  regulating  conditional 
discJiarges. — Sir  AValter  Crofton  said  that  remission  of  sentences  and 
conditional  liberation  were  now  interwoven  with  the  convict- system  of 
the  United  Kingdom.  The  maximum  remission  to  convicts  sentenced 
to  penal  servitude  was  a  fourth  of  their  term,  after  deducting  the  nine 
mouths  spent  in  solitary  confinement.  The  title  of  a  man  to  remission 
of  sentence  was  determined  by  a  system  of  marks,  by  which  he  advanced 
from  class  to  class,  until,  according  to  his  deserts  as  thus  indicated,  he  ob- 
tained a  partial  or  entire  remission.  This  system,  in  eflFect,  amounted 
to  a  partial  substitution  of  labor-sentences  for  time-sentences.  Sir  Walter 
defended  the  system  of  public-works  prisons  at  some  length,  saying  that 
they  were  based  on  jirogressive  classification,  and  pointing  to  the  vindica- 
tion of  the  Irish  system  by  a  recent  parliamentary  investigating  com- 
mittee, known  as  Lord  Deven's  commission.  He  regarded  conditional 
liberation,  combined  with  registration,  as  the  only  reliable  mode  of  test- 
ing the  value  of  prison  training  and  of  obtaining  trustworthy  criminal 
statistics,  without  which  there  can  be  little  unity  of  action.  He  was  of 
opinion  tliat  it  was  a  great  in-otection  to  society,  since  it  surrounded  the 
commission  of  crime  with  obstructions  so  formidable  as  to  deter  habitual 
offenders. 

Mr.  Tallack,  of  England,  in  reply  to  Sir  AValtcr's  defense  of  the  pub- 
lic-works ]nisons,  defended  the  cellular  system,  as  ai)proved  by  the  con- 
gresses of  Utrecht  and  Frankfort,  i)ieventing  companionship  with  evil 
and  allowing  abundant  coinmunication  with  good.  He  call(>d  attention 
to  th(5  fact  tliat  a  few  months  ago  :i  convict  at  Spike  Island  had  mur- 
dered a  f'ellow-]>risoner,  and  stat(>d  that  there  had  been  repeated  murders 
at  I'ortland,  Chatham,  and  other  ])nl)lic-works  ])risons. 

Mr.  Stevens  stated  that  in  lielginm  conditional  liberation  was  arrived 
at  in  another  way  from  tliat  enij)loved  in  l^higlaiul.  Pednction  of  time 
was  allowed;  but  as  sei)arate  detention  without  i)ossibility  of  demorali- 
zation, andwitli  intercourse  with  good  counselors,  was  ])referred  to  con- 
gregate lal)or,  the  reduction  depended  not  so  much  on  a  prisoners  con- 
duct as  on  his  having  uinhM'goiM^  a-  ]>eiiod  of  se])aration  proportionate 
to  the  sentence.  I'here  wer<r  certain  i)riviieges  to  be  earned  by  good 
comliief,  however,  among  wlii<'h  was  libeiation  w  ith  cuitailment  or  re- 
mission of  ])olice  supervision.  Incases  of  ('xe]ni)laiy  conduct  an<l  entire 
reform,  the  ro\al  ])rerogalive.  of  ]iar(h)n  was  exerciscMl.  Lifej)risoners 
were  kept  in  ceMnlar  (^onlinenuMit  for  ten  years,  when,  if  they  were.  (;on- 
HJdered  worthy  of  it,  conditional  liberation  was  granted  them.    Ifun- 


*  Tlic)  hill  alliirled  to  was  witliilr.iwn  Ix-foio  tho  close  of  thn  session,  owiii;;  to  a  want 
oftitnc.  in  llic  i  louse  of  L'oiiiiiioiis  to  discuss  it. 


CONDITIONAL    LIBERATION POLICE    SUPERVISION.  151 

worthy  tliey  were  collected  ia  a  coininon  prison,  without  hope  of  release. 
The  result  of  this  system  was  that  the  proi)ortiou  of  recidivists  to  those 
convicted  of  a  first  offeuse  was  but  4  or  5  per  cent.;  aud  the  annual 
number  of  criminals  had  declined  from  7,000,  to  -4,000,  in  spite  of  increas- 
ing population  and  wealth. 

Hon.  Joseph  li.  Chandler,  of  Pennsylvania,  replying  to  Sir  Walter  Crof- 
ton's  defense  of  the  English  system  of  granting  "tickets  of  license," 
said  that  in  the  Eastern  penitentiary  of  his  State  there  were  forty  con- 
victs who  had  received  these  licenses.  He  was  no  friend  to  a  system 
which  led  men  to  pretend  to  be  reformed,  and  declared  his  decided  i^ref- 
erence  for  the  cellular  over  the  Crofton  system.  He  denied  that  that 
system  was  "solitary,"  and  avowed  that  the  only  solitude  it  involved 
was  a  solitude  as  to  demoralizing  influences.  Besides  which  it  saved  a 
man  who  was  trying  to  lead  a  new  life  from  being  taunted  by  a  former 
fellow-prisoner  with  being  an  ex-convict,  thus  often  bringing  upon  him 
unmerited  suspicion. 

Mr.  Frederic  Hill  regretted  to  hear  of  the  invasion  of  Pennsylvania 
by  ticket-of-leave  men  ;  but  by  way  of  explanation  stated  that  the  sys- 
tem, as  formerly  administered,  did  not,  as  now,  make  liberation  depend 
upon  good  conduct ;  and  he  thought  that  the  men  mentioned  by  Mr. 
Chandler  must  have  been  liberated  under  the  discarded  system.  As  an 
inspector  of  prisons,  he  had  at  first  favored  the  cellular  system,  but  ex- 
perience had  weaned  him  from  it.  Mere  isolation,  while  excellent  as  a 
part  of  a  system,  was  not  a  system  per  se.  Under  the  separate  system, 
the  absence  of  temptation  rendered  it  dilficult  to  test  reformation. 

Major  Du  Cane,  chairman  of  the  directors  of  English  convict-prisons, 
said  that  in  these  institutions  a  prisoner  was  obliged  to  elfect  his  dis- 
charge by  his  industry.  The  maximum  remission  of  sentence  was  one- 
fourth  of  the  time  remaining  after  serving  out  his  nine  months  of  sep- 
arate confinement.  Great  precautions  were  taken  to  insure  the  remis- 
sion being  justly  awarded.  When  conditionally  liberated,  a  prisoner 
was  under  the  supervision  of  the  police,  to  whom  he  was  obliged  to  re- 
port himself.  If  he  gave  evidence  of  going  astray,  the  police  might 
take  him  before  a  magistrate,  and  on  proof  of  his  misconduct  he  was 
sent  back  to  prison. 

Mr.  Xevin,  one  of  the  directors  of  the  western  penitentiary  of  Penn- 
sylvania, gave  an  account  of  the  change  made  in  that  prison  from  the 
cellular  to  the  congregate  system,  wliich,  he  said,  had  been  attended 
with  great  benefit. 

Dr.  Frey,  of  Austria,  said  that  in  that  country  cellular  imprisonment 
was  limited  to  three  yenrs  ;  after  that  ])ortion  of  his  sentence  had  ex- 
pired, a  prisoner  was  placed  under  the  congregate  system.  For  him- 
self, he  favored  such  a  combination  of  the  two  systems.  A  prisoner 
should  mingle  with  his  fellow-convicts,  so  as  to  become  prepared  for 
Te-entering  society,  since,  if  kept  entirely  in  solitary  confinement,  he 
would  not  be  likely  to  withstand  temptation  on  his  release. 

Mr.  Hastings,  of  England,  remarked  that  keeping  a  prisoner  apart 
was  like  keeping  the  hand  on  a  spring;  the  moment  you  lifted  your 
hand,  it  flew  up.  When  a  man  thus  treated  was  discharged,  the 
change  was  so  great  that  he  was  almost  certain  to  fall  back  into  his 
original  habits.  He  should  be  educated  for  liberation,  after  passing- 
through  the  cellular  stage,  by  associating  with  his  fellow-criminals ; 
aud  next  by  going  to  an  intermediate  prison,  where  he  had  much 
greater  liberty,  and  where  a  further  test  was  applied.  If  he  still  went 
on  well,  and  gradually  acquired  habits  of  industry  and  fitness  for  lib- 
■erty,  he  passed  into  the  further  stage  of  liberation  under  supervision. 


152  INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

§  4.  Siq)€rvisio)i  of  discharged  conrtots. — Mr.  Baker,  of  England, 
opened  the  discussion  by  explaining  the  law  of  England  on  this  sub- 
ject. Under  that  law,  a  person  convicted  a  second  time  of  felony  may 
be  condemned,  in  addition  to  imprisonment,  to  police  supervision  for  a 
period  not  exceeding  seven  years.  He  must,  at  the  end  of  each  month, 
report  himself  and  give  an  account  of  his  conduct  either  to  the  police 
or  some  person  authorized  to  receive  his  report.  He  must  give  notice 
of  a  change  of  residence  to  the  police  of  the  district  which  he  leaves 
and  of  that  to  whicli  he  goes.  The  police,  as  long  as  he  complies  with, 
the  law,  always  prove  his  friends,  assisting  him  in  finding  work  and 
giving  him,  in  case  of  need,  money  furnished  by  the  prisoners'  aid  soci- 
eties. This  system,  Mr.  Baker  contended,  was  kind  to  the  supervised, 
offering  him  complete  liberty  as  long  as  he  conducted  well,  and  exercis- 
ing over  him  that  friendly  guardianship  so  useful  to  persons  of  intirm 
moral  character.  Moreover,  it  seemed  to  the  public  a  protection  of 
seven  years  instead  of  one,  and  allowed  the  term  of  imprisonment  to 
be  shortened  by  one-half,  thus  saving  oue-haif  the  total  cost  of  his 
expenses. 

Mr.  F.  Hill  remarked  that  Eev.  Mr.  Clay  organized  supervision 
in  Lancashire  years  before  Parliament  adopted  it.  He  found  it  caused 
a  diminution  of  crime  and  was  beneficial  to  the  prisoners,  the  police 
helping  them  to  obtain  work. 

]\Ir.  Murray  Browne  said  it  was  sometimes  alleged  that  the  police  su- 
pervision would  prevent  prisoners  getting  work,  but  prisoners'  aid  soci- 
eties knew  that  this  was  not  the  case.  Last  year,  on  the  home  secre- 
tary taking  their  opinion,  thirteen  societes  out  of  sixteen  were  favorable 
to  the  system. 

Mr.  Stevens  contended  that,  in  countries  where  an  organized  police 
existed,  discharged  prisoners  should  be  under  no  more  supervision  than 
other  citizens.  In  Belgium  a  man  might  be  sent  by  the  police  to  a 
small  place,  not  being  permitted  to  go  to  large  communities,  but  he 
might  not  finfl  work  there,  and  would  be,  in  consequence,  likely  to  relapse. 


CHATTER   XX. 

MISCELLANEOUS  POINTS. 

§  I.  Whether  prison  oiflcers  need  special  irainiiKj  for  their  icorh. — Dr. 
Guillaume, of  Switzerland,  opened  the  discussion,  maintainingthe  affirm- 
ative of  the  question.  Ho  laid  down  the  iK)sitions  that  it  is  for  the  in- 
terest of  society  that  criminals  shoid<l  be  reformed,  and  that  they  will 
be(;om<',  good  oidy  when  unceasingly  surrounded  by  good  inliuences. 
From  th(;se  jiremises  he  argued  that  the  inlerior  as  well  as  the  higher 
oflicers  of  a  prison  should  be  ac(|uaintcd  with  the  moral  aiul  ])edagogic 
means  of  ])eiiit('ntiary  treatment,  which  acciuaintance  involved  a  recog- 
nition of  the  |)rinci|)le  that  a  special  education  of  prison  ofiicers  is  neces- 
sary and  indispensable.  It  was  for  each  country  to  determine  whether 
it  is  <l(^sirable  to  establish  normal  scliools  for  this  ]mri)Ose,  or  whether 
the  emj)loy»''S  should  i)ass  a  i)re|)aratory  training  in  a  ])rison,  or  receive 
a  course;  of  jieriodical  theoretic  teacliing.  S])eaking  for  himself,  he 
wished  the  school  forhaining  ]>rison  oHiccis  to  be  in  ccuinection  with 
a  [irison.  ilaving  seN'ct<'(l  men  of  ordinaiy  intelligence,  command  of 
t<;mi)er,  i^c,  they  should  be  put  into  tiic  training  juison  to  learn  their 
work,  after  which  they  should  bo  i»romoted  aixording  to   merit,  until, 


EDUCATION    OF    PRISON    OFFICERS.  153 

possibly,  tliey  readied  the  top.  These  remarks  did  not  apply  to  the 
governors  or  wardens  of  prisons,  who  shonld  i)ossess  snperior  qaalifica- 
tions,  and  be  endowed  with  a  kind  heart,  sound  judgment,  general  knowl- 
edge, and  good  temper.  In  conclusion.  Dr.  Guillaume  said  that  he  might 
summarize  his  views  on  this  topic  in  the  resolution  adopted  by  the  Prison 
Congress  of  Cincinnati  in  1870,  viz : 

Special  training,  as  well  as  high  qualities  of.  head  and  heart,  is  required  to  make  a 
good  prison  or  reformatory  officer.  The  administration  of  public  puuislunent  will  not 
become  scientihc,  uniform,  and  successful  until  it  is  raised  to  the  dignity  of  a  profes- 
sion, and  men  are  specially  trained  for  it  as  they  are  for  other  pursuits. 

Major  Du  Cane,  director  of  English  convict-prisons,  thought  that 
l^rison  officers,  like  physicians  and  soldiers,  should  learn  their  duty  from 
actual  experience.  No  preliminary  instruction  could  be  as  valuable  as 
seeing  the  supervision  of  skilled  officials  in  actual  practice.  He  believed 
that  the  tone  of  the  English  prison  officials  was  all  that  it  should  be. 
A  moderate  amount  of  intelligence  and  education  was  required,  and  due 
care  was  taken  to  secure  these  qualifications,  as  well  as  iirmness,  hon- 
esty, and  good  temper.  It  was  expected  of  them  to  convince  the  pris- 
oners that  society  was  not  their  euemy,  but  ouly  wished  to  show  them 
the  way  of  well-doing.  He  believed  that  the  prison  officials  in  Eugland 
did  their  duty  efficiently,  and  that  when  recruits  entered  such  a  body 
they  entered  the  best  school  in  which  to  learn  their  duties. 

Baron  Mackay,  of  Holland,  said  that  Dutch  legislation  discouraged 
technical  education,  believing  that  better  material  was  found  in  a  man 
with  a  general  education  than  iu  oue  trained  ad  hoc.  lu  the  cellular 
l)rison  at  Amsterdam  (the  largest  in  Holland)  it^  had  not  been  found, 
'necessary  to  employ  specially-trained  officers.  He  agreed  with  Dr. 
Guillaume  that  training  was  desirable  if  it  could  be  obtained  within  the 
prison-walls ;  but  he  objected  to  a  normal  school  outside  the  prison  for 
the  inculcation  of  theories.  He  favored  the  promotion  of  subalterns,  so 
trained,  as  vacancies  occufred  in  the  prison  staff. 

Sir  Harry  Yerney,  M.  P.,  while  not  doubting  that  persons  taken  from 
the  intelligent  classes  might  make  good  prison  officers,  was,  neverthe- 
less, of  the  opinion  that  persons  specially  trained  to  the  work  would  be 
more  efficient.  It  had  occurred  to  him.  Why  should  not  prison  governors 
be  selected  from  the  subaltern  officials?  In  England  they  were  taken 
from  the  army  and  navy;  but  it  might,  perhaps,  be  better  to  advance 
prison  officers.  Many  years  ago,  while  visiting  Dr.  Wichern,  at  the 
Kauhe  Hans,  near  Hamburg,  he  had  seen  there  a  number  of  young  men 
being  educated  to  take  the  place  of  officers  in  the  prisons  at  Berlin. 
The  idea  struck  him  favorably  at  the  time,  and  subsequent  reiiection 
had  confirmed  him  in  his  opinion. 

Mr.,Rathbone,  of  England,  pointed  out  an  objection  to  the  promotion 
of  subalterns  to  the  highest  offices,  viz,  that  the  salaries  now  given  did 
not  attract  men  of  education  to  these  posts.  A  governor  needed  quick 
perception  of  character  and  great  firmness — qualities,  in  his  opinion^ 
not  specially  cultivated  by  prison  life.  . 

Major  Fulford,  governor  of  Stafford  jail,  England,  thought  it  would 
be  absurd  to  have  a  normal  school  for  subordinate  officers.  At  his  jail, 
such  officers  were  always  taken  on  probation,  and,  if  found  incompetent,, 
were  dismissed. 

Dr.  Mouat,  of  England,  thought  that,  what  the  hospital  and  dissecting- 
room  were  to  the  surgeon,  the  prison  was  to  officials.  Intelligence  and 
good  moral  character  were  indispensable,  but  it  was  in  practical  expe- 
rience that  they  mnst  learn  their  work.  As  to  prison  governors,  he 
thought  that,  other  things  being  equal,  men  should  be  selected  who 


154  INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

were  geutlemen  and  men  of  etlycation  in  tlie  broadest  sense  of  the 
words.  A  prison  was  a  moral  hospital,  which  required  a  large  amount 
of  knowledge  of  mental  phenomena,  of  religion,  and  education,  and 
high  aims  in  reclaiming  the  idle  and  vicious.  Some  special  training  was 
therefore  advisable  for  both  subordinate  and  superior  officers. 

Dr.  AVines  said  that  M.  Demetz,  the  founder  of  the  reformatory  at 
Mettray,  was  so  convinced  of  the  necessity  of  a  special  training  for 
those  intrusted  with  the  care  of  criminal  men  and  boys  that  he  had  es- 
tablished a  preparatory  school,  and  spent  an  entire  year  with  his  col- 
leagues in  training  twelve  or  fifteen  young  men  as  officers  before  he  ad- 
mitted a  single  inmate.  The  school  had  been  kept  up  ever  since,  with 
twenty-five  to  thirty  young  men  constantly  in  attendance,  having  a 
three  years'  course  of  training,  and  M.  Demetz  was  strongly  of  opinion 
that  Mettray  would  not  have  succeeded  without  it.  The  success  of  this 
reformatory  probably  sui^passed  that  of  any  other  institution  iu  the 
world,  scarcely  5  i)er  cent,  of  those  who  left  it  ever  returning  to  a  career 
of  crime. 

§  2,  Whether  tmnsportatlon  is  admissible  and  expedient  in  punishment 
of  crime. — Count  de  Foresta,  of  Italy,  iu  opening  the  discussion,  said 
that  transportation,  as  carried  on  iu  France — transportation  with  com- 
pulsory labor  in  a  colony — he  approved  of  as  the  best,  punishment  for  great 
criminals,  believing  that  it  answered  perfectly  the  double  object  of  all 
punishment,  viz,  the  protection  of  society  within  the  limits  of  justice, 
and  the  reformation  or  amendment  of  the  convict.  It  protects  society 
by  casting  out  from  its  bosom  the  most  dangerous  criminals,  avoiding 
the  grave  inconveuien£'-es  of  relapses,  and  deterring  would-be  criminals 
by  the  prospect  of  banishment  from  their  country  and  family.  It  en- 
courages the  convict  b^'  giving  him  a  hope  of  becoming  again  useful  to 
society  and  beginning  a  new  life  far  from  his  old  haunts,  whither  he 
may  bring  his  family,  or,  if  he  have  none,  may  found  a  new  one.  While 
thus  ajiproving  of  the  main  features  of  the^  French,  as  distinguished 
from  the  English,  system  of  transi)ortation,  the  cou)it  pointed  out  the 
defects  of  the  latter  and  criticised  them  sveerely. 

Mr.  Pols,  of  Holland,  thought  that  to  send  convicts  to  another  coun- 
try was  unfair.  If  sent  to  a  new  colony,  the  natives  were  doomed  to 
extermination.  If  the  convicts  were  colonized,  their  descendants  would, 
as  iu  the  English  colonies,  object  to  receive  them,  and  the  system  would 
again  have  to  be  changed.  Transi)ortation  for  any  length  of  time  was 
impracticable. 

Count  Sollohub,  of  Ifussia,  thouglit  that  transportation  might  be  ben- 
eficial if  a  locality  were  selected  which  needed  colonization  and  cultiva- 
tion and  extiirnal  aid  for  Hie  develoinncnt  of  its  resources. 

Afr.  Hastings,  of  JOngland,  remarked  that  to  send  convicts  to  an 
inhabited  country  was  to  wi'ong  its  citizens,  whowouhl,  when  they  were 
able,  i-esist  it.  To  send  them  to  an  uninhabited  (M)untiy  was  merely  to 
send  1  hem  to  a  jnison  ten  thousand  or  twelve  thousand  miles  off,  far 
i-emoved  fiom  i)ul)lic  su])ervision,.Ji  system  always  liable  to  great  abuse. 
Moreovei',  tin?  cost  of  the  sui)])ortof  tin;  convict  was  as  great  or  greater 
as  atlioiiM',  and  the  ex))ense()i'  the  voyage  had  to  be  iiumned  in  addition. 

Count  de  J<\»resta,  in  i"e|)Iy,  said  tiiat  in^  totally  disa])i)ro\'ed  of  trans- 
]»ortati()n  as  foi-merly  piaclised  under  the,  I'higlish  law.  J le  advocated 
sending  convicts  un<|er  lifeor  lifteen  or  twenty  year  senteiH;(\s  to  distant 
and,  if  ]>r)ssil»h'.  iiiiiiilial)ited  regions,  with  separation  at  night  and  <;om- 
]>uIsory  hiltor.  When  sneh  cohinies  ultimately  refused  to  receive  con- 
vi(;ts,  (as  tlie  Australian  colonies  had,)  it  would  Im'  time  enough  to 
consider  what  shonhl  I)e  done. 


TRANSPORTATION LABOR  WITHOUT  IMPRISONMENT.    155 

Baron  von  lloltzendoiff  thou^lit  that  the  experience  of  Enalaiid  was 
strongly  against  transportation,  but  tbat.tbe  question  should  be  left 
open  to  the  decision  of  countries  that  believed  themselves  to  be  placed 
under  better  conditions  than  England. 

§3.  Whether  short  inqnisonments  and  the  7ion-i)aijmcnt  of  fines  may  he 
replaced  by  conqrulsory  labor  without  privation  of  liberty. — Count  de  Fo- 
resta,  of  Italy,  explained  to  the  congress  a  jiian  for  effecting  the  end 
proposed  in-  the  title  of  the  present  section.  He  pointed  out  the  evils 
attendant  npou  the  imposing  of  sentences  too  short  to  admit  of  instruc- 
tion or  reformation,  yet  long  enough  to  allow  of  the  prisoner  becoming 
morally  corrupted.  He  believed  that  these  evils  niight  be  diminished,  if 
not  entirely  removed,  by  substituting  for  imprisonment  obligatory  labor 
during  the  day,  leaving  the  condemned  free  to  return  to  their  families 
in  the  evening,  like  ordinary  laborers.  Again,  as  regards  the  payment 
of  fines,  since  labor  is  the  poor  man's  capital,  the  count  urged  that  it 
Avould  be  more  logical  lor  society  to  re-imburse  itself  by  means  of  his 
labor  than  to  fling  him  into  a  cell,  where  he  produced  nothing.  He  ad- 
mitted that  this  i)lan  would  prove  difficult  in  execution,  but  denied  that 
it  was  impracticable,  and  instanced  many  ways  in  which  the  condemned 
might  be  employed.  He  thought  the  system  could  be  made  applicable, 
especially  in  localities  where  there  were  large  barren  tracts  to  be  re- 
claimed, or  roads  to  be  constructed. 

Mr.  Tallack,  of  England,  remarked  that  the  treatment  of  vagrants 
in  that  country  was  analogous  to  that  proposed  by  Count  de  Foresta  for 
petty  offenders,  which  he  approved,  and  would  be  glad  to  see  adojited. 
It  would  prove  beneficial  to  the  offender  himself  in  many  instances,  and 
the  worst  portion  of  the  community  would  be  deterred  without  breaking 
up  homes  antl  ruining  families. 

E,ev.  Mr.  Collins,  of  England,  favored  the  plan  proposed  by  Count  de 
Foresta.  He  had  seen  the  agony  caused  in  a  respectable  family  by  its 
l)rincipal  member  being  committed  to  prison  and  branded  as  a  jail-l3ird. 
Imprisonment  should  be  made  an  object  of  dread,  by  surrounding  it 
with  disgrace  and  resorting  to  it  as  seklom  as  possible.  He  had  long  had 
misgivings,  as  a  magistrate,  whether  he  had  not  helped  men  to  become 
criminals,  rather  than  deterred  them,  by  the  imperative  way  in  which 
the  law  required  him  to  substitute  short  imprisonments  for  fines.  By 
sending  men  to  prison  for  a  mere  trivial  offense,  the  feeling  of  shame 
was  broken  down,  whereas  self-respect  should  be  maintained. 

Mr.  Stevens,  of  Belgium,  thought  that  practically  there  would  be 
found  inconveniences  in  the  system.  Some  prisoners  were  unaccustomed 
to  manual  labor.  Again,  how  could  employment  be  found  for  painters, 
musicians,  &c.  '  Work  in  public  would  lack  the  penal  element  neces- 
sary in  prison  discipline,  even  for  trifling  offenses,  and  there  would  be 
some  danger  in  collecting  a  dangerous  class  of  men  together,  without  the 
X)rivation  of  liberty.  He  preferred  to  shut  men  up  and  subject  them  to 
moral  influence. 

Sir  John  Bowring  considered  the  plan  entirely  feasible,  if  the  condition 
of  individual  offenders  and  the  circumstances  of  the  locality  were  taken 
into  account.  In  an  agricultural  district  the  men  might  be  employed 
in  agriculture,  while  iu  town  they  Avould  be  accustomed  to  various  trades, 
which  might  be  carried  on  by  them.  He  once  found  a  locksmith  iu  a 
solitary  cell  earning  seven  shillings  a  day. 

Baron  Mackay,  of  Holland,  regarded  the  proposal  as  chimerical.     If  • 
the  condemned  received  less  than  his  wonted  compensation,  the  i)unish- 
ment  fell  more  heavily  on  his  family  than  on  himself.     If,  on  the  other 
hand,  he  received  full  pay,  the  only  change  in  his  mode  of  life  being 


156  INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

•working  in  one  place  instead  of  another,  where  would  be  the  punish- 
ment ?  It  would  be  a  punishment  only  for  those  unaccustomed  to  man- 
ual labor,  to  whom  it  would  be  an  aggravation  rather  than  an  alleviation, 
while,  in  such  cases,  mere  intellectual  work,  if  allowed,  would  be  too 
slight  a  punishment. 

Mr.  Bremner,  an  English  magistrate,  thought  the  imposition  of  fines 
a  very  unequal  punishment,  and  believed  that,  in  case  of  inability  to  pay 
a  fine,  justice  demanded  some  other  alternative  than  imprisonment. 

Baron  von  Holtzendorlf  would  point  to  Prussia  as  a  proof  of  the 
feasibilitj"  of  the  scheme.  For  twenty  years  there  had  existed  a  lavr 
providing  labor  as  a  substitute  for  a  tine  in  the  case  of  offenses  against 
the  forest-laws  and  wood-stealing. 

§  4.  The  proper  limits  of  the  power  of  boards  of  prison  managers  as  re- 
gards the  administration  of  prisons. — M.  Loyson,  of  France,  said  that,' 
in  his  country,  there  were  regularly-appointed  commissioners  of  super- 
vision, whose  functions  were  carefully  defined.  Their  special  mission 
consisted  in  promoting  the  moral  and  religious  reformation  of  the  con- 
victs. The  commissioners  and  the  prison  governors  were  entirely  inde- 
Tiendent  of  each  other.  If  the  former  perceived  anything  requiring 
correction,  they  notified  the  director,  and,  in  case  he  refused  to  interfere, 
they  might  appeal  to  the  prefect  of  the  department  or  to  the  minister 
of  the  interior.  Their  services  were  entirely  gratuitous,  and  they  were 
generally  chos(*i  from  the  leading  inhabitants  of  the  district.  He  be- 
lieved that  this  system,  as  a  whole,  offered  advantages  which  no  other 
conld,  since  the  daily  visits  of  local  commissioners  were  better  than  the 
occasional  visits  of  inspectors. 

31.  Vaucher-Cremieux,  of  Switzerland,  said  that  in  that  country  the 
grand  council  of  the  canton  appointed  a  commission,  which  was  uncon- 
nected with  the  prison  authorities  and  whicli  might  visit  the  prison  at 
their  discretion.  They  could  point  out  defects  and  suggest  remedies, 
but  had  no  executive  power. 

Colonel  Ilatcliff,  of  England,  said  that  the  visiting  justices  in  each 
count3^  saw  that  the  law  was  properly  administered,  while  the  govern- 
ment sent  down  an  inspector  yearly  to  examine  all  the  details  of  admin- 
istration. 

§  5.  Whether  the  government  of  prisons  should  he  placed  in  the  hands  of 
one  supreme  central  author itg. — Mr.  Hastings,  of  England,  thought  that 
the  plan  adopted  in  that  country,  of  Iiaving  the  county  jails  entirely  dis- 
tinct Irom  the  higher  grade  of  itrisons — the  former  being  under  the  con- 
trol of  the  lo(;al  autliorities,  the  latter  under  that  of  the  general  govern- 
ment— was  ]»referable  to  a  uniform  system,  under  which  all  penal 
institutions  should  be  subject  to  one  (HMitral  authority.  Such  a  system, 
whih;  it  would  undoubtedly  llav(^  its  ad\'antages,  would  be  apt  to  become 
Htereotyi»ed.  J le  doubted  whether  it  could  be  authoritatively  declared 
that  any  one  system  was  so  far  su[)erior  to  all  others  that  it  ought  to  be 
enforc(Ml  cvciywhere.  A  variety  of  details  and  an  intercliange  of 
opinions  jind  experiences  would  probably  i)ave  the  way  for  a  better 
system  than  any  whi(;h  (;ouid  be  theoretically  devised. 

Mr.  I'loos  van  Anistel  said  that  in  Holland  the  minister  of  justice  was 
chief  administrator  of  jnisoiis.  A  cliang(M)f  ministry,  which  was  not 
infrefpient,  always  involved  tli<',  ]>(»ssibility  of  changes  in  |)rison  manage- 
ment. To  secur(f  ])eiiMaiien('e,  he  thought  that  a  council  of  three  or  four 
nu'mbers  sliould  act  with  the  minister.  Local  boards,  nominated  by 
the  government,  were  (charged  with  the  interior  administration  or 
supervision  of  the  i)risons  in  every  locality. 

Mr.  Stevens,  of  Belgium,  admitted  that  [nditical  detjentralization  had 


CENTRAL    AUTHORITY PRISON    STATISTICS.  157 

its  advantages,  but  questioned  whether  this  was  the  case  with  adminis- 
trative decentralization.  In  Belgium,  all  prisons  were  under  a  uniform 
system.  It"  a  local  commission  suggested  an  improvement,  it  was  con- 
sidered by  the  central  authority,  and,  if  approved,  was  introduced  in  all 
prisons.    Punishment  as  well  as  law  surely  ought  to  be  uniform. 

Dr.  Guillaume,  of  Switzerland,  said  that  each  of  the  twenty-five  Swiss 
cantons  had  its  own  legislature  and  administration,  thus  preventing  any 
uniformity.  He  believed,  however,  that  a  central  authority  (he  would 
say  the  minister  of  the  interior)  should  have  the  direction  of  prisons, 
refuges,  and  similar  institutions  having  a  preventive  or  other  elfect  on 
crime. 

Messrs.  Carter  and  Baker,  of  England,  warmly  defended  the  English 
isystem  of  local  management  for  local  prisons.  County  magistrates,  in 
their  opinion,  were  better  acquainted  with  the  feelings  of  the  people,  and 
could  therefore  manage  the  jails  better  than  a  central  authority. 

§  0.  Iniernational prison  statistics. — Mr,  Beltraui-Scalia,  of  Italy,  said 
that  it  was  needless  to  show  the  utility  of  penitentiary  statistics,  which 
alone  could  furnish  legislators  with  the  elements  necessary  for  a  reform 
of  the  penal  system,  and  which,  moreover,  "would  furnish  judges  with 
valuable  hints  in  the  application  of  punishment.  He  deplored  the  want 
of  success  which  had  attended  the  recommendations  and  eftbrts  put  forth 
in  this  direction  by  the  x)risou  congresses  of  1858  and  1803,  and  by  the 
statistical  congresses  of  1857, 1860,  and  1870.  He  thought  that  an  interna- 
tional commission  ought  to  be  appointed,  comprising  representatives  of 
the  different  countries,  which  would  lay  down  the  basis  of  international 
prison  statistics,  leaving  each  government  free  to  determine  the  form 
and  time  of  the  ofidcial  publications  it  considered  useful.  The  statistical 
congress  at  the  Hague,  in  1870,  had  expressed  a  wish  that  the  tables  be 
prepared,  not  onlj^  in  the  language  of  the  country,  but  also  in  French. 
He  regarded  the  suggestion  as  a  good  one. 

Count  Sollohub,  of  Russia,  considered  the  suggestion  of  Mr.  Beltrani- 
Scalia  with  regard  to  an  international  commission  not  only  wise,  but 
feasible.    He  felt  sure  no  country  would  refuse  to  co-operate. 

Dr.  Frey,  of  Austria,  thought  that  a  comparison  between  different 
countries  would  be  attended  with  some  diSiculty,  though  he  hoped  not 
insuperable.  A  different  percentage,  under  different  systems  might  be 
due  to  nationality,  not  to  system.  Thus,  if  the  question  arose  how  many 
persons  suffered  from  lunacy'  under  isolated  and  how  many  under  congre- 
gate imprisonment,  the  percentage  of  lunacy  in  the  country  should  be 
considered.     So  with  regard  to  the  rate  of  mortality  in  prisons. 

Dr.  Guillaume,  of  Switzerland,  urged  the  importance  of  criminal 
statistics  as  a  guide  to  prison-reformers.  Minute  information  should  be 
obtained  of  the  criminal,  so  that  the  springs  of  crime  might  be  ascer- 
tained and  dried  up. 

Professor  Leone  Levi,  of  England,  proposed  that  an  international  com- 
mission be  appointed  by  this  congress  to  lay  down  the  principles  of  a 
yearly  statistical  report  on  crime  and  prison  discipline.  Uniformity 
of  nomenclature  of  crime  was  indispensable  in  order  to  ascertain  its 
increase  or  decrease,  ^\''hat  was  murdec  in  one  country  was  not  mur- 
der in  another.  A  system  should  be  devised  that  v/ould  guard  against 
ambiguity  in  this  regard. 

§  7.  The  best  means  of  repressinfj  criminal  capif-alists. — Mr.  Edwin 
Hill,  of  England,  began  the  discussion  by  reading  a  paper  on  this  sub- 
ject. He  thought  that  the  public  mind  was  at  fault  in  not  having,  as 
^et,  grasped  the  important  truth  that  crime  on  a  large  scale  is  a  craft, 
so  far  organized  as  to  require  the  co-operation  of  labor  and  capital  for 


158  INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

its  successful  operatiou.  These  "  criminal  capitalists ''lie  divided  into 
four  classes,  viz  :  1,  the  providers  of  homes  for  the  predatory  classes — 
i.  e.,  owners  of  real  property  occupied  by  thieves  ;  2,  keepers  of  "  ilash- 
houses,"  or  establishments  wherein  thieves  meet  for  purposes  of  carou- 
sal and  to  plot  the  crimes  they  intend  to  perpetrate  ;  3,  booty-mongers, 
or  receivers  of  stolen  property,  called,  in  thieves'  slang',  "  fences ;"  and, 
4,  the  inventors  and  manufacturers  of  burglarious  implements.  He 
believed  and  knew  that  so  dependent  were  thieves  upon  these  four 
classes  of  capitalists,  if  the  supporting  capital  were  withdrawn,  thiev- 
ing, as  a  vocation,  must  cease.  He  instanced  two  distressing  evils 
which,  in  such  case,  could  not  fail  to  be  suppressed,  viz,  first,  the  birth 
and  nurture  of  children  so  environed  by  criminality  as  to  have,  practi- 
cally*, no  means  of  escape  ;  and,  secondly,  the  street-corruption  of  honest 
men's  children  by  evil  associations  and  the  enticement  to  pilfer  now 
offered  by  tlie  purchasers  of  petty  pilferings.  He  admitted  that  organ- 
ized criminality  would  cease  as  entirely,  could  the  mere  operative  thieves 
all  be  driven  from  the  field,  but  urged  that  the  want  of  success  that 
has  so  far  attended  the  vast  efforts  put  forth  and  the  enormous  ex- 
pense incurred  by  society  in  seeking  to  effect  this  was  an  argument  to 
try  the  i)lan  that  he  had  suggested,  which  he  considered  much  more 
certain,  far  less  expensive,  and  equally  effectual.  He  pointed  out  what 
he  considered  to  be  numerous  defects  in  the  existing  English  law  on 
this  subject,  and  suggested  changes  for  the  purpose  of,  first,  effectually 
deterring  the  owners  of  real  property  from  suffering  it  to  become  a 
refuge  for  criminals;  and,  secondly,  to  render  the  conviction  of  receivers 
of  stolen  property  more  easy  than  it  now  is.  He  also  urged  the  Justice 
of  heavily  mulcting  all  capital  found  aiding  the  operations  of  criminals 
to  defray  the  enormous  expense  of  police,  prisons,  &c. 

Mr.  Serjeant  Cox,  of  England,  said  that  in  that  country  ai  law  had 
been  recently  passed  increasing  the  minimum  quantity  which  a  marine- 
store  keeper  or  Junk-dealer  was  allowed  to  purchase,  this  class  of  deal- 
ers being  usually  encouragers  of  petty  pilfering  by  purchasing  the 
stolen  bits  of  iron,  old  roi)e,  and  other  articles  purloined  by  children. 
The  effect  of  this  law  had  been  to  materially  reduce  the  number  of  such 
crimes,  and  he  believed  if  its  i)rinciple  were  extended  to  other  articles, 
and  shoi)-keopers  were  prohibited  purchasiug  from  children  under  a 
certain  age  any  commodities  whi(;h  they  were  not  likely  to  have  acquired 
rightfully,  and  restrictions  were  ])laccd  upon  the  hours  during  which 
marine-store  dealers  might  be  dealt  with,  very  much  good  would  proba- 
])ly  ensue.  In  tlu^  court  over  which  he  i)vesided  he  had  made  it  a  prin- 
<iple  always  to  give  the  receiver  double  the  i)unishment  inllicted  on  the 
thief.  If  this  rule  were  universally  carried  out,  receiving  would  be  re- 
garded as  a  much  nujre  dangerous  employment,  and  the  limitation  of  the 
number  would  increase  tlie  check  we  coujd  keep  on  those  that  re- 
mained. 

Hon.  .].  It.  ('handler,  of  I'ennsylvania,  stated  the  law  in  America 
on  this  suhjcct  to  be  that  the  owner  of  stolen  property  could  always 
com|)(!l  tlie  party  in  whose  possession  it  was  found  to  account  for  the 
jnanner  in  which  it  <;aine  into  his  i)ossession,  and  that  a  house  wherein 
trade  in  stolen  goods  was  (;arried  on  could  be  di^alt  with  as  a  "disor- 
derly house."  As  to  that  class  of  capilidisls  who  amassed  wealth  out 
of  tlie  ruin  of  one  sex,  he  considered  hanging  their  merited  punishment. 

ColoiK^l  JlatelilC,  oi'  Mngland,  thought  it  impracticable  to  re(iuire  the 
inspectors  of  houses  to  close  those  buildings  wherein  known  thieves 
lived,     lie  said  that  it  was  ol'ten  an  a<hantage  to  the  ]K)lice   to  Uno\^ 


CRIMINAL    CAPITALISTS WHIPPING    AS    A    PENALTY.         159 

the  houses  in  which  thieves  cougregateil,  since  it  enabled  them  more 
readily  to  lirid  men  of  whom  they  were  in  search. 

Mr.  Aspinall,  of  England,  thought  that  an  incorrect  impression 
might  be  derived  from  Mr.  Hill's  statement  as  to  the  diftlciilty  of  con- 
victing receivers  under  the  English  law,  which  was  very  much  the  same 
as  Mr.  Chandler  had  stated  to  be  the  law  of  his  country.  It  would  be 
an  encroachment  on  the  liberty  of  the  subject  to  allow  private  houses 
to  be  searched  without  special  warrant,  but  all  public  houses  were  open 
to  police  visitation  at  any  moment.  All  Junk-dealers  were  required  to 
take  out  a  license,  and  to  enter  in  a  book,  subject  to  police  inspection, 
every  transaction  in  metals  and  that  sort  of  property  which  children 
were  tempted  to  steal,  from  the  facility  with  which  it  could  be  turned 
into  mouej'.  Besides  which,  it  was  not  uncommon  in  his  own  city  (Liv- 
erpool) for  the  nmgistrates  to  punish  the  receiver  seven  times  as  much 
as  the  thief.  He  made  these  statements,  fearing,  that  strangers  might 
receive  an  exaggerated  idea  of  the  defects  of  the  English  law  in  this  par- 
ticular from  Mr.  Edwin  Hill's  paper. 

§  8.  Whether  tchqjping  is  expedient  as  a  punishment  for  crime. — Mr.  Pols, 
of  Holland,  sai<l  that,  not  out  of  sympathy  with  rufhaus,  but  w  ith  honest 
people,  he  urged  the  abolition  of  bodily  iuHictions  in  punishment  of 
crime,  which  he  considered  wholly  ineiiicient  as  a  means  of  social  de- 
fense, engendering  cruelty,  and  being  far  more  injurious  to  society, 
which  imi)osed  it,  than  to  the  criminal,  wiio  sulfered  it.  In  inflicting 
punishment  regard  should  always  be  had  to  its  probable  reformatory 
results  The  criminal's  moral  and  religious  feelings  should  be  respected 
and  fostered,  a  love  of  order  and  of  labor  implanted,  his  sense  of  re- 
sponsibility and  his  power  of  self-restraint  increased.  To  effect  this,  we 
must  reach  the  understanding,  the  way  to  which  was  not  through  the 
lash.  He  did  not  believe  that  there  were  any  criminals  so  hardened 
that  this  faculty  could  not  be  reached  through  moral  suasion ; 
while  violence  bred  violence,  harshness  engendered  hatred,  hardness 
excited  to  revolt.  In  Holland,  flogging  had  been  prohibited  in  the 
school  and  the  prison,  and  expunged  from  the  penal  code.  In  each  in- 
stance, its  abolition  had  resulted  in  a  diminution  of  the  offenses  for 
which,  previously,  it  had  been  inflicted.  In  the  arm}-,  although  not 
formally  abolished,  it  had  been  practically  discontinued  for  forty  years, 
during  which  time  insubordination  had  steadily  decreased.  He  had  no 
hesitation  in  attributing  to  the  abolition  of  corporal  punishment  no 
small  share  of  the  happiness  of  Holland,  and  what  was  true  of  Hol- 
land he  believed  to  be  true  of  other  continental  states. 

Mr.  Aspinall,  of  England,  observed  that  apparent  was  not  always 
real  philanthropy,  and  that,  while  regarding  the  reformatory  element  of 
punishment,  that  which  was  deterrent  should  not  be  overlooked.  He 
was  for  resorting  to  corjjoral  punishment  where  every  other  agency 
failed.  Wife  and  women  beaters  deserved  the  lash,  and  in  the  majority 
of  cases  no  other  i:)uuishment  had  any  effect.  Could  any  one  see  the 
blackened  eyes,  discolored  flesh,  and  crippled  forms  of  wretched  women 
and  children,  he  would  say  that  the  monsters  who  produced  these  de- 
served corporal  punishment. 

Colonel  Eatcliff,  of  England,  thought  that  there  was  a  certain  class 
of  men  who  were  susceptible  to  no  other  influence.  That  it  was  effi- 
cacious he  maintained  was  proved  by  the  fact  that,  immediately'  after 
thepassageof  the  act  visiting  garroters  with  corporal  punishment,  rob- 
beries with  violence  were  no  more  heard  of. 

Dr.  Marquardsen,  of  Bavaria,  remarked  that  public  opinion  in  Eug- 


160  INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

land  had  been  unduly  influenced  by  the  garrotinj^  panic,  but  for  which 
it  would  have  kept  pace  with,  that  of  the  continent  on  this  question. 

§  9.  ExtradHion  treaties. — Dr.  Frey,  of  Austria,  introduced  this  ques- 
tion, maintaining  that  the  negotiation  of  treaties  between  civilized  states 
for  the  extradition  of  criminals  ought  not  to  be  influenced  by  political 
considerations.  There  could  be  no  doubt,  he  said,  that  the  absence  of 
such  treaties  constituted  a  temptation  to  criminals,  who  knew  tliat  they 
could  commit  a  crime,  and  afterward  enjoy  immunity  from  arrest  in  a 
neighboring  state.     Hucli  treaties  were,  therefore,  of  vital  importance. 

No  discussion  followed  Dr.  Frey's  remarks. 

§  10.  Woman''s  icorl-  in  2J>'i-^0HS. — Mrs.  Chase,  of  Rhode  Island,  opened 
the  discussion  on  this  question  by  alluding  to  the  eftbrts  that  have  re- 
cently been  made  in  several  of  the  States  in  her  country  to  secure  the 
appointment  of  women  on  the  boards  of  state-prison  inspectors.  She 
said  that  those  who  urged  this  measure  based  their  claim  primarily  on 
the  ground  that  it  is  the  duty  of  women  to  share  with  men  in  the  care, 
instruction,  and  reformation  of  criminals,  and  that  they  can  best  do  so  it 
empowered  with  the  same  authority.  Criminal  women  especially  need 
the  sympathy  and  society  of  their  own  sex;  and  the  women  who  are 
usually  employed  in  the  capacity  of  prison  matrons  are  not,  she  thought, 
generally  capable  of  comprehending  the  peculiar  condition  of  these  un- 
fortunates, which,  on  several  accounts,  is  more  deplorable  than  that  of 
criminal  men.  Nor,  in  her  opinion,  was  the  evil  remedied  by  volunteer 
visitation  of  prisons  by  women.  While  much  may  be  accomplished 
through  this  means,  still  a  woman  who  feels  that  she  is  so  employed  by 
permission  only  cannot  fail  to  be  greatly  embarrassed  ;  and,  if  she  call 
attention  to  any  abuse,  her  criticism  is  regarded  as  unwarrantable  inter- 
ference, and  often  leads  to  her  exclusion.  She  also  called  attention  to 
the  softening  influence  that  good  women  might  reasonably  be  expected 
to  exert  over  male  criminals  separated,  in  many  cases,  from  their  fami- 
lies and  removed  from  all  home  associations.  Again,  the  counsels  of 
women  in  the  boai-d  of  inspectors  would  be  valuable  in  all  matters  per- 
taining to  the  domestic  economy  of  prison.  As  a  member  of  the 
legally-constituted  board  of  female  visitors  of  the  Rhode  Island  state- 
prison,  she  knew  tliat  the  attention  of  the  inspectors  was  maiidy  given 
to  the  men.  As  the  chaii'man  of  the  board  of  inspectors  had  said  to  her, 
"-We  cannot  go  into  the  women's  hospital,  and  we  know  nothing  about 
it."  This  inattention,  which  she  believed  to  be  general  throughout  the 
country,  she  attributed  to  three  causes:  flrst,  the  comparatively  small 
numbcrof  women  in  ])rison  made  it  seem  less  im])ortant  that  they  should 
be  looked  after;  secondly,  good  men  regani  a-  fallen  woman  as  so  much 
worse  than  a  fallen  man  that  they  involuntarily  shrink  from  association 
with  her ;  and,  thirdly,  the  ))ublic  sentiment  that  regards  fallen  women  as 
hopelessly  lost  follows  them  within  the  ])rison-walls,  and  the  inspectors 
feel  that  tlicy  cannot  hold  out  to  them  the  same  hopes  as  to  men.  An 
inspector  liad  once  said  to  lier,  "  AVe'don't  know  what  to  say  to  them." 
She  believed  that  if  there  was  anything  to  say  to  them,  if  in  any  way 
the  ])atli  to  a  life  of  virtue  could  be  oixmumI  to  them,  if  the  stone  which 
an  unjust  ])nl)li<;  senlinuiiit  had  laid  over  the  grave  of  their  respecta- 
bility could  ])(',  r()lle<l  away,  it  must  b(^  done  by  women,  aiul  from  her 
own  ex])erien('e  she,  knew  tliat,  to  do  tliis  thoionghly  and  well,  women 
must  shai-(;  with  men  the  res]M)iisil)ilily  and  authority  which  guide  and 
eontrol  these  institutions. 

.Miss  Miiiy  C;ii-penter,  of  lOngland,  was  not  om;  of  those  who  desired 
that  woman  should  t;il<e  the  i)lace  of  )iian  oi-  do  man's  work,  but  she 
wished  to  deline  v/lnit,  in  her  judgment,  was  the  special  work  of  women 


EXTRADITION    TREATIES WOMAn's    WORK   IN    PRISONS.     161 

ia  connection  with  prisons.  She  believed  that  everything  which  con- 
cerned the  reformatiou  of  female  convicts  should  be  solely,  and  the  re- 
formation of  children  partly,  under  the  care  of  women.  Children  requir- 
ing reformation  should  be  placed  in  homes,  not  in  prisons ;  and  there 
can  be  no  true  home  without  a  mother,  oi  a  sister,  or  some  woman  to  con- 
trol it.  Ladies  ought  to  conduct  and  manage  reformatory  schools  for 
girls.  She  admitted  thart  a  majority  of  women  were  incapable  of  man- 
aging business  arrangements  in  a  board,  but  thought  that  they  might 
be  trained  to  it.  It  was  also  very  important  that  the  higher  influence 
of  educated  women,  when  combined  with  an  earnest,  philanthropic,  and 
religious  spirit,  should  be  brought  to  bear  upon  female  convicts.  She 
was  aware  of  the  great  difficulties  attending  the  visitation  of  prisons  by 
women,  but  they  had  been  triumphantly]  surmounted  in  the  convict- 
prisons  of  Ireland,  where  ladies  of  approved  position  and  character  were 
permitted  to  visit  the  inmates,  each  lady  confining  herself  exclusively 
to  the  denomination  of  female  convicts  to  which  she  belonged.  This 
system  had  worked  admirably.  She  agreed  with  Mrs.  Chase  that  lady 
visitors  ought  to  have  an  official  i)osition.  It  was,  however,  when  a 
woman  had  left  prison  that  the  good  offices  of  her  own  sex  were  espe- 
cially required.  She  would  give  to  ladies  such  a  part  in  the  reformation 
of  convicts  out  of  prison  as  was  done  at  Golden  Bridge,  in  Ireland,  in 
the  institution  which  Sir  Walter  Crofton  established.  In  that  country", 
where  the  majority  were  Roman  Catholics,  the  gentleman  named  had 
requested  the  nuns  of  the  Gelden  Bridge  Convent  to  take  charge  of 
female  prisoners  before  their  terms  of  sentence  had  expired,  the  institu- 
tion receiving  an  allowance  for  their  maintenance  from  the  prison  author- 
ities. If  their  conduct  while  there  is  bad,  they  are  remitted  to  prison  ; 
if  good,  families  were  found  in  abundance  willing  to  take  them  into 
their  homes.  So  successful  had  this  system  proved,  that  out  of  the 
thousands  of  cases  that  had  passed  through  it,  there  had  been  very  few 
relapses.  Sir  Walter  Crofton  had,  after  great  eftbrt,  obtained  i)ermis- 
sion  of  the  government  to  try  it  in  England.  This  he  had  done  on  a 
small  scale,  and  with  like  success.  The  institution  had  been  entirely 
under  the  control  and  management  of  women,  though  of  course  there 
had  been,  behind  their  authority,  legal  power  to  direct. 

Miss  Emily  Faithful,  of  England,  desired  to  bear  her  testimony  to  the 
great  value  of  the  institution  to  which  Miss  Carpenter  had  referred  as 
having  been  founded  by  Sir  AValter  Crofton  in  England,  and  thought  it 
very  desirable  that  such  establishments  should  exist  in  every  part 
of  the  country,  since  it  was  of  vital  importance  to  a  discharged  female 
prisoner  that  an  opportunity  of  leading  a  better  life  should  be  afforded 
her.  But  for  families  to  receive  these  women  i)romiscuously  into  their 
homes,  immediately  upon  their  release,  would  be  jn'oductive  of  more 
harm  than  good.  She  deeply  felt  the  necessity  for  the  appointment  of 
lady-visitors,  but  thought  that  women  should  be  specially  trained  for 
this  work. 

Mrs.  Julia  Ward  Howe,  of  America,  thought  that,  if  it  were  well  to 
have  female  physicians  in  certain  cases  of  bodily  disease,  it  was  equally 
important  that  some  of  the  doctors  of  crime  should  be  women.  She 
believed  that  women  themselves  and  society  at  large  were  both  at  fault 
in  this  matter. 

Mrs.  Lewis,  of  England,  spoke  of  her  first  visit  to  the  large  female 
prison  at  Fulham.  A  lady-visitor  had  not  been  seen  for  mouths,  and 
the  cheering  influence  produced  by  her  visit,  alike  upon  officials  and  in- 
mates, was  plainly  perceptible.  The  inference  that  she  drew  was  that 
lady-visitors  could  not  be  too  often  admitted  to  these  establishments. 
H.  Ex.  185 11 


162  INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

Mr.  Brennier.  of  England,  said  that  only  women  could  approach  the 
better  feelings  of  fallen  women,  and  he  thought  that  the  non-recogni- 
tion of  this  principle  by  prison  managers  was  a  grave  mistake.  He 
believed  that  lady-visitors  should  have  an  official  position  in  female 
prisons,  which  would  free  them  from  the  charge  of  meddlesome  inter- 
ference. As  a  proof  of  the  inability  of  men  to  supply  the  place  of 
women  in  this  work,  he  remarked  that  the  Prisoners'  Aid  Society  of 
Manchester  had  failed  so  entirely  in  its  work  among  liberated  female 
convicts  that  it  had  abandoned  it  altogether. 

Eev.  Mr.  Crombleholme,  of  England,  had,  as  a  manager  of  an  industrial 
school  for  boys,  felt  the  necessity  of  having  a  good  woman  to  deal 
with  them.  A  large  proportion  of  children  born  in  prisons  and  work- 
houses, or  sent  to  work-houses,  died  before  reaching  the  age  of  seven 
years,  for  want  of  a  woman's  motherly  care.  He  believed,  moreover, 
that  it  was  impossible  to  reform  women  except  through  female  agency. 
He  believed  that  an  official  board  of  lady-visitors  should  be  attached  to 
every  prison. 

Lady  Bowriug  spoke  of  the  peculiar  difficulties  that  beset  fallen 
women  on  attempting  to  reform  their  lives,  and  urged  the  appointment 
of  an  official  board  of  ladies  in  connection  with  each  female  prison,  who 
might  awaken  a  desire  in  their  breasts  to  lead  a  better  life,  and  might 
render  such  an  end  more  easily  accomplished. 


CHAPTER    XXI. 

PEEYENTIVE   AND   REFORMATOIIY  WORK. 

Eev.  Charles  L.  Brace,  secretary  of  the  New  York  Children's  Aid  So- 
ciety, introduced  the  discussion  of  this  topic  in  a  long,  able,  and  inter- 
esting pai)er  on  the  prevention  of  juvenile  crime  in  large  cities.  He 
believed  that  the  greatest  danger  to  both  property  and  life  in  large 
cities  was  from  the  class  of  ignorant,  neglected,  and  outcast  youth,  the 
fearful  increase  of  whose  criminal  precocity  couhl  be  checked  only  by 
organization  and  combination.  _  The  task,  even  under  the  most  favorable 
conditions,  is  one  requiring  great  skill,  judgment,  and  perseverance. 
The  first  influence  needed  is  sympath3^  The  great  majority  of  these 
outcasts  cannot  believe  that  any  one  cares  for  them.  This  solitude  is 
what  especially.drives  a  girl  to  despair  and  ruin.  When  these  children 
begin  to  learn  that  those  more  fortunate  in  life  have  a  sincere  sympathy 
for  them,  half  the  danger  has  ])assed  away;  they  become  susceptible  to 
reforming  iiilluences  and  are  less  exposed  to  temptations  to  vice  and 
crime.  The,  se(;ond  influence  indispensable  to  the  successful  prosecution 
of  this  work  is  edu(;ati(»n,  or  school-training,  Mhich  inculcates  habits  of 
steady  labor,  i>unctuality,  and  exactness,  and  a  taste  for  knowledge, 
besides  «Mial)ling  the  youth  to  earn  his  bread.  To  make  education,  how- 
ever, universal,  it  should  be  gratuitous  and  compulsory.  Together  with 
Hchool-trainiiig  naturally  comes  discipline,  invahmble  to  these  street- 
wan<lerers,  nnae(;ustome«l  as  they  are  to  self-control  and  submission  to 
law.  Ibit,  in  tea(;liing  them  discipline,  their  independence  and  self-help, 
80  far  from  being  clu^cked,  should  l»e  encouraged.  Industrial  training, 
also,  should  be  iiii|>arted  to  these  children.  It  is  not  desirable,  however, 
to  attempt  selfsupitorting  industrial  movements  among  them,  but  rather 
to  fit  tliem  for  any  occupation  l)y  tea<-hing  habits  of  industry,  licligion 
is  an  indis]»ensal>Ie  element  iu  any  comliination  of  inlhiences  designed 


PREVENTIVE    AND    REFORMATORY    WORK.  163 

to  effect  a  saving  work  among  these  juvenile  vagrants.  Nothing  else  can 
strengthen  them  against  the  tide  of  evil  influences  in  which  they  are 
placed.  Mr.  Brace  further  mentioned,  as  the  final  and  best  practical 
agency  iu  efforts  in  large  towns  for  this  class,  the  plan  of  "placing  out," 
or  emigration  to  country  districts.  This  breaks  up  all  the  worst  associ- 
ations about  these  unfortunate  youths,  takes  them  from  their  companions 
and  haunts  of  vice,  puts  them  where  others  will  respect  them  if  they 
respect  themselves,  gives  them  the  best  of  all  labors  for  "  minds  dis- 
eased"— labor  on  the  soil — opens  to  them  a  chance  of  success  and  com- 
petency, and  places  them  in  the  most  useful  class  in  every  country,  the 
tillers  of  the  ground.  Besides  the  advantages  here  indicated,  this  plan 
commends  itself  on  the  score  of  economy,  the  expense  of  "placing  out" 
being  a  bagatelle  compared  to  that  of  a  public  institution,  such  as  an 
alms-house,  asylum,  or  reformatory  for  an  equal  number.  It  relieves 
the  community  of  paupers  and  future  criminals,  and  destroys  hereditary 
pauperism.  Mr.  Brace  then  gave  an  extended  account  of  the  formation 
and  work  of  the  New  York  Children's  Aid  Society,  whose  chief  agency 
he  stated  to  be  "placing  out  "these  children  in  country  homes  in  the 
Western  States,  which  has  been,  iu  his  opinion,  an  unmingled  blessing, 
and  the  most  economical  charity  ever  devised.  The  number  of  children 
thus  sent  West  since  the  formation  of  the  society  has  been  22,000,  of 
whom  comparatively  few  drift  back  to  the  city. 

Miss  Mary  Carpenter,  the  manager  and  founder  of  the  Eed  Lodge 
Reformatory  for  Girls,  Bristol,  England,  continued  the  discussion  by 
the  reading  of  a  most  valuable  i^aper  on  "  The  Principles  and  Eesults  of 
the  English  Beformatory  and  Certified  Industrial  Schools."  The  system 
on  which  these  schools  are  conducted  has  been  already  so  fully  explained 
in  Part  First  of  this  report,  that  but  a  brief  resume  ot  the  main  points  in 
the  very  interesting  paper  by  Miss  Carpenter  will  be  attempted  here. 
The  difference  between  the  two  classes  of  institutions  mentioned  in  the 
title  of  the  paper  lies  in  the  fact  that  to  the  former  may  be  committed 
for  a  certain  number  of  years  children  guilty  of  any  act  punishable 
with  not  less  than  fourteen  days'  previous  imprisonment,  while  the  latter 
are  intended  for  young  persons  in  a  state  of  procJivity  to  crime.  Both 
classes  of  schools  must  be  established  by  private  benevolence,  but  must 
be  inspected  by  some  one  appointed  by  the  secretary  of  state,  and  if  he 
certify  them  as  fit  and  proper  for  the  purpose,  the  state  grants  a  fixed 
sum  per  capita  for  each  child  sentenced  to  the  school  as  long  as  he  re- 
mains an  inmate.  This  allowance  is  smaller  in  the  case  of  industrial 
schools.  A  number  of  small  institutions  have  been  found  better  than  a 
few  large  central  ones.  In  order  that  a  home  feeling  may  be  inspired, 
each  school  should  be  adapted  to  receive  only  fifty  or  sixty  inmates  ;  if 
any  institutions  contain  a  larger  number,  they  are  divided  into  several 
schools, each  of  which  occupies  a  separate  house.  In  the  general  training, 
industrial,  and  if  possible,  out-door  employment  occupies  a  prominent 
part,  the  girls  being  taught  such  occupations  as  will  prepare  them  for 
domestic  life.  At  least  three  hours  daily  are  devoted  to  religious  in- 
struction and  the  ordinary  branches  of  education.  Sufficient  time  is 
allowed  for  recreation  and  occasional  innocent  gratification.  The  food, 
clothing,  and  surroundings  in  reformatories  are  such  as  are  adapted  to 
working  boys  and  girls,  and  conduce  to  their  health  and  civilization, 
without  giving  them  undue  indulgence.  The  results  of  this  system  Miss 
Carpenter  described  as  most  encouraging.  As  an  illustration,  she  men- 
tioned that,  of  seventy  girls  discharged  from  her  own  reformatory  during 
four  years,  only  one  was  reconvicted  during  that  period,  nine  others 
were  doubtful  or  uukuowu,  and  sixty  were  maintaining  themselves  re- 


164  INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

spectably,  six  of  tliem  having-  been  well  married.  But  independent  of 
any  isolated  facts  or  any  statistics,  Miss  Carpenter  stated  that  juvenile 
crime,  as  it  existed  twenty  years  ago,  has  been  absolutely  annihilated. 
At  the  outset  of  this  reformatory  work,  young  persons  were  frequently 
committed  who  had  been  in  prison  six  or  eight  times  \  at  present,  cases 
of  even  a  second  conviction  are  uncommon.  So  satisfactory  have  been 
its  results,  that  children  who  have  passed  through  a  reformatory  are 
sought  for,  even  in  preference  to  others,  as  being  better  prepared  for 
work  than  ordinary  children.  And  as  a  final  result  of  the  reformatory 
work  thus  described,  Miss  Carpenter  stated  that  the  public  interest 
had  been  awakened  in  these  outcast  children,  and  that  it  is  now  well 
understood  that,  in  this  matter  at  least,  sound  political  economy  and 
true  Christianity  are  not  really  at  variance,  and  the  heart  and  con-' 
science  of  the  nation  have  been  opened  to  bestow  money  and  effort,  as 
well  as  love  and  sympathy,  to  save  these  young  ones. 

Mr.  J.  A.  Foote,  of  Ohio,  briefly  noticed  the  success  that  had  attended 
the  work  of  the  Ohio  Reform  School,  and  said  that  reformatory  work 
was  the  romance  of  doing  good. 

Mr.Yaucher-Cremieux,of  Switzerland,  thought  that  in  the  reformation 
of  juvenile  olienders  the  germ  of  crime  was  destroyed.  He  particularly 
favored  agricultural  colonies  like  Mettray,  where,  out  of  four  thousand 
inmates,  it  was  believed  that  There  were  scarcely  a  score  who  had  not 
been  completely  regenerated. 

Mr.  Hendrickson,  of  Wisconsin,  described  the  school  of  which  he  is 
the  superintendent,  which  is  conducted  on  what  is  known  as  the  family 
plan,  and  which  had  been  remarkably  successful. 

Mr.  Howe,  superintendent  of  the  Ohio  Reform  Farm  School,  gave  an 
interesting  sketch  of  the  organization,  growth,  and  complete  success  of 
that  institution. 

Mr.  Bouruat,  of  France,  said  that  in  that  country  there  were  two 
classes  of  reformatories,  called,  respectively,  penitentiary  and  correc- 
tional colonies.  To  the  former  were  sent  young  offenders  sentenced  to 
less  than  two  years'  im])risonment,  as  well  as  orphans  under  sixteen 
who  were  judged  not  to  have  erred  knowingly :  to  the  latter  were  sent 
those  sentenced  for  more  than  two  years  and  those  guilty  of  insubordi- 
nation in  the  i)enitentiary  colonies.  The  cellular  prison  of  La  Petite 
Roquette,  Paris,  received  minors  under  sixteen.  If  their  conduct  in 
the  penitentiary  was  good,  they  were  surrendered  to  the  patronage  so- 
ciety for  liberated  juveniles  of  the  Seine,  which  apprenticed  them  to  a 
trade.  Tf  their  coiuluct  gave  satisfaction  to  their  masters,  they  M^ere  not 
interfered  witli;  if  otherwise,  they  were  sent  back  to  the  penitentiary. 

Mr.  Maisliall,  of  I'^ngland,  descril)ed  the  hoys'  reformatory  at  Feltham 
and  that  tor  gills  at  llampstead.  In  the  former,  boys  were  instructed 
in  ])ra(;tical  seamanshii>,  and  were  often  well  received  by  captains  when 
apjdyiiig  for  ))ositions  on  ship-boanl  on  discharge.  At  the  latter,  the 
inmates  w«!re  trained  for  domestic  service,  and  situations  were  leadily 
o])taiTMMl  tor  them  on  liberation.  At  both,  scholastic  and  religious  edu- 
cations wei(!  in)i)arted  with  assiduity  and  success. 

Sir  T.  Fowell  Buxton,  of  I'higland,  said  that  in  that  country  it  was 
seldom  i)ossil)le  to  jediiei^  the  averages  retention  of  juvenile  delinquents 
to  less  than  twelve  or  eiglili-en  months.  '  The  facilities  for  "[)lai!ingout" 
children,  as  described  by  Mr.  Ilrace,  weie  not  so  g(>od  in  I'^nghuul  as  in 
America,  owing  to  the  greiiter  density  of  the  ])o))ulation. 

Mr.  Bilker,  ot  I'vngliind,  iis  oneofthe  i)ioneer  foumleis  of  reformatory 
schools,  recounted  the  diHicnlties  that  hiid  attended  their  foiination. 
In  J.sr><>  Pailiament  [»assed  laws  enabling  reformatories  to  s[)ring  u[)  all 


PREVENTIVE    AND    EEFORMATORY    WORK.  165' 

over  the  country,  the  result  being  that  in  four  years  the  number  of  com- 
mitments of  juveniles  had  been  reduced  from  14,000  to  8,000. 

Baron  von  Holtzendorff,  of  Prussia,  said  that  comi^ulsory  education 
was  one  of  the  preventive  measures  adopted  in  (xcrmany,  and  that, 
owing  to  this,  such  spectacles  as  met  the  eye  in  Loudou  were  never 
seen  in  Berlin.  Children  under  twelve  were  not  brought  before  a  mag- 
istrate, but  punished  by  the  school-master.  •  Between  the  ages  of  twelve 
and  eighteen,  they  might  be  seut  to  reformatories,  which  were  generally 
under  the  management  of  private  persons,  aud  where  they  might  be 
detained  until  they  reached  the  age  of  twenty.  He  was  of  opinion  that 
the  progressive  treatment  might  be  applied  to  juvenile  delinquents. 
The  prevailing  opinion  in  Germany  was  that  it  was  not  sufficient  merely 
to  detain  a  child  to  the  age  of  thirteen  or  fourteen  at  a  public  school, 
but  that  there  should  be  a  complementary  course  to  the  age  of  eighteen, 
and  that  boys  and  girls  who  had  left  school  ought  to  be  obliged  to 
attend  evening  lectures  twice  a  week.  This  was  thought  desirable  be- 
cause the  period  he  had  mentioned  was  a  very  dangerous  oue.  Such  a 
complementary  course  was  believed  to  be  of  much  importance,  aud 
some  such  provision  had  been  already  made  in  Saxony.  The  subject 
was  now  occupjing  the  attention  of  the  Prussian  government. 

Dr.  Guillaume,  of  Switzerland,  thought  education  in  infancy  was  the 
best  preventive  of  crime,  a  predisposition  to  which  he  believed  was 
sometimes  hereditary.  Xeglected  children  were  not  responsible  for 
their  moral  infirmities.  To  place  such  children  in  charitable.  Christian 
homes  he  considered  better  than  sending  them  to  reformatories.  Since 
in  Switzerland  a  sufficient  number  of  such  families  could  not  be  found, 
institutions  to  the  number  of  seventy  or  eighty' had  been  established  to 
care  for  these  children.  They  were  so  organized  as  to  resemble  a  family 
as  much  as  possible.  Xot  more  than  10  or  15  per  cent,  of  the  inmates 
turned  out  badly.  The  rest  became  good  citizens  in  after-life,  marry- 
ing and  themselves  founding  new  homes. 

Mr.  Wills,  of  England,  had  .once  seen  gardens  allotted  to  fifty  of  the 
best  boys  in  a  reformatory  having  two  huudred  inmates.  The  influence 
of  this  step  had  been  very  good. 

Eev.  Mr.  Crombleholme,  of  England,  thought  that  the  German  prac- 
tice of  having  the  school-master,  rather  than  the  magistrate,  manage  chil- 
dren under  twelve,  as  described  by  Baron  von  Holtzendorff,  was  an 
excellent  one.  He  also  favored  the  complemental  training  mentioned, 
and  thought  that  it  was  a  short-sighted  economy  to  allow  considerations 
of  expense  to*intluence  public  action  in  this  connection. 

Mr.  Aspinall,  of  England,  while  estimating  at  its  full  value  the  good 
effected  through  the  agency  of  reformatory,  industrial, and  public  schools, 
and  giving  to  the  system  of  compulsory  education  its  just  due,  still 
thought  that  all  these  measures  should  be  supplemented  by  efforts  to 
improve  the  homes  from  which  the  children  came,  and  to  elevate  their 
parents.  Here,  he  considered,  was  a  broad  field  for  Christian  philan- 
thropy. 

Sir  Walter  Crofton  thought  the  general  feeling  of  the  meeting,  as  his 
o^-n  conviction  certainly,  was  in  favor  of  the  family  system. 

I)r.  Marquardsen,  of  Bavaria,  Dr.  Guillaume,  of  Switzerland,  and  Eev. 
Mr.  Coit,  of  Massachusetts,  in  reply  to  questions  of  Mrs.  Meredith, 
stated  the  practice  in  their  several  countries  in  regard  to  the  illegiti- 
mate children  of  female  prisoners.  In  Bavaria  aud  Massachusetts  they 
beconse  wards  of  the  state,  and  in  Switzerland  were  taken  care  of  by 
the  local  authorities. 

JVIr.  Ford,  of  England,  remarked  that  it  was  a  singular  fact  that  in 


166  INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

England  the  more  criminal  institutions — the  reformatories — had  remained 
stationary  ten  years  f  and  these  were  now  only  sixty-four  or  sixty-five. 
But  the  least  criminal  class  of  institutions — the  industrial  schools — had 
more  than  doubled  in  number  during  the  same  period.  In  1801  there 
were  forty-one,  and  fifty  had  been  established  since.  Thus  it  appeared 
that  the  latter  were  doing  away  with  the  necessity  for  the  former. 


CHAPTEE   XXII. 

PENITENTIARY  SYSTEMS. 

§  1.  The  Irish  convict  system,  as  explained  hy  Sir  Walter  Crofton. — This 
system  first  endeavors  to  make  the  criminal  feel  that  his  punishment  is 
not  simply  afflictive,  but  also  reformatory.  To  stimulate  him  in  his  re- 
formation the  element  of  hope  is  combined  with  the  punitive  element, 
and  the  system  of  classification  shows  him  that  his  fate  is  in  his  own 
hands.  This  classification  is  the  result  of  a  system  of  marks  awarded 
for  intelligence,  work,  and  zeal.  They  are  not  given  as  a  reward  for 
mere  iuteligence,  for  the  most  criminal  are  often  intellectually  brightest, 
and  would  thus  be  most  rewarded.  The  first  thing  aimed  at  is  to 
give  the  criminal  a  liking  for  work,  for  generally  idleness  led  him  to 
crime.  But  work  will  give  him  no  i)leasure  unless  he  is  remunerated  for 
it.  After  a  certain  time  ])assed  in  a  cell,  when  strengthened  and  com- 
forted by  the  visits  of  the  minister,  he  will  live  in  common  with  other 
prisoners.  During  his  treatment  on  the  collective  system,  the  change 
effected  in  his  character  can  be  appreciated,  and  he  is  rewarded  by  the 
distribution  of  marks.  He  is  now  arbiter  of  his  own  lot,  and  can  only 
get  into  a  higher  class  by  diligence  and  zeal.  Lastly,  when  he  has  given 
sufficient  guarantees  of  good  conduct,  he  passes  into  an  intermediate 
prison,  which  is  designed  to  test  the  work  previously  done,  as  the  crucible 
tests  gold.  These  intermediate  prisons,  in  which  the  prisoners  enjoy 
a  semi-liberty,  have  produced  excellent  results.  Those  living  in 
them  conduct  themselves  as  free  workmen.  Penal  labor  in  all  the  Irish 
convict-prisons  is  prohiljited.  This  system  has  been  proved  a  triumphant 
success.  Its  reformatory  results  are  most  encouraging,  a  consideration 
more  than  counter-balancing,  even  pe(;uniarily,  the  slightly  increased  ex- 
pense which  it  may  involve.  Time,  however,  is  required  for  its  reform- 
ing influences  to  operate;  hence  the  minimum  sentence  has  been  fixed 
at  five  years.  Prisoners  who  gain  a  remission  of  imprisonment  receive 
a  "ticket  of  license,"  liberating  them  conditionally.  Escapes  among 
prisoners  so  liberated  are  very  rare,  ])articnlarly  since  the  institution  of 
police  siipcrvisio]),  und«,'r  whi(.'h  system  each  liolder  of  a  "ticket  of 
lice?is(! "  is  recjiiired  to  report  liis  residenee  and  occupation  to  the  police 
each  montli.  Jf  sui'h  a  prisoner  is  again  apprehended  before  the  time 
for  wliicli  lie  \v;is  sentenced  has  expiied,  he  is  sent  back  to  tlie  ])rison 
i'roni  wliieli  lie  wah  libeialed.  In  icply  to  a  question,  Sir  "Walter  stated 
that  prisoners,  on  arriving  at  tlie  intermediate  prison,  Avere  treatcMl  with 
res])e(;t  and  conlidenee,  and  that  tlieir  coinluct  elsewhere  Justified  this 
treatment.  As  an  illustration  ol"  this  ])roi)osition,  ho  said  that  in  a  cer- 
tain prison  some  one  of  the  ]>risoners  was  intrusted  each  week  with  the  ex- 
ecution of  errands  out  side  the  prison;  in  seven  years oidy  one  had  returned 
intoxicated.  A  ])risoner  who  has  relapsed  after  passing  througli  the  in- 
termediate ])rison  is  not  allowed  to  return  tliei'e  again.  Life-sentenced 
men,  after  ten  years'  cellular  im])risonment  witli  hard  labor,  are  impris- 


IRISH,    ENGLISH,    AND    SCOTCH    PRISON    SYSTEMS.  167 

oued  commonly  in  a  special  prison,  and  after  twenty  years  their  fate  is 
determined  by  the  government. 

§  2,  The  Irish  horoiujh  and  county  prisons^  as  explained  hy  Hon.  C. 
F.  Bourlce  and  others. — The  management  of  tliese  prisons  is  confined  to 
boards  of  superintendence,  composed  each  of  twelve  gentlemen  of  social 
position  and  influence  in  their  respective  counties,  chosen  by  the,  grand 
juries  of  the  counties.  At  present  there  is  little  uniformity  in  the  dis- 
cipline of  these  prisons,  but  at  the  last  session  of  Parliament  a  bill  was 
passed  giving  to  the  executive  the  power  to  make  uniform  rules  and  by- 
laws for  their  management.  All  prisoners,  juvenile  and  adult,  male  and 
female,  attend  the  prison  schools  daily,  many  of  those  advanced  in  life 
learning  both  to  read  and  write  during*  their  imprisonment.  A  medical 
officer  is  connected  with  each  jail,  who  is  required  to  visit  each  prisoner 
twice  a  week  at  least,  and  oftener  if  necessary,  and  who  has  the  right  to 
alter  the  diet  or  labor  of  any  prisoner  according-  to  his  judgment.  Each 
board  of  superintendence  is  empowered  to  appoint,  and  usually  did 
appoint,  three  chaplains — one  Episcopalian,  one  Eoman  Catholic,  and 
one  Presbyterian.  The  great  difficulty  with  which  the  prison  managers 
have  to  contend  is  the  number  of  short  sentences,  (very  many 
being  for  only  twenty-four  hours,)  which  rather  promote  crime  than 
check  it.  A  majority  of  these  sentences  are  inflicted  on  drunkards,  who 
are  wholly  undeterred  tbereby.  It  amounts  practically  merely  to  giving 
the  prisoner  a  good  bed  for  the  night  gratuitously,  often  au  unwonted 
luxury,  w^hich  is,  in  many  cases,  enjoyed  b^'  the  same  prisoner  at  inter- 
vals of  a  week  for  more  than  one  liundred  times.  Mr.  Bourke  thought 
that  committing  magistrates  should  be  emi^owered  to  pass  cumulative 
sentences*  on  such  prisoners,  and  that  more  stringent  enactments  with 
reference  to  the  sale  of  ardent  spirits  should  be  incorporated  in  the  law. 

§  3.  The  English  convict  system,  as  explained  hy  Major  C.  F.  Du  Cane. — 
[The  greater  part  of  Major  Du  Cane's  explanation,  having  been  embodied 
in  his  answers  to  the  interrogatories  mentioned  in  Part  First  of  this  report, 
has  been  epitomized  there,  and  need  not  be  repeated.] 

Major  Du  Cane  defended  the  ticket-of-license  system  as  practised 
in  England.  In  reply  to  questions  propounded  by  members  of 
the  congress,  he  stated  that  life-sentenced  i)risoners  were  usually 
conditionally  liberated  by  the  secretary  of  state  after  twenty  years' 
cellar  imprisonment.  He  did  not  consider  the  number  of  recidivists 
any  evidence  of  the  value  of  a  prison  system,  hi  1870  more  than  25 
per  cent,  of  those  discharged  from  the  English  prisons  had  relapsed 
into  crime,  which  was  an  increase  of  a  little  more  than  2  per  cent,  over 
the  preceding  year.  He  said  that  his  ideal  would  be  to  see  100  per 
cent,  of  recidivists,  since  this  would  show  that  it  is  always  the  same 
men  who  commit  crime,  and  that  the  social  pest  was  really  limited  and 
localized.  Great  attention  is  paid  to  the  industrial  training  of  the  con- 
victs in  the  English  prisons,  1,600  out  of  2,200  apprenticed  to  some 
mechanical  trade  having  learned  it  completely.  A  portion  of  the  prison- 
er's earnings — not  exceeding  £3 — was  allowed  to  him,  the  sum  awarded 
varying  according  to  his  industry.  The  convict,  however,  w^as  not 
allowed  to  send  any  portion  of  this  money  to  his  family ;  but  on  his 
discharge  it  was  given  to  a  prisoners'  aid  society,  if  he  requested  their 
assistance  and  protection;  otherwise,  the  police  were  requested  to  give  it 
to  him  in  small  sums.  Marks  are  given  the  prisoners  as  a  reward  for 
industry,  and  if  the  number  earned  is  sufficient,  they  are  promoted  from 
class  to  class.  If  any  convict  feels  dissatisfied,  he  may  appeal  to  the 
governor,  and  from  him  to  the  director,  from  whose  decision  an  appeal 
lies  to  the  secretary  of  state.     Appeals  to  the  director  are  frequent; 


168  INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

but  if  the  prisoner's  statement  of  facts  is  false,  be  is  liable  to  a  disciplin- 
ary punishment. 

§  4.  The  English  borough  and  county  prisons,  as  explained  by  Captain 
Armytage,  Dr.  Mouat,  and  others. — Captain  Ariuytage,  of  England,  gave 
a  detailed  account  of  the  Wakefield  prison,  of  which  he  is  the  gov- 
ernor. The  majority  of  the  inmates  were  sentenced  to  from  three  to 
seven  days'  imprisonment,  many  of  whom,  discharged  on  Saturday,  re- 
turned to  the  prison  on  the  following  Monday.  The  longest  term  of 
imprisonment  in  a  county  jail  is  two  years  for  one  offense.  A  majority 
of  the  prisoners  were  misdemeanants  who  owed  their  incarceration  to 
intemperance.  Penal  labor  was  employed,  but  seldom  except  as  a  pun- 
ishment for  breaches  of  discipline.  Connected  with  this  prison  is  the 
industrial  home  for  discharged  male  prisoners,  of  which  Mr.  Browne  had 
made  mention.  The  cost  per  head  in  this  establishment  was  76-.  2d.  per 
week.  Some  of  the  inmates'  earnings  amounted  to  £1  per  week,  their 
employment  being  mat-making,  and  light  work  of  that  sort.  There  is 
also  a  female  home,  in  which  the  women  are  employed  principally  in 
washing,  and  are  trained  for  domestic  service,  and  there  is  a  constant 
demand  for  them  as  servants.  A  well-assorted  library  is  connected  with 
the  prison,  to  which  the  inmates  have  access.  Perfect  religious  equal- 
ity prevails,  both  Eoman  Catholic  and  Protestant  chaplains  being  em- 
ployed. 

Archbishop  Manning  addressed  the  congress  at  length  on  the  subject 
of  religious  freedom  in  prisons,  pleading  that  the  conscience  of  Eoman 
Catholic  prisoners  should  be  protected  equally  with  that  of  Protestants. 
He  earnestly  hoped  for  the  passage  by  Parliament  of  an  act  then  before 
the  body  making  the  employment  of  Eoman  Catholic  chaplains  compul- 
sory in  every  county  jail.  He  stated  that  no  salary  would  be  asked  for 
if  objection  were  made  on  the  ground  of  expense.  The  employment  of 
chaplains  of  his  faith  was  now  simply  permitted  in  the  county  jails,  and 
there  were  one  hundred  and  nine  jails  where  none  were  employed.  He 
wished  to  see  it  made  everywhere  obligatory  in  this  class  of  prisons  as 
it  now  is  in  the  convict  or  government  prisons. 

The  remarks  of  the  archbishop  elicited  general  approval  from  the 
English  members,  Dr.  Mouat  observing  that,  if  there  was  but  one  Eoman 
Catholic  prisoner  in  the  prison,  his  receiving  religions  instruction  accord- 
ing to  his  faith  ought  to  be  a  matter  of  right,  and  not  of  permission. 

§  5.  The  Scotch  prison  system,  as  explained  by  Mr.  J.  Alonclure. — There 
is  but  one  general  prison  in  Scotland.  No  male  prisoners  are  sent  here 
for  terms  longer  than  three  years,  those  whose  sentence  exceeds  this 
being  transferred,  after  a  probationary  term  of  nine  months,  to  public- 
works  ])risons  in  l-^ngland.  The  system  of  discipline  in  the  latter  prisons 
is  identical  with  that  i)ursued  at  Perth.  The  county  jails  receive  pris- 
oners sentenced  for  from  twenty-four  hours  to  nine  months,  although, 
owing  to  the  limited  accommodation  at  Perth,  it  is  sometimes  found 
necessary  to  retain  in  the  comity  and  hoiough  jails  jirisoners  sentenced 
lor  a  longer  t<M'm,  in  \vhi(;h  case  their  hoard  is  ]>aid  by  the  government. 
(>ivil  and  crimiiial  debtors  are  confined  in  these  jails  as  well,  and  are 
itllowed  greiiter  privileges.  IMie  diet  varies  jiecording  to  their  sentence, 
de|»eii(iing  iiik>m  its  duration,  and  wiietiier  wilh  or  withont  hard  labor. 
Corjionil  pMMislimeiit  is  not  alhnved,  ex(H'pt  in  the  case  of  boys  sen- 
tenced for  jtelty  orieiises,  and  is  even  then  very  seldom  nsed.  Penal 
hibor  is  einploye(l,  A\  hicli  in  most,  eiises  is  made  ])r(»(lii(;tiv('.  Xowhere 
in  Seothind  do  th<'  ejirnings  of  prisoners  pay  for  half  their  maintenance. 
(Iratuities  are  given  to  weli-coniliictedaiid  iiidnstrions  prisoners  on  their 
discharge.     Convicts  discharged  from  the  i)rison  at  I'erth  all  receive  a 


BELGIAN,    RUSSIAN,    AND    FRENCH    PRISON    SYSTEMS.  169 

gratuity  varying  from  5s.  to  £i,  according  to  their  conduct  and  industry. 
To  receive  the  latter  sum,  a  prisoner  must  have  had  no  demerit  marks 
whatever.  A  portion  of  the  money  is  given  him  when  he  leaves  the 
prison.  The  remainder  is  paid  in  fortnightly  installments,  on  his  for- 
warding a  certificate,  signed  by  the  police,  that  he  is  obtaining  an 
honest  livelihood.  This  police  supervision  works  admirably,  protecting 
those  inclined  to  do  well,  and  acting  as  a  salutary  check  on  those  who 
are  disposed  to  return  to  vicious  courses.  The  superintendence  of  all 
the  prisons  of  Scotland  is  confined  to  a  central  board  at  Edinburgh, 
under  the  direction  of  the  home  secretary.  They  superintend  the  col- 
lection of  judicial  and  penitentiary  statistics.  One  of  their  number 
visits  the  prison  at  Perth  twice  a  mouth,  sees  each  prisoner,  hears  com- 
plaints, and  inspects  the  buildings,  stores,  &c. 

§  G.  The  Belgian  prison  system,  as  explained  hy  Mr.  Stevens. — The  cel- 
lular system  is  strictly  enforced  in  nearly  all  the  Belgian  prisons.  Mr. 
Stevens  claimed  that  it  possesses  two  classes  of  advantages,  i)ositive 
and  negative.  Among  the  former  he  enumerated,  with  other  benefits, 
the  opportunity  it  affords  for  the  separate  study  and  treatment  of  each 
prisoner,  and  adapting  the  discipline  to  the  situation  and  needs  of  all 
the  prisoners,  thus  securing  the  efficacy  of  the  punishment.  He  con- 
sidered a  variation  in  the  treatment  of  moral  disease  as  necessary 
as  in  that  of  physical  disease.  The  cellular  system  also  enables  the 
prisoner  to  preserve  the  feeling  of  his  dignity  as  a  man  and  of  his 
personal  responsibility.  The  prevention  of  moral  contagion,  the  sub- 
duing and  calming  influence  of  solitude,  and  the  opportunity  oifered 
for  reflection  and  repentance  were  all,  in  Mr.  Stevens's  oi)inion,  found  in 
the  cellular  system.  In  a  word,  he  considered  that  no  s^'stem  attained 
more  directly  or  perfectly  the  various  objects  of  punishment — repres- 
sion, expiation,  prevention,  and  reformation.  As  the  imsoner's  reform 
progresses,  cellular  confinement  becomes  less  and  less  irksome  to  him, 
until  at  last  he  would  regard  removal  to  a  congregate  prison  as  an  in- 
tolerable punishment.  In  consequence  of  its  repressive  and  reformatory 
efficacy,  this  system,  Mr.  Stevens  claimed,  allowed  a  diminution  of  the 
duration  of  imprisonment,  thus  greatly  lessening  expense.  A  want  of 
sufficient  cellular  accommodation  alone  has  prevented  the  introduction 
of  this  system  into  all  the  Belgian  prisons,  and  this  obstacle  is  being  re- 
moved as  rapidly  as  possible.  Its  results  in  that  country  have  abun- 
dantly justified  its  adoption.  The  official  returns  prove  that  the  average 
number  of  recidivists  is  4.40  per  cent,  of  those  leaving  cellular  prisons, 
while  it  is  G8.S0  jier  cent,  of  those  liberated  from  congregate  prisons. 
Lastly,  Mr.  Stevens  stated  the  remarkable  fact  that  in  Belgium  the 
number  of  prisoners  has  decreased  during  the  last  six  years  from  7,000 
to  4,000,  a  result  which  he  attributed  in  part  to  the  introduction  of  the 
cellular  system. 

§  7.  The  Russian 2)rison  system,  projected  hut  not  yet  reduced  to  practice, 
as  described  hy  Count  SoUohuh. — Count  Sollohub  explained  a  complete 
system  of  penitentiary  treatment,  full  of  novel  views  and  original  ideas. 
Want  of  time  prevented  him  from  finishing  his  explanation,  but  he  sub- 
mitted a  pamphlet  on  the  subject,  which  was  distributed  to  the  members 
of  the  congress.  This  has  been  translated  and  printed,  as  the  reader 
will  have  observed,  in  Chapter  XIY,  Part  First,  of  this  report. 

§  8.  The  French  j^^'ison  system,  as  explained  hy  Mr.  Berenger. — Great 
interest  is  taken  at  present  in  France  in  the  subject  of  prison  reform, 
and  the  National  Assembly  has  appointed  a  commission  to  inquire  into 
the  condition  of  French  prisons  and  suggest  improvements.  This  com- 
mission deputized  Mr.  Berenger  to  attend  the  congress.     He  said  that 


170  INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

tbe  system  uow  followed  presented  three  prominent  characteristics : 
first,  young  criminals  are  imprisoned  in  reformatories ;  secondly,  help 
is  given  to  the  man  who  commits  a  first  crime ;  and,  thirdlj^,  an  attempt 
is  made  to  get  rid  of  recidivists.  It  is  in  effecting  the  object  last  named 
that  the  greatest  difficulty  is  apprehended. 

Being  interrogated  as  to  the  state  of  public  opinion  in  France  as  re- 
gards the  cellular  system,  Mr.  Berenger  said  he  believed  it  was  not  un- 
popular.   He  avowed  himself  an  advocate  of  that  system. 

§  9.  The  Siciss  i)rison  system,  as  explained  by  Br.  Guillaume. — After  ^'ari- 
ous  experiments,  public  opinion  in  Switzerland  has  become  definitively 
settled  in  favor  of  the  Crofton  system.  The  details  of  its  application 
are  contained  in  Part  First,  and  will  be  further  illustrated  in  Part  Fourth. 

§  10.  The  Italian  prison  system,  as  explained  by  Gonnt  de  Foresta. — 
There  is  at  present  no  well-defined  and  uniform  prison  system  in  Italy. 
A  commission,  however,  has  been  appointed  by  the  King  to  prepare  a 
code  that  shall  attain  this  end.  Of  this  commission  both  the  Count  de 
Foresta  and  Mr.  Beltrani-Scalia  were  members.  The  preference  of  both 
these  gentlemen  was  for  the  Crofton,  or  Irish,  system;  but  this  sentiment 
was  not  unanimous  among  the  commission,  which  has  not  as  yet  come 
to  any  resolution.  The  count  felt  quite  certain,  however,  that  the  cel- 
lular system  would  not  be  adopted,  since  it  was  believed  to  be  ill-adapted 
to  Italian  character.  At  present  prisoners  were  generally  imprisoned 
collectively  in  galleys,  [bagnes ;)  they  are  chained;  but  those  who  dis- 
tinguish themselves  by  good  conduct  are  placed  in  agricultural  colonies 
on  the  islands.  ♦ 

§  11.  The  German  prison  system  as  explained  by  Serr  Ekert  and  I>r. 
Yarrentrap. — llerr  Ekert,  director  of  the  cellular  prison  of  Bruchsal,  in 
Baden,  summarized  the  provisons  of  the  German  x)enal  code.  Corporal 
punishment  is  abolished,  cellular  imprisonment  and  conditional  libera- 
tion established,  and  police  surveillance  humanely  conducted  but  firmly 
maintained.  Separate  imprisonment  in  Germany,  when  applied  to 
Momen  as  well  as  to  men,  produced  excellent  results.  Formerly  in 
Baden  the  maximum  duration  of  cellular  imprisonment  was  ten  years; 
the  new  German  penal  code  has  fixed  it  at  only  three  years.  Herr 
Ekert  avowed  himself  an  earnest  supporter  of  the  cellular  system  and 
concurred  in  all  the  conclusions  of  Mr.  Stevens.  In  his  own  prison  he 
has  seen  convicts  live  thirteen  years  in  separate  confinement  without 
any  inconvenience.  He  alleged  that  recidivists  were  very  rare  among 
tliose  who  had  undergone  this  punishment  for  many  years,  and  fur- 
nislied  results  tending  to  show  that  its  infiuence  on  the  moral  and 
l)hysical  health  of  the  ])risoners  was  very  beneficial.  In  reply  to  inter- 
rogatories ]\Ir.  Ekert  said  that  there  were  no  criminal  statistics  in  Ger- 
many, lie  added  that  all  jtrisoners  except  1  per  cent,  could  endure 
(;elhilar  coiifin(unent  for  life  without  inconvenience. 

Ilaroii  von  Iloltzendorff  congratulated  llerr  Ekert  on  the  results  ob- 
tained at  IJruchsal,  Init  added  iniinediately  that,  notwithstanding  these 
results,  lie  liiiiiself  <lid  not  ai)[)rove  of  tliat  system;  tluit  the  public 
opinion  of  Germany  was  o])]>osed  to  it,  and  that  an  executive  committee 
sitting  at  JJeilin,  under  onci  of  llie  city  magistrates  as  ])resident,  had 
unanimously  decided  to  ai)ply  the,  cellnlar  treatment  incases  of  short 
imjuisonment,  and  the  pi'ogressive  system  of  Sir  Walter  ('rottoii  when 
longei'  sentences  had  to  be  nndergon*'. 

J)r.  \'arrentrapp,  of  J-'ranklbrt,  vigoronsly  eonteste<l  the  statement 
that  |iublic  opinion  in  (Jermany  liad  pronounced  against  the  cellular 
system.  In  the.  (irand  Dnt.-hy  (if  Jiaden,  at  iMankfoit,  in  Wiirtemberg, 
Jlanover,  Ihi-  Grand  Duchy  of  Jlesse,  and  Bavaria,  it  had  been  adopted, 


DUTCH,    SWEDISH,    AUSTRIAN,    AND    OTHER    SYSTEMS.         171 

and  it  was  only  on  financial  grounds  that  it  was  not  more  completely 
applied.  Bavaria  had,  however,  already  built  a  magnificent  cellular 
j)rison,  which  had  produced  excellent  results.  Dr.  Varreutrapp  consid- 
ered that  the  new  German  jienal  code  prefers  and  adopts  the  cellular 
system.  His  own  preference  therefor  was,  he  said,  supported  by  the 
experience  and  study  of  forty  years ;  and  he  combated  the  attacks 
made  against  this  system,  which  appeared  to  him  to  have  a  most 
rational  basis. 

§  12.  The  Nethet'land's  prison  system,  as  explained  oy  Mr.  Ploos  van 
Amstel. — In  Holland  the  Belgian,  or  cellular,  system  is  to  a  very  con- 
siderable extent  in  ojieration,  the  maximum  of  separate  confinement 
being  two  years.  The  prisoners  are  employed  in  a  variety  of  industries, 
and  gratuities  are  allowed  for  diligence.  As  a  magistrate  and  inspec- 
tor, he  had,  for  many  years,  visited  the  prisoners  in  the  cellular 
prison  of  Amsterdam,  and  always  found  their  health  excellent,  better 
even  than  he  found  it  in  collective  prisons.  He  never  observed  bad 
results,  either  as  respects  their  moral  or  physical  condition.  For  this 
reason  he  supported  the  opinions  of  M.  Stevens. 

§  13.  The  Swedish  prison  system,  asexplainedhy  M.  Almqidst. — M.  Alm- 
quistsaid  that  in  Sweden  serious  attention  was  given  to  penitentiary  re- 
form. Sweden  in  this  respect  had  still  much  to  accomplish  and  much  to  learn 
from  other  countries.  The  cellular  system  is  there  in  operation,  and  has 
not  been  followed  by  the  evil  results  attributed  to  it  by  its  adversaries. 
The  prisoners  enjoy  better  health  in  the  cellular  than  in  the  collective 
prisons,  while  the  cases  of  insanity  are  also  fewer  in  the  former  prisons. 

§  14.  The  Anstrian  prison  system,  as  explained  hy  Dr.  Frey. — Dr.  Frey 
stated  that  up  to  the  present  time  in  Austria  the  collective  system,  pure 
and  simple,  had  been  practised,  without  classification  or  separation  of 
any  kind.  At  first  they  had  thought  of  introducing  the  cellular  system 
as  practised  in  Belgium,  but,  fearing  it  would  interfere  with  the  health 
of  the  prisoners,  preference  had  been  given  to  the  progressive  system. 
A  maximum  duration  of  three  years'  celUilar  imprisonment  is  followed 
by  life  in  common  and  by  classes  more  or  less  privileged.  Conditional 
liberation  has  not  yet  been  introduced. 

§  15.  Prison  system  of  India,  as  explained  hy  Dr.  Mouat  and  others. — 
A  synopsis  of  tlie  paper  read  by  Dr.  Mouat  on  the  Indian  prison  system 
has  been  already  given  in  Part  First,  Chapter  XVI.  Mr.  Thornton  and  Dr. 
Grey,  of  India,  supplemented  the  account  furnished  by  Dr.  Mouat  by 
giving  some  interesting  statistical  details  relative  to  the  prisons  of  the 
Punjaub.  In  other  respects,  however,  their  statements  shed  no  new 
light  upon  the  internal  operation  of  the  system,  beyond  the  lucid  de- 
scription of  Dr.  Mouat. 

§  16.  The  prison  system  of  the  United  States,  as  explained  hy  Hon.  Joseph 
R.  Chandler,  General  Pilshury,  and  others. — The  representatives  from 
New  York,  Pennsylvania,  Indiana,  and  Maine  present  in  the  congress 
described  each  the  prisons  of  his  own  State.  It  was  remarked  that,  owing 
to  the  indei)endence  of  the  several  States  of  the  Union  of  each  other,  a 
uniform  system  throughout  the  country  was  impossible.  The  eastern 
penitentiary  of  Pennsylvania  is  the  only  prison  in  the  United  States  con- 
ducted on  the  cellular  plan.  Its  managers  are  abundantly  satisfied  of 
the  superiority  of  this  system  over  that  of  congregate  labor.  General 
Pilsbury  and  Dr.  Wines  deplored  the  influence  of  party  politics  upon  the 
state-prisons  of  ISTew  York,  and  expressed  a  belief  that  a  radical  change 
in  the  fundamental  law  of  the  State  would  soon  render  a  recurrence  of 
the  present  evils  impossible.  A  brief  outline  was  also  given  of  the  plan 
upon  which  it  is  proposed  to  construct  and  manage  a  new  State  adult 


172  INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIAEY    CONGRESS. 

reformatory  at  Elraira.  To  this  prison  are  to  be  &ent  young  men  between 
the  ages  of  sixteen  and  twenty-five.  There  would  be,  so  to  speak,  three 
prisons  under  one  roof,  and  the  prisoners  would  have  to  begin  at  one 
and  would  be  advanced  to  the  others,  as  they  earned  such  promotion  by 
good  conduct.  The  system  would  be  that  of  Sir  Walter  Crofton,  slightly 
modified. 

The  county  jails  throughout  the  country  were  represented,  with  few 
exceptions,  as  indequate,  in  every  way,  for  the  work  required  of  them. 
This  fact  was  freely  admitted  by  a  majority  of  the  American  delegates, 
many  of  whom,  however,  expressed  a  hope  soon  to  see  radical  reforms 
instituted  in  their  own  States. 


CHAPTEE     XXIII. 

CONCLUDING   SESSION   OF   THE   CONGRESS, 

§  1.  Presentation  of  the  worls  of  Edward  Livingston  on  criminal  ju- 
risprudence.— Dr.  Wines  offered  to  the  acceptance  of  the  congress  a  set 
of  the  complete  works  of  Edward  Livingston,  in  two  volumes,  pub- 
lished in  America  fifty  years  ago.  He  also  presented,  at  the  same  time, 
for  M.  Verge,  a  member  of  the  Institute  of  France,  an  edition  of  the 
same  work  in  French,  recently  published  under  the  auspices  of  the  In- 
stitute. He  stated  that,  through  funds  generously  proffered  for  the 
purpose,  the  Xational  Prison  Association  of  the  United  States  had 
then  in  press,  and  would  shortly  issue,  a  new  American  edition  of  Liv- 
ingston. It  was,  he  said,  a  remarkable  as  well  as  pleasing  circumstance 
that  there  should  meet  on  that  floor,  and  be  presented  to  the  congress, 
French  and  American  editions  of  a  work  which,  though  written  and 
published  a  full  half  century  ago,  had  anticipated  most  of  the  great 
reforms  in  prison  discipline  which  the  world  is  now  slowly  and  labori- 
ously engaged  in  working  out.  M.  Verge  had  been  called  to  Paris  that 
morning  by  duties  which  could  not  be  postponed,  but  had  handed  to  him, 
together  with  the  book,  a  letter  addressed  to  the  president  of  the  con- 
gress, which  would  be  read  in  French,  and  afterward  translated  into 
English  by  ]\[usurus  P»ey,  a  delegate  to  the  congress  commissioned  by 
the  Sublime  Porte.     The  letter  was  then  read  as  follows : 

LoxDOX,  July  12,  1872. 
Mr.  President  :  I  have  tho,  honor  to  :isk  yon  to  offer  to  the  International  Congress 
on  Prison  Reform  a  eopy  of  tlie  frcnch  edition  of  the  j^reat  work  of  Livin>j;stou,  one  of 
tlie  most  (eminent  m(;n  of  tlie  United  States  of  America,  and  among  tlie  most  zealous 
]iione<',rs  in  the  reform  of  tlie  i)en:il  and  jtenitentiary  system.  Tiiis  edition  is  preceded 
liy  a  liiograjiiiical  sketch  f»f  Mr.  J^ivingston  l)y  M.  iNIignet,  and  a  critical  essay  by  M. 
Charles  Lncas,  a  im'mber  of  tlie  Institute  of  France,  the  friend  and  snccessorof  Living- 
ston in  Ills  labors  in  behalf  of  penitentiary  reform,  nndertaken  half  a  centnry  ago. 
Livingston  was  a  metiiber  of  the  Institiitc,  of  rrance,  (Academy  of  Moral  and  Political 
Sciences.)  lie  has  found  in  the  Old  World  as  well  as  the  New  admirers  and  followers, 
lieccive,  Mr.  President,  the  assiuancc  of  my  most  distingnislnid  sentiments. 

CIIAK'LLS  VKIJtir:. 
McmfHV  of  llic  Iiii^tihile. 

Arclibisliop  Manning,  who  liatl  intcndtMl  to  oiler  some  remarks  on  tho 
work  tiiiis  incscntcd  lo  the  congress,  but.  forbore  to  do  so  lest  he  should 
occupy  time  that  miglit  be  ncM'dc*!  {\)v  other  jmrposes,  subse<juently  ad- 
dressed the  following  letter  to  Dr.  AV'iiies: 

rt  YonKl'i.ACK,  ./((/(/ 21,  1872. 
Mv  I)K.\r:  Sii::  <>nr   thanks  are,  due  tr»  yon   in  chief  for  the   International   Prison 
('ongrcHH,  wliich  has  resnlte<l  not  only  in  much  valuable  information,  bnt  in  the  estab- 


Livingston's  works  and  lucas's  observations.       173 

lishnient  of  a  permanent  union  of  correspondence  in  respect  to  the  statistics  and  dis- 
cipline of  prisons.  But  for  tlie  initiative  talven  by  you  and  by  the  Government  of  the 
United  Statt^s,  I  do  not  think  this  would  have  beeu  attained.  We  have  also  to  thank 
you  for  Mr.  Livingston's  Taluable  work  ou  reform  and  prison  discipline.  I  am  sorry 
that  it  did  not  .arrive  earlier  in  our  proceedings.  Mr.  Livingston  was  before  his  time. 
He  has  anticipated  the  substance  of  our  late  discussions  on  the  separate  system  in  his 
words,  "  Imprisonment  with  seclusion  and  labor  will  diminish  offenses  ;  imprisonment 
without  seclusion  will  increase  them."  I  was  not  aware  that  this  had  beeu  tried  and 
proved  so  long  ago  as  1791  in  the  United  States.  His  book  is  worthy  of  his  high  name  as 
a  just  and  good  man.  I  am  sorry  that  I  had  not  the  opportunity  of  expressing  what  I 
think  is  due  to  Mr.  Livingston  as  a  forerunner  in  the  recent  amelioration  of  our  pri.son- 
discipline,  which  is,  day  by  day,  becoming  vital  to  the  welfare  and  even  to  the  safety 
of  the  civil  society  of  the  world. 

Believe  me,  my  dear  sir,  yours,  very  faithfully, 

t  HENRY  E., 
Archhishoi)  of  Westrninntcr. 
The  Rev.  Dr.  Wines. 

§  2.  Presentation  to  the  congress  of  M.  Charles  Lucas''s  ohservations  on 
the  Penitentiary  Congress  of  London. — lu  making  this  preseutatiou  to  the 
congress,  Dr.  Wines  said  that,  as  the  observations  of  M.  Lucas  were 
addressed  to  the  French  Academy  of  Moral  and  Political  Sciences,  and 
would  not  therefore  be  embodied  in  the  proceedings  of  the  congress, 
and  as  they  lacked  nothing  of  the  value  that  would  naturally  attach  to 
them  from  the  longe  study,  large  experience,  and  eminent  ability  of  tbe 
writer,  he  would  ask  the  indulgence  of  that  body  in  offering  a  brief 
resume  of  the  important  paper  submitted  by  him.     He  said : 

M.-Lucas  remarks  that  such  reunions  as  the  congress  of  London  are  a  necessary  con- 
sequence of  the  two  laws  of  the  sociability  and  perfectibility  of  man,  which,  in  an  ad- 
vanced civilization,  require  the  international  exchange  of  ideas  for  the  moral  progress 
of  humanity  just  as  they  do  that  of  material  commodities  for  the  increase  of  national 
wealth.  International  congresses  show  the  respective  conditions  of  nations  as  regards 
their  intellectual  and  moral  development  in  the  same  manner  as  international  indus- 
trial exhibitions  do  the  comparative  results  of  their  economic  development.  Hereto- 
fore there  have  beeu  congresses  of  governments  and  congresses  of  peoples,  but  the  Con- 
gress of  London  is  original  and  unique  in  that  it  combines  both  these  elements.  After 
a  rapid  glance  at  the  work  of  organizing  the  congress,  M.  Lucas  proceeds  to  offer  some 
general  considerations  in  relation  to  the  subject.  He  says  that  Beccaria  and  Howard 
were,  and  ought  to  have  beeu,  philanthropists,  for  that  character  was  demanded  of 
them  by  the  cruelties  of  both  the  criminal  law  and  the  criminal  administration  of  their 
age.  But  the  times  have  happily  changed  since  then,  and  with  them  ideas  and  usages 
as  well.  Man,  in  the  state  of  penal  servitude-,  is  no  longer  a  thing,  but  a  moral  being, 
whose  liberty  human  justice  has  not  the  right  to  confiscate  absolutely  and  irrevocably, 
but  only  within  the  limits  required  by  the  protection  and  security  of  social  order.  The 
logical  sequence  of  this  view  is  that  it  is  the  duty  of  society  to  reform  the  criminal 
during  his  temporary  privation  of  liberty,  since  in  this  way  only  can  the  peril  of  his 
relapse  be  successfully  combated,  and  the  public  safety  effectually  maintained.  The 
reformation  of  imprisoned  criminals  is  not,  therefore,  in  our  day,  a  work  of  philanthroi^y, 
but  an  obligation  of  the  state. 

M.  Lucas  claims  that  the  discipline  of  the  Catholic  Church  furnished  the  model  for 
both  the  cellular  and  associated  systems  of  imprisonment,  since  known  as  those  of 
Pennsylvania  and  Auburn,  save  that  the  Auburn  system  added  corporal  chastisements 
to  the  discipline  of  silence,  and  the  Pennsylvania  system  subtracted  worship  in  com- 
mon, to  the  detriment  of  religion,  and  associated  exercise  at  the  expense  of  humanity. 
M.  Lucas  recalls  to  the  memory  of  the  academy  the  discussion  of  the  10th,  17th,  and 
24th  of  February,  1844,  in  which,  single-handed,  he  contended  against  the  three  ablest 
supporters  of  tbe  Pennsylvania  system  in  France — Messrs.  Bereuger,  de  Tocqueville, 
and  de  Beaumont.  It  was  not  that  he  was  absolutely  opposed  to  isolation  by  day  and 
night,  since  in  his  "  Theory'  of  Imprisonment,"  published  in  183G,  he  was  the  first  to 
propose  the  application  of  the  cellular  system  to  prisoners  awaiting  trial ;  and,  in  the 
sphere  of  imprisouraent  after  sentence,  he  would  not  wholly  exclude  the  use  of  the 
system,  but  would  restrict  its  duration  to  one  year.  It  was  at  the  point  of  departure 
from  this  limit  that  the  controversy  began  between  M.  Lucas  and  his  distinguished 
associates,  they  contending  for  an  unlimited  and  he  for  a  restricted  application  of  the 
cellular  system.  The  inadmissibility  of  isolation  in  long  imprisonments  he  grounds 
on  the  following  considerations :  Man  is  born  sociable  and  ]>erfectible,  and  it  is  by 
the  action  of  his  sociability  that  his  perfection  is  secured.     Isolation  is,  therefore,  a  de- 


174  INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS.       ' 

nial  of  the  necessary  process  for  his  perfection  ;  it  is  a  violence  done  to  bis  nature 
■which  cannot  be  safely  prolonged  for  any  great  length  of  time.  Experience  must  in- 
fallibly confirm  this  philosophical  demonstration,  since  the  education  of  any  being 
whatsoever  is  but  the  development  of  his  nature.  Penitentiary  education  must  act 
■with  the  certainty  of  enlightening  and  invigorating  the  intelligence  of  the  convict, 
and  not  by  exposing  him  to  the  peril  of  weakening  and  even  of  destroying  that  essential 
instrument  of  his  regeneration.  Cellular  isolation,  in  effect,  does  not  permit  either  the 
initiative,  the  eft'ort,  or  the  probation,  "without  "which  there  can  be  neither  morality 
nor  moral  reformation,  (ni  moralife  ni  moralisation.) 

M.  Lucas  discusses  in  his  jiamphlet  the  proper  number  of  prisoners  to  be  admitted 
into  any  one  penitentiary  establishment,  and  arrives  at  the  conclusion  that  four  hun- 
dred is  the  maximum  that  can  be  treated  effectively  for  their  reformation.  He  grounds 
this  belief  on  the  consideration  that  only  a  moderate  number  of  prisoners  will  permit 
that  serious  personal  iutlaence  "which,  in  order  to  their  reformation,  must  be  exercised 
upon  them  by  the  director  and  his  co-laborers.  He  adds  that,  during  his  long  admin- 
istrative career  .as  inspector  of  French  prisons,  he  never  ceased,  but  always  in  vain,  to 
cry  out  against  the  agglomeration  in  the  central  prisons  as  creating  an  impossibility 
of  penitentiary  reform,  and  asks  whether  any  one  can  suppose  that,  in  those  immense 
barracks  of  ten,  twelve,  fifteen  huudred  prisoners,  the  director  can  know  them  other- 
wise than  by  their  numbers  ?  AVhere  is  the  use,  he  says,  of  talking  of  penitentiary  re- 
form^hen  it  is  rendered  impossible  by  such  numbers  of  prisoners  congregated  in  the 
same  prison  ?  In  short,  M.  Lucas  finds  the  following  to  be  the  esseutml  conditions  of 
a  reformatory  prison  discipline,  namely  :  isolation  at  night,  the  rule  of  sileuce  during 
the  day,  a  maximum  of  four  huudred  prisoners  in  any  one  establishment,  and  pro- 
gressive classification. 

§  3.  Propositions  snhmittcd  to  the  congress  by  the  American  delegation. — 
This  series  of  propositious  was  offered  some  days  previous  to  the  final 
session,  but  is  introduced  at  this  point  because  it  formed  the  basis,  as 
will  be  seen  under  the  next  section,  of  the  declaration  of  principles  em- 
bodied in  the  final  report  of  the  executive  committee  and  approved  by 
unanimous  vote  of  the  congress.     The  propositions  are  as  follows : 

1.  The  treatment  of  criminals  by  society  is  for  the  protection  of  society.  But,  since 
such  treatment  is  directed  rather  to  the  criminal  than  to  the  crime,  its  great  object 
should  be  his  moral  regeneration.  Hence  it  should  be  made  a  primary  aim  of  prison 
discipline  to  reform  the  criminal,  and  not  sim]ily  to  inflict  upon  him  a  certain  amount 
of  vindictive  suffering.  Tlie  best  guarantee  of  the  public  security  iigainst  a  repetition 
of  his  crime  is  the  re-establishnient  ctf  moral  harmony  in  the  soul  of  the  criminal  him- 
self— his  new  birth  to  a  respect  for  the  laws. 

2.  In  tlie  moral  regeneration  of  the  criminal,  hope  is  a  more  powerful  agent  than 
fear;  it  should  therefore  be  made  an  ever-present  force  in  the  minds  of  prisoners  by  a 
well-devised  and  skillfully-applied  system  of  rewards  for  good  conduct,  industry,  and 
attention  to  learning.  iSuch  rewards  may  bo  a  diminution  of  sentence,  a  participa- 
tion in  earnings,  a  gradiuil  withdrawal  of  restraint,  and  a  constant  enlargement  of 
privilege,  as  these  shall  be  severally  earned  by  meritorious  conduct.  Rewards  more 
than  punishments  are  essential  to  every  good  penitentiary  system. 

'.i.  The  {irogressive  classification  of  prisoin^rs  based  on  merit,  and  not  on  anymore  arbi- 
trary i»rincii)le — as  crime,  age,  A;c. — slif)ul(l  be  estaldished  in  all  prisons  designed  for  the 
treatunnit  of  convicted  criminals.  In  this  way  the  prisoner's  dt'stiny  during.his  iucar- 
ct^ration  should  be  placed,  measurably,  in  his  own  hands  ;  ho  must  be  put  into  circura- 
stancfs  where  he  will  lie  able,  througli  Ills  own  exertions,  to  contiiuially  better  his 
condition.  A  regnlate<l  self-interest  most  be  brought  into  play.  In  the  prison,  as  in 
free  society,  there  ninst  be  the  stimulus  of  some  jiersonal  advantage  accruing  from  the 
jirisoner's  efforts,  (iiviiig  prisoners  an  interest  in  their  industry  aiul  gooil  conduct 
tet)ds  to  giv<-  them  ben(;(icial  thoughts  and  habits,  and  what  no  severity  of  punish- 
ment will  erilbr((5  a  moderate  personal  interest  will  rciidily  oljtain. 

'1.  In  criminal  trt;atnient  moral  forces  should  he  relied  on  with  as  little  admixture  of 
]>hysica]  force  ;is  may  be;  organized  jiersnasion,  to  the  utmost  extent  ])ossi!)le,  should 
i)e,  marh;  totiike  the  place  of  coercive  restraint,  tlu!  object  being  to  mak(*  ui>right  and 
indnsti  ions  //v7-w(7i,  rather  thaii  orderly  and  obedient  prisoiicrK.  Jtrute  foice  nuiy 
ni.-ike  good  iirison'-rs;  moral  training  alone  will  make  good  eitizfus.  To  the  latter  of 
IlieHO  ends  fli<^  living  sonl  most  In-,  won;  to  the  lurnn-r  only  the  inert,  and  obedii^nt 
body.  To  compasH  tiie,  rel'orm.-tlion  of  criminals,  the  niililary  1yi>i'  in  prison  manage- 
ment most  ])('.  abandoned,  and  a  discipline  by  moial  forces  snlislitntcil  in  its  place, 
'i'lie  oltjectH  of  military  (Iisei|iliiie  and  prison  (liscipline,  being  directly  ojtposed  to  each 
othei",  <;annot  lie  piWHiied  liy  the  saino  load.  'lins  one  is  mc^ant  to  train  men  to  act 
togetlier,  the  other  to  iirepare  tliem  to  act  separatidy.  The  one  relies  upon  force, 
wliieli  never  y(!t  create<!  virtue;  the  otlnu-  on  motives,  which  are  the  sole  agency  for 
attaining  moral  ends.     The  siieeial  oiiject  of  the  one  is  to  sujijiress   individual  cliarac- 


PEOPOSITIONS    OF    AMERICAN    DELEGATION.  175 

ter  aud  reduce  all  to  component  parts  of  a  compact  machine;  that  of  the  other  is 
to  develop  aud  streugtheu  individual  character,  and  by  instilliug  right  principles  to 
encourage  aud  enable  it  to  act  on  these  independently. 

5.  Nevertheless,  unsuitable  indulgence  is  as  pernicious  as  unsuitable  severity,  tl^ 
true  principle  being  to  place  the  prisoner  in  a  position  of  stern  adversity,  from  which 
he  must  work  his  way  out  by  his  own  exertions — tliat  is,  by  diligent  labor  aud  a  con- 
stant course  of  voluntary  self-command  and  self-denial.  As  a  rule,  reformation  can  be 
attained  only  through  a  stern  aud  severe  training.  It  is  in  a  benevolent  adversity, 
whether  in  the  freedom  of  ordinary  life  or  the  servitude  of  the  prison,  that  all  the 
manly  virtues  are  born  and  nurtured.  It  is  easy  enough  for  a  bad  man  to  jiut  up  with 
a  little  more  degradation,  a  little  more  contumely,  a  few  more  blows  or  harsh  restric- 
tions ;  but  to  set  his  shoulder  to  the  wheel,  to  command  his  temper,  his  appetites,  his 
self-iudulgent  propensities,  to  struggle  steadily  out  of  his  position — and  all  volun- 
tarily, all  from  an  iuward  impulse,  stimulated  by  a  moral  necessity — this  is  a  harder 
task,  a  far  heavier  imposition.  Yet  it  isjust  this  training  that  a  right  prison  discipline 
must  exact,  and  only  through  such  training  that  it  can  succeed. 

6.  It  is  essential  to  a  reformatory  prison  treatment  that  the  self-respect  of  the  pris- 
oner should  be  cultivated  to  the  utmost,  aud  that  every  eftbrt  be  made  to  give  back  to 
him  his  manhood.  Hence,  all  disciplinary  punishments  that  inflict  unnecessary  paiu 
or  humiliation  should  be  abolished  as  of  evil  iufluence  ;  and,  instead,  the  penalty  of 
prison  offenses  should  be  the  forfeiture  of  some  privilege,  or  of  a  part  of  the  progress 
already  made  toward  liberation,  with  or  without  diminished  food,  or  a  period  of 
stricter  confinement.  There  is  no  greater  mistake  in  the  whole  compass  of  penal  dis- 
cipline than  its  studied  imposition  of  degradation  as  a  part  of  punishment.  Such 
imposition  destroys  every  better  impulse  aud  aspiration.  It  crushes  the  weak,  irri- 
tates the  strong,  and  indisposes  all  to  submission  and  reform.  It  is  trampling  where 
we  ought  to  raise,  and  is,  therefore,  as  unchristian  in  principle  as  it  is  unwise  in  policy. 
On  the  other  hand,  no  imposition  would  be  so  improving,  noue  so  favorable  to  the  cul- 
tivation of  the  prisoner's  self-respect,  self-command,  aud  recovery  of  manhood,  as  the 
making  of  every  deviation  from  the  line  of  right  bear  on  present  privilege  or  ultimate 
release.  Such  punishments  would  be  as  the  drop  of  water,  that  wears  away  the 
granite  rock,  and  would,  without  needless  pain  or  wanton  cruelty,  and  especially  with- 
out further  injury  to  their  manhood,  subdue  at  length  even  the  most  refractory. 

7.  A  system  of  prison  discipline,  to  be  truly  reformatory,  must  gain  the  will  of  the 
convict.  He  is  to  be  amended,  but  this  is  impossible  with  his  mind  in  a  state  of  hos- 
tility. No  system  can  hope  to  succeed  which  does  not  secure  this  harmony  of  wills,  so 
that  the  prisoner  shall  choose  for  himself  what  his  officer  chooses  for  him.  But  to  this 
end  the  officer  must  really  choose  the  good  of  the  prisoner,  and  the  prisoner  must 
remain  in  his  choice  long  enough  for  virtue  to  become  a  habit,  l^is  consent  of  wills 
is  an  essential  condition  of  reformation,  for  a  bad  man  can  never  be  made  good  against 
his  consent.  Nowhere  can  reformation  become  the  rule  instead  of  the  exception,  where 
this  choice  of  the  same  things  by  prison  keeijers  and  prison  inmates  has  not  been  at- 
tained. 

8.  No  prison  can  become  a  school  of  reform  till  there  is,  on  the  part  of  the  officers,  a 
hearty  desire  and  intention  to  accomplish  this  object.  Where  there  is  no  prevalent 
aim  to  this  effect,  there  can  be  no  general  results  in  this  directiou.  Such  a  purpose, 
however,  universally  entertained  by  prison  officers,  would  revolutionize  prison  disci- 
pline by  changing  its  whole  spirit ;  and  tit  reformatory  processes  would  follow  such 
change  as  naturally  as  the  harvest  follows  the  sowing.  It  is  not  so  much  any  specific 
apparatus  that  is  needed,  as  it  is  the  introduction  of  a  really  benevolent  spirit  into  our 
prison  management.  Once  let  it  become  the  heartfelt  desire  and  purpose  of  prison- 
officers  to  reform  the  criminals  under  their  care,  and  they  will  speedily  become  invent- 
ive of  the  methods  adapted  to  the  work. 

9.  In  order  to  the  reformation  of  imprisoned  criminals,  thore  must  also  be  in  the 
minds  of  prison  officers  a  serious  conviction  that  they  are  capable  of  being  reformed, 
since  no  man  can  heartily  pursue  an  object  at  war  with  his  inward  beliefs ;  no  man 
can  earnestly  strive  to  accomplish  what  in  his  heart  he  despairs  of  accomplishiug. 
Doubt  is  the  prelude  of  failure  ;  confidence  a  guarantee  of  success.  Nothing  so  weakeus 
moral  forces  as  unbelief;  nothing  imparts  to  them  such  vigor  as  faith.  "Be  it  unto 
thee  according  to  thy  faith,"  is  the  statement  of  a  fundamental  iiriuciple  of  success  in 
all  human  enterprises,  especially  when  our  work  lies  within  the  realm  of  mind  aud 
morals. 

10.  The  task  of  changing  bad  men  into  good  ones  is  not  one  to  be  confided  to  the 
first-comers.  It  is  a  serious  charge,  demanding  thorough  preparation,  entire  self-devo- 
tiou,  a  calm  and  cautious  judgment,  great  firmness  of  purpose  and  steadiness  oflaction, 
a  keen  insight  into  the  springs  of  human  conduct,  large  experience,  a  true  sympathy, 
and  morality  above  suspicion.  Prison  officers,  therefore,  need  a  special  education  for 
their  work,  as  men  do  for  the  other  great  callings  of  society.  Prison  administration 
should  be  raised  to  the  dignity  of  a  profession.  Prison  officers  should  be  organized  in 
a  gradation  of  rank,  responsibility,  aud  emolument ;  so  that  persons  enteriug    the 


176  INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

prison  service  iu  early  life,  aud  foniiiug  a  class  or  profession  by  themselves,  may  he 
thoroughly  trained  in  all  their  duties,  serving  in  successive  positions  till,  according  to 
their  merits,  tested  chietly  by  the  small  projjortion  of  re-convictions,  they  reach  the 
position  of  governors  of  the  largest  prisons.  Thus  alone  can  the  multiplied  details  of 
prison  discipline  be  perfected,  and  uniformity  in  its  application  be  attained."  For  only 
when  the  administration  of  public  punishment  is  made  a  profession  will  it  become 
scientific,  uniform,  and  successful  in  the  highest  degree. 

11.  Work,  education,  and  religion  (including  in  this  latter  moral  instruction)  are  the 
three  great  forces  to  be  employed  in  the  reformation  of  criminals,  (a)  Industrial  train- 
ing should  have  a  broader  and  higher  developmeut  in  prisons  than  is  now  commonly 
the  case.  Work  is  no  less  an  auxiliary  to  virtue  than  it  is  a  means  of  support.  Steady, 
active,  useful  labor  is  the  basis  of  all  reformatory  discipline,  (h)  Education  is  a  vital 
force  in  the  reformation  of  the  fallen.  Its  tendency  is  to  quicken  thought,  inspire  self- 
respect,  incite  to  higher  aims,  open  new  fields  of  exertion,  and  supply  a  healthful  sub- 
stitute for  low  and  vicious  amusements,  (c)  Of  all  reformatory  agencies,  religion  is 
first  in  importance,  because  most  powerful  in  its  action  upon  the  human  heart  and  life. 
In  vain  are  all  devices  of  coercion  and  repression,  if  the  heart  aud  conscience,  which 
are  beyond  all  power  of  external  control,  are  left  untouched. 

12.  Individualization  is  an  essential  principle  of  a  reformatory  prison  discipline.  To 
insure  their  highest  improvement  prisoners  must,  to  a  certain  extent,  be  treated  per- 
sonally. While  they  are  all  placed  under  a  general  law,  the  conduct  of  each  should  be 
specially  noted.  The  improving  efi'ect  of  such  a  verification,  to  each,  of  his  progress 
in  virtue  would  be  great.  It  would  be  a  first  step  toward  restoriug  to  him  that  feel- 
ing of  self-respect,  without  which  no  recovery  will  ever  be  found  permaneut.  Each 
should  be  enabled  to  know  the  light  in  which  his  conduct  is  viewed  by  those  placed 
over  him  ;  for  thus  alone,  as  his  good  resolutions  strengthen,  will  he  be  enabled  to  cor- 
rect that  wherein  he  may  be  found  deficient.  The  statement  of  this  principle  afl^ords  an 
indication  as  to  the  maximum  number  of  prisoners  proper  to  be  detained  iu  a  peniten- 
tiary establishment ;  but  it  by  no  means  settles  that  question  ;.  nor  indeed  cau  such 
definite  and  positive  settlement  ever  be  arrived  at,  since  the  question  is  one  which  must 
necessarily  be  left  to  the  judgment  aud  convenience  of  each  individual  state  or  com- 
munity. 

13.  Re])eated  short  sentences  are  believed  to  be  worse  that  useless,  their  tendency 
being  rather  to  stimulate  than  to  repress  transgression  in  petty  offeuders.  The  object 
here  is  less  to  punish  than  to  save.  But  reformation  is  a  work  of  time;  and  a  benev- 
olent regard  to  the  criminal  himself,  as  well  as  the  protection  of  society,  requires  that 
his  sentence  be  long  enough  for  reformatory  processes  to  take  effect.  It  is  the  judgment 
of  this  congress  that  every  penal  detention  should  have  in  view,  above  all,  the  time  of 
the  prisoner's  liberjition,  and  that  the  entire  discipline  of  a  prison  should  he  organized 
mainly  with  a  view  to  prevent  relapses.  If  by  a  short  and  sharp  first  imprisonment  it 
is  important  to  give  an  energetic  notice  so  as  to  prevent  the  propagation  of  evil,  it  is 
no  less  important  afterward,  by  means  of  sentences  of  a  longer  duration,  to  prepare, 
in  a  manner  more  sustained  aud  efficacious,  the  habitual  petty  transgressor  for  his  re- 
entrance  into  society  as  a  reformed,  industrious,  and  useful  citizen. 

14.  Preventive  agencies,  such  as  general  education,  truant-homes,  industrial  schools, 
children's  aid  societies,  orphan-asylums,  and  the  like,  designed  for  children  not  yet 
criminal,  but  in  danger  of  becoming  so,  coustitutt)  the  true  field  of  promise,  iu  which  to 
laljor  for  tlie  ju'evcntiou  and  iliminution  of  crime.  Here  the  brood  may  be  killed  in 
the  egg,  tlie  stream  cut  otf  in  the.  fountain  ;  and  whatever  the  cost  of  such  agencies 
may  be,  it  will  be  less  than  the  si)oliations  resulting  from  neglect,  and  the  expense  in- 
volved in  arrests,  trials,  and  imprisonments. 

15.  Tiie  successful  prosecution  of  crime  requires  tlu^  combined  action  of  capital  aud 
labor,  .just  as  other  crafts  do.  There  are  two  weil-dflined  classes  engaged  in  crimiual 
operations,  who  may  l)e  eallecl  the  cajiitalists  of  critiK!  and  its  operatives.  It  is  worthy 
of  inquiry  wlictlii-r  s()ei<'ty  has  not  made  a  mistakt;  in  its  warfare  upon  crime,  and 
wliethcr  it  wouhl  not  be  Ijetter  and  more  etieetivt!  to  strike  at  the  few  capitalists  as  a 
class  than  at  the  numy  ojterative  ])lunder(!rs  one  by  one.  Let  it  direct  its  blows  against 
tiio  coiinecMon  bi-tween  criminal  cai)ital  and  criminal  labor,  nor  forbear  its  assaults  till, 
it  lias  wholly  broken  anil  dissolved  that  union.  We  may  rest  assured  that  wlicui  this 
baleful  (•oml)in;ition  sliiill  Ik- jiiereed  in  its  vital  ]tart,  it  will  iterish  ;  lliat  wIkmi  the 
<oriier-ston»j  of  the  lei»rous  fabric  shall  bo  removed,  the  building  itself  will  tum))le  into 
ruins. 

K).  More  Bystematic  andcomjuebensive  methods  should  l»e  adopted  to  save  discharged 
]>riHoiieiHliy  providing  tliem  with  work  and  encouraging  theui  to  redeem  theii' character 
aud  regain  their  lost  posit  ion  insociety.  Tlie  state  has  not  discharged  its  whole  «lnty  to 
the  criminal  whiMi  it  has  i>nnis!ied  liim,  nor  (iven  when  it,  has  reformed  him.  Having 
lifted  liim  up,  it  has  Hie  fnrllirr  duty  to  aid  in  holding  liiiu  iij).  In  vain  shall  av«i  have 
given  the  convict  an  iuiprovril  mind  aud  heart,  in  vain  sliall  we  have  inqiartcMl  to  him 
tin-  capjicity  fur  indnstiial  lahui-  and  tlu;  will  to  ailvanije  liiinsclf  by  w<utliy  ineaiis,  if, 
oil  his  disebarge,  he  finds  tlie  worhi  in  arms  against  liim,  with  non(»  to  tiust  him,  none 
to  lueut  biin  kindly,  none  to  give  him  thi;  opportunity  ol'  eiiiiiiiig  honest  bread.  • 


PROPOSITIONS    ADOPTED    BY    TPIE    CONGRESS.  177 

17.  Since  personal  liberty  is  a  right  as  respectable  as  the  right  of  property,  it  is  the 
duty  of  society  to  indemnify  the  citizen  who  has  been  unjustly  imprisoned,  on  jjroof  of 
his  innocence,  whether  at  tlie  time  of  his  trial  or  after  his  sentence,  as  it  indemnities 
the  citizen  from  whom  it  has  taken  his  field  or  his  house  for  some  jHiblic  use. 

18.  It  is  the  conviction  of  this  congress  that  one  of  the  most  effective  agencies  in 
the  repression  of  crime  woukl  be  the  enactment  of  laws  for  the  education  of  all  the 
children  of  the  state.  Better  to  force  education  upon  the  people  than  to  force  them 
into  prison  to  expiate  crimes  of  which  the  neglect  of  education  and  consequent  ignor- 
ance have  been  the  occasion,  if  not  the  cause. 

19.  This  congress  defends  as  just  and  reasonable  the  principle  of  the  responsibility 
of  parents  for  the  full  or  partial  support  of  their  children  in  reformatory  institutions. 
The  expense  of  such  maintenance  must  fall  on  somebody,  and  on  whom  can  it  fall  more 
fitly  than  on  the  child's  parent,  whose  neglect  or  vices  have  probably  been  the  occa- 
sion of  its  lapse  into  crime  ? 

20.  This  congress  arraigns  society  itself-  as  in  no  slight  degree  accountable  for  the 
invasion  of  its  rights  and  the  warfare  upon  its  interests  practised  by  the  criminal 
classes.  Does  society  take  all  the  steps  which  it  easily  might  to  change  the  circum- 
stances in  our  social  state  that  lead  to  crime,  or,  when  crime  has  been  committed,  to 
cure  the  proclivity  to  it  generated  by  these  circumstances  ?  It  cannot  be  pretended. 
Let  society,  then,  lay  the  case  earnestly  to  its  conscience,  and  strive  to  amend  in  both 
directions.  Offenses,  we  are  told  by  a  high  authority,  must  come,  but  a  special  woe  is 
denounced  against  those  through  whom  they  come.  Let  states  and  communities  take 
heed  that  that  woe  fall  not  upon  their  head. 

21.  The  systems  of  criminal  statistics  stand  in  urgent  need  of  revision  and  amend- 
ment. The  congress  judges  it  expedient  and  desirable  that  greater  uniformity  should 
be  secured  in  making  up  the  statistics  in  this  deiiartment  of  the  public  service  in  dif- 
ferent countries,  to  the  end  that  comparisons  may  be  the  more  readily  made,  that  con- 
clusions may  be  the  more  accurately  drawn,  and  that  criminal  legislation  may  with 
greater  safety  be  based  upon  the  conclusions  so  reached. 

22.  Prison  architecture  is  a  matter  of  grave  importance.  Prisons  of  every  class  should 
be  substantial  structures,  affording  gratification  by  their  design  and  material  to  a  pure 
taste,  but  not  costly  or  highly  ornate.  The  chief  points  to  be  aimed  at  in  prison  con- 
struction are  security,  iterfect  ventilation,  an  unfailing  supply  of  pure  water,  the  best 
facilities  for  industrial  labor,  convenience  of  markets,  ease  of  supervision,  adaptation 
to  reformatory  aims,  and  a  rigid,  though  not  parsimonious,  economy. 

23.  A  right  application  of  the  principles  of  sanitary  science  in  the  construction  and 
arrangement  of  prisons  is  a  point  of  vital  moment.  The  apparatus  for  heating  and 
ventilation  should  be  the  best  that  is  known  ;  sunlight,  air,  and  water  should  be  afforded 
according  to  the  abundance  with  which  nature  has  provided  them;  the  dietary  and 
clothing  should  be  plain  but  wholesome,  comfortable,  and  in  sufficient,  but  not  extrav- 
agant, quantity ;  the  bedsteads,  beds,  and  beddings  not  costly,  but  decent,  well-aired, 
and  free  from  vermin  ;  the  hospital  accommodations,  medical  stores,  and  surgical  in- 
struments should  be  all  that  humanity  requires  or  science  can  supply;  and  all  needed 
means  for  })ersonal  cleanliness  should  be  without  stint. 

24.  As  a  principle  that  crowns  all  and  is  essential  toall,it  isourconvictionthatno  prison 
system  can  be  perfect,  or  successful  to  the  most  desirable  extent,  without  some  cen- 
tral and  supreme  authority  to  sit  at  the  helm,  guiding,  controlling,  unifying,  and  vitaliz- 
ing the  whole.  All  the  departments  of  the  preventive,  reformatory,  and  penal  institui- 
tions  of  a  state  should  be  molded  into  one  homogeneous  and  effective  system,  its  parts 
mutually  answering  to  and  supporting  one  another,  and  the  whole  animated  by  the 
same  spirit,  aiming  at  the  same  objects,  and  subject  to  the  same  control,  yet  without 
loss  of  the  advantages  of  concurring  local  organizations  and  of  voluntary  aid,  wherever 
such  aid  is  attainable  and  may  be  judiciously  and  wisely  admitted. 

25.  This  congress  is  of  the  opinion  that,  both  in  the  official  administration  of  such 
a  system  and  in  the  voluntary  co-operation  of  citizens  therein,  the  agency  of  women 
may  be  employed  with  good  effect. 

§  4.  Propositions  embodied  in  the  final  report  of  the  executive  committee, 
and  adopted  by  the  congress  as  expressing  its  conception  of  the  fundamental 
principles  of  prison  discipline. — The  committee,  after  briefly  reciting  the 
history  of  the  congress  and  setting  forth  the  work  done  by  it  during  its 
ten  days'  sessions,  thus  epitomizes  the  longer  paper  of  the  American 
delegation,  and  submits  to  the  congress  what  in  our  country  would  be 
called  the  draught  of  its  platform  : 

Recognizing  as  a  fundamental  fact  that  the  protection  of  society  is  the  object  for 
which  penal  codes  exist  and  the  treatment  of  criminals  is  devised,  the  connuittee 
believes  that  this  protection  is  not  only  consistent  with,  but  absolutely  demands,  the 
enunciation  of  the  principle  that  the  moral  regeneration  of  the  prisoner  should  be  a 

H.  Ex.  185 12 


178  INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

primary  aim  of  prison  discipline.  To  attain  this  aim,  hope  must  always  be  a  more 
powerful  agent  than  fear;  and  hope  should  therefore  be  constantly  sustained  in  the 
minds  of  prisoners  by  a  system  of  rewards  for  good  conduct  and  industry,  whether  in 
the  shajje  of  a  dimiuHtiou  of  sentence,  a  participation  in  earnings,  a  gradual  with- 
drawal of  restraint,  or  .an  enlargement  of  privilege.  A  progressive  classitication  of 
prisoners  should,  in  the  opinion  of  the  committee,  be  adopted  in  all  prisons. 

In  the  treatment  of  criminals,  all  disciplinary  punishments  that  indict  unnecessary 
pain  or  humiliation  should  be  abolished,  and  the  penalties  for  prison  otfenses  should, 
so  far  as  possible,  be  the  diminution  of  ordinary  comforts,  the  forfeiture  of  some  priv- 
ilege, or  of  a  part  of  the  progress  made  toward  liberation.  Moral  forces  and  motives 
should,  in  fact,  be  relied  on,  so  far  as  is  consistent  with  the  due  maintenance  of  dis- 
cipline ;  and  physical  force  should  be  employed  only  in  the  last  extremity.  But  in 
saying  this,  the  committee  is  not  advocating  unsuitable  indulgence,  which  it  believes 
to  be  as  pernicious  as  undue  severity.  The  true  principle  is  to  place  the  prisoner — 
who  must  be  taught  that  he  has  sinned  against  society  and  owes  reparation — in  a 
position  of  stern  adversity,  from  which  he  uiust  worii  his  way  out  by  his  own  ex- 
ertions. To  impel  a  pi'isoner  to  this  self-exertion  should  be  the  aim  of  a  system  of 
prison  discipline,  which  can  never  be  truly  reformatory  unless  it  succeeds  in  gaining 
the  will  of  the  convict.  Prisoners  do  not  cease  to  be  men  when  they  enter  the  prison- 
walls,  and  they  are  still  swayed  by  human  motives  and  interests:  They  must,  there- 
fore, be  dealt  with  as  men — that  is,  as  beings  who  possess  moral  and  spiritual  impulses 
as  well  as  bodily  wants. 

Of  all  reformatory  agencies  religion  is  first  in  importance,  because  it  is  the  most 
powerful  in  its  action  upon  the  human  heart  ami  life.  Education  has  also  a  vital 
effect  on  moral  improvement,  and  should  constitute  an  integral  part  of  any  prison 
system.  Steady,  active,  and  useful  labor  is  the  basis  of  a  sound  discipline,  and  at  once 
the  means  aud  test  of  reformation.  Work,  education,  and  religion  are  consequently 
the  three  great  forces  on  which  prison  administrators  should  rely.  But  to  carry  out 
these  principles  individualization  becomes  essential  ;  prisoners,  like  other  men,  must 
be  treated  personally,  and  with  a  view  to  the  peculiar  circumstances  aud  meutal  or- 
ganization of  each.  The  committee  need  not  say  that  to  carry  out  such  views  prison 
■officers  are  re(;uired  who  believe  in  the  capacity  of  ])risoners  for  reformation  and  enter 
heartily  into  that  work.  They  should,  as  far  as  possible,  receive  a  special  training  for 
their  duties,  aud  should  be  organized  in  such  a  gradation  of  rank,  responsibility,  and 
■emolument  as  may  retain  experience  and  efficiency  in  the  service,  and  lead  to  the  pro- 
aiotion  of  the  most  deserving. 

But  if  a  sound  system  of  prison  discipline  be  desirable,  it  is  no  less  expedient  that 
the  prisoner  on  his  discharge  should  be  systematically  aided  to  obtain  employment,  and 
to  return  permanently  to  the  ranks  of  honest  aud  productive  industry.  For  this  pur- 
pose a  more  comprehensive  system  than  has  yet  been  brought  to  bear  seems  to  be 
desirable. 

Nor  can  the  committee  omit  to  say  that  it  is  in  the  field  of  preventive  agencies,  sucli 
as  general  education,  the  establislnnent  of  indnstrial  and  ragged  schools,  and  of  other 
institutions  designed  to  save  children  not  yet  crinunal,  but  in  danger  of  becoming  so, 
that  the  battle  against  crime  is  in  a  great  degree  to  be  won.  In  this,  as  in  the  general 
question  of  the  reclamation  of  the  guilty  and  erring,  the  inlluenco  of  women  devoted  to 
such  work  is  of  the  highest  importance;  and  the  committee  rejoices  that  this  congress 
haw  had  the  advantage  of  the  presence  and  counsel  of  many  ladies,  whose  practical  ac- 
quaintance with  prisons  and  refin-matories  has  given  weight  to  their  words,  and  whose 
example  furnishes  hope  for  the  future. 

Lastly,  tlie  connnittee  is  convinced  that  the  systems  of  criminal  statistics  now  in 
force  stand  in  urgent  need  of  revision.  (Jreater  uniformity  should  be  secured,  and 
means  taken  to  iiisnrt;  a  liigher  standard  of  accuracy  and  trnstvvorthiuess  in  this  branch 
of  the  statistics  of  dift'ereut  countries. 

Mr.  ITastiiigs,  of  England,  moved  tlio  adoption  of  the  roport,  and  in 
doinj;  so  <*xi)iTss<'d  the*  liojx'  that  in  any  international  scliemc  of  prison 
statistics  uliicii  miglit  be  devised,  sjiecial  care  \vould  be  taken  to  insnre 
the  trnsf  worthiness  of  the  la(?ts  reported.  At  ])res('nt,  ho  said,  snch  sta- 
tistics arc,  in  a  gicat  ineasnn;,  delnsive,  because  no  guide  is  allbrded  by 
thcni  as  to  the  ciriMunstaiuM'S  under  which  they  were  taken.  Major  Da 
Cane  has  i>ointed  out  tiiat  the  nundx'r  of  reconvictions  was  but  an  imper- 
fect test  of  any  .system.  Tlie  question  was,  not  what  was  the  number  of 
reconvictions,  l)ut  un<h',r  what  circumstances  did  they  take  i)lace  ?  If 
we  had  to  deal  witli  a  set  of  habitual  olVendors,  we  should  most  prob- 
ably have  a  high  rate  of  reconviction,  whatever  the  system  might  be; 
whereas,  if  we  have  a  large  nund)(>r  of  average  criminals,  the  i>ercent- 
age  of  reconvictions  wo;:id  naturally  be  less. 


INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    COMMISSION.  179 

Governor  Haiues,  of  the  United  States,  said  that  he  felfc  honored  by 
being  asked  to  second  the  motion  to  adopt  the  report.  He  did  so  with 
great,  pleasure.  The  propositions  presented  were  comprehensive,,  yet 
specific;  broad  in  their  generalizations,  yet  sufiicieutly  minute  for  all 
practical  purposes.  They  constituted  an  organic  rule  of  action,  which, 
while  ap])licable  to  all  countries,  was  susceptible  of  adjustment  to  the 
special  ideas  and  circumstances  of  each.  They  might  be  termed  a  con- 
stitutional law,  to  be  applied  and  enforced  by  particular  enactments. 
He  hoped  that  the  motion  to  adopt  the  report  v\'ould  receive  the  unani- 
mous vote  of  the  congress. 

Miss  Carpenter  said  it  was  impossible  to  exaggerate  the  importance 
of  this  congress  and  its  work.  It  inaugurated  absolutely  a  new  era  in 
the  history  of  civilization.  The  chairman  would  recollect  that,  when 
many  years  ago  he  presided  over  a  committee  on  juvenile  delinquency, 
it  was  most  difficult  to  persuade  the  members  of  the  committee  and  the 
public  that  even. children  ought  not  to  be  severely  punished  for  crimes, 
and  their  reformation  was  deemed  quite  a  sec(^idary  consideration.  As 
a  witness  she  was  asked,  "  Do  you  not  consider  that  children  who  have 
broken  the  law  owe  retribution  to  society '?"  and  her  answer  was, 
"  Society  owes  retribution  to  them."  She  was  proud  of  that  answer.  Its 
truth  and  justness  have  been  substantially  recognized  by  this  congress. 

The  president.  Sir  John  Packingtou,  before  putting  the  questioi^,  begged 
to  remind  the  congress  that  the  report  before  them  was  the  unanimous  re- 
port of  an  essentially  representative  committee,  which  consisted  of  one  del- 
egate from  each  of  the  many  nations  represented ;  the  fact  that,  after  many 
days'  discussion  by  the  congress  of  subjects  of  the  deepest  interest,  as 
well  as  most  complicated  and  difficult,  such  a  committee  had  agreed 
unanimously  upon  a  report  of  great  breadth  and  comprehensiveness, 
claiming  to  represent  the  general  sentiment  of  the  congress  on  all  the 
great  questions  considered  and  debated  by  it.  This  fact  he  considered 
one  on  which  the  body  might  well  be  congratulated  as  a  satisfactory 
termination  of  its  proceedings.  Such  unanimous  agreement  fairly  jus- 
tified the  conclusion  that  the  discussions  had  not  been  in  vain.  A  body 
of  men,  occupying  the  best  possible  position  for  knowing  the  sentiments 
of  the  congress,  and  perfectly  competent  to  understand  them,  had  unan- 
imously reported,  as  embodying  those  sentiments,  a  series  of  proposi- 
tions, enumerating  great  principles,  which  covered  almost  the  whole 
field  of  penitentiary  science  and  prison  discipline.  It  was,  therefore,  a 
matter  of  satisfaction  and  thankfulness  that  the  interesting  debates  had 
not  been  unproductive  of  good  result. 

The  motion  on  the  adoption  of  the  report  was  then  put,  and  was 
agreed  to  without  dissent. 

§  5.  Creation  of  a  permanent  international  peniientlary  commission. — 
On  the  recommendation  of  the  executive  committee  a  permanent  organ- 
ization, under  the  above  designation,  was  created,  charged  with  the 
duty  of  watching  over  the  general  interests  of  international  prison  re- 
form, but  more  especially  with  that  of  preparing  formulas  for  the  collec- 
tion of  penitentiary  statistics,  and  seeking  to  secure  their  adoption  and 
use  in  all  countries.  This  commission  is  composed  of  the  following  gen- 
tlemen :  Dr.  Wines,  of  the  United  States,  president ;  Mr.  Beltrani-Sca- 
lia,  of  Italy,  secretary;  Mr.  Loyson,  of  France;  Baron  von  Holtzen- 
dorff,  of  Germany  ;  Count  Sollohub,  of  Ilussia  ;  Mr.  Hastings,  of  Eng- 
land; Dr.  Frey,  of  Austria;  Mr.  Stevens,  of  Belgium;  Mr.  Pols,  of 
Netherlands  ;  Dr.  Guillaume,  of  Switzerland. 

It  is  understood  that  the  first  meeting  of  the  commission  will  be  held 
in  Brnssels,  Belgium,  during  the  mouth  of  September,  1873.^ 


180  INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

§  G.  Dr.  Wines  reported  from  the  international  executive  committee  a 
resolution  of  thanks  to  its  chairman,  Mr.  Hastings,  and  moved  its  adop- 
tion by  the  cong-ress.  He  said  that  the  resolution  had  received  the  unani- 
mous and  cordial  approval  of  the  committee,  whose  members  all  recog- 
nized their  obligations  to  their  chairman  forthe  dignity,  courtesy,  fairness, 
and  ability  with  which  he  had  presi«led  over  their  deliberations.  Although 
the  cong'ress  could  not  know,  as  his  colleagues  knew,  the  value  of  his^ 
services  in  the  committee-room,  yet  he  felt  sure  that  the  whole  house 
would  concur  with  the  members  of  the  committee  in  the  vote  of  thanks 
now  proposed. 

Archbishop  Manning,  in  seconding  the  resolution,  said  that  their  thanks 
were  due,  not  only  to  those  who  had  come  from  all  countries  to  the  con- 
gress, but  also  to  those  who,  being  on  the  spot,  had  labored  incessantly^ 
not  simj>ly  during  the  last  three  weeks,  but  for  a  long  time  past,  in 
preparing  for  the  congress.  To  them  thanks  were  greatly  due  for  their 
unwearied  industry  and  close  application,  and,  he  must  say,  for  the 
hai)py  termination  of  the*congress. 

A  member  proposed  to  iuchide  a  vote  of  thanks  to  Mr.  Pears,  secre- 
tary of  the  congress. 

The  chairman  said  he  could  not  put  these  resolutions  to  the  meeting 
without  adding  an  expression  of  his  own  deep  sense  of  the  valuable  and 
important  assistance  which  the  congress  had  received  from  Mr.  Hastings 
and  Mr.  Pears,  and  his  belief  that,  had  it  not  been  for  the  happy  combina- 
tion of  zeal  and  ability  which  had  distinguished  their  exertions,  the  pro- 
ceedings of  the  congress  would  not  have  been  so  satisfactory  as  they 
had  been. 

The  resolution  was  carried  unanimously. 

§  7.  Mr.  Aspinall,  of  England,  proposed  a  vote  of  thanks  to  Dr.  Mouat,. 
for  the  invaluable  services  he  had  rendered  the  congress  in  translating 
the  many-tongued  speeches  which  had  been  addressed  to  it.  He  had 
never  met  with  a  man  who  could  translate  every  language  into  every  other 
Avith  such  prom])tness,  elegance,  and  force  as  Dr.  Mouat,  superadded  to 
which  the  doctor  had  the  great  advantage  of  being  thoroughh'  ac- 
quainted with  all  the  questions  which  came  before  the  congress  for  dis- 
cussion. He  felt  sure  that  he  need  only  name  these  things  to  call  forth 
a  cordial  response  from  the  nieeting. 

Baron  ^lackay,  of  Holland,  in  seconding  the  proposition  of  Mr.  As- 
pinall, took  occasion  also  t(»  njake  recognition  of  the  valuable  assistance 
of  Sir  Walter  Crofton  and  ^fajcu'  DuCane.  He  rei;resented  a  foreign  legis- 
lature which  had  not  yet  adoi)ted  a  system  of  prison  discipline;  there- 
ton*,  lie  had  listened  with  great  attention  to  all  proposals,  atul  the 
arguments  by  which  they  had  been  supported,  and  he  was  sure  that  in 
his  country  the  volume  of  transactions,  which  they  would  owe  to  the 
editorial  care  of  Mr.  I'ears,  would  be  carefidly  read  and  digested.  Eng- 
land an<l  Ireland  weie  in  jjossession  of  a  system,  but  on  the  continent 
that  compliiiu'iit  could  be  paid  only  to  I»elgium.  This  fact  showed  that 
the  people  of  (»ther countries  had  not  yet  made  up  their  minds,  and  was 
iu  itself  a  justification  of  this  congress.  Differences  of  nationality  could 
not  a('(;ount  for  th<'  wide  discrepancies  of  (tpinion  and  experience  as  to 
sej»arat<^  and  ass(»ciate<l  conrmeiiieiit. 

The  motion  was  carried  without  dissent. 

§  K.  Dr.  (Juillaimic,  of  Switzerland,  moved  a  resolution  of  thanks  to 
Dr.  Wines.  His  name  was  the  tiist  w<)i<l  sjxiken  in  the  congress,  and 
it  should  be  the  last.  The  conference  had  begun  with  him,  and  it  should 
end  with  an  ackn(»w]edgm<'nt  (►f  his  etforts.  He  represented  the  An- 
glo-Saxon race,  the  cham[)ioii  of  humanity  and  of  all  that  concerned  the 


SUNDRY  VOTES  OF  THANKS.  181 

well-being-  of  the  human  family.  That  race  stood  foremost  in  the  new 
order  of  civilization  which  was  dawning  on  the  world,  and  by  the  arbi- 
tration at  Geneva  it  had  set  an  example  to  all  countries  of  a  pacific  settle- 
ment of  differences  and  the  abolition  of  that  greatest  of  crimes,  war. 
Switzerland  was  grateful  to  England  and  the  United  States  for  having 
chosen  it  as  the  seat  of  that  tribunal,  and  it  Avas  a  good  omen  that  Ge- 
neva, the  cradle  of  the  organization  for  the  succor  of  the  wounded  on 
the  battle-field,  should  be  the  scene  of  a  great  international  arbitration. 
The  abolition  of  slavery  in  America,  the  Geneva  arbitration,  and  this 
great  congress  for  the  refoimation  of  prisoners,  were  gratifying  tokens 
of  the  new  order  of  things. 

Dr.  Marqnardsen,  on  behalf  of  the  German  delegates,  seconded  the 
motion.  Before  the  congress  met  they  all  felt  that  Dr.  Wines  was  the 
heart  and  soul  of  the  undertaking ;  and,  now  that  it  had  closed,  they  were 
sensible  that  to  him  they  had  been  deeply  indebted  for  its  satisfactory 
progress  and  conduct.  The  German  !Parliament,of  which  he  was  a  mem- 
ber, would  shortly  be  engaged  in  framing  a  general  law  of  prison  dis- 
fipline,  and  he  doubted  not  that  the  law  would  show  many  traces  of  the 
beneficial  results  of  this  congress. 

Sir  John  Packington,  in  putting  the  resolution,  testified  to  the  im- 
portant part  Dr.  Wines  had  taken  in  convening  and  carrying  on  the 
congress.     The  motion  was  carried  unanimously. 

Dr.  Wines  said  the  remarks  which  had  been  made  and  the  vote  which 
had  been  passed  were  more  than  a  reward  for  all  the  toil  and  anxiety 
which  he  had  undergone  during  the  three  years  he  had  devoted  to  pre- 
paring and  organizing  the  congress.  It  had  in  all  respects  surpassed 
his  expectations,  and  he  assured  them  of  his  best  wishes  for  the  suc- 
cessful prosecution  of  the  great  work  of  penitentiary  reform  in  the 
various  countries  whence  they  came,  and  which  they  so  ably  represented. 

§  9.  Mr.  Hastings,  of  England,  proposed  a  vote  of  thanks  to  Sir  John 
Packington,  the  president  for  th<^  day.  No  English  statesman  could 
more  fitly  have  occupied  that  position.  Prior  to  being  called  on  by  his 
sovereign  to  those  high  othces  which  he  had  filled  with  so  much  honor 
to  himself  and  advantage  to  the  country,  he  was  for  twenty-five  years  at 
the  head  of  the  Worcestershire  quarter-sessions,  and  was  universally 
acknowledged  to  be  one  of  the  ablest  and  most  competent  chairmen  that 
county  ever  had.  His  experience  in  all  matters  conq^ected  with  the  ad- 
ministration of  the  criminal  law  had  been  immense,  and  he  had  always 
advocated,  in  and  out  of  Parliament,  im])rovements  in  prison  discipline, 
and  every  measure  for  the  prevention  of  crime  and  the  reformation  of 
the  criminal. 

Dr.  Mouat  seconded  the  motion,  expressing  hearty  concurrence  in  all 
that  Mr.  Hastings  had  said. 

Mr.  Hastings  put  the  motion,  and  it  was  carried  unanimously. 

The  president,  in  responding,  said  that  he  had  been  glad  to  be  of  any 
use  in  promoting  the  success  of  tlie  congress.  He  hoped  that  the  dis- 
tinguished persons  who  had  come  from  other  countries,and  had  devoted 
their  high  character  and  ability  to  the  promotion  of  the  objects  in  view, 
would  reflect  with  pleasure  on  what  they  had  seen  and  heard,  and  would 
feel  justified  in  thinking  that  the  purpose  of  their  mission  had  been  as 
much  forwarded  as  the  short  duration  of  the  congress  could  have  war- 
ranted them  in  expecting. 


PART   TPIIRD. 

PAPERS    SUBMITTED    TO    THE    CONGHESS 


INTEODUCTORY. 

A  large  number  of  papers  was  ofl'ered  to  tbe  congress  in  tlie  form  of 
essays  or  discussions  of  questions  connected  with  penitentiary  science 
and  prison  discipline.  The  most  of  these  were  by  specialists  of  eminence 
and  ability  in  many  different  countries.  A  few  of  them  were  given,  in 
full  or  in  part,  as  opening  addresses  on  the  questions  discussed  in  the 
congress,  and  the  substance  of  all  such  is  embodied  in  the  summary  of 
those  discussions  contained  in  Part  Second  of  this  report.  To  offer  even  a 
full  analysis  of  all  the  others,  however  worthy  they  might  be,  (and  cer- 
tainly they  are  worthy,)  would  swell  the  present  report  to  an  unreason- 
able length.  It  was,  therefore,  necessary  to  make  a  selection,  and  the 
choice  has  been  determined  by  some  special  novelty,  either  in  the  sub- 
ject or  its  treatment,  or  by  some  peculiar  characteristic  of  some  other 
kind,  which  marked  the  paper  v\ith  a  special  stamp.  Another  person 
would  perhaps  have  made  a  different  selection,  and  in  doing  so  might 
have  chosen  more  wisely ;  but  this  was  a  case  in  which  it  was  inipossibie 
to  consult  the  judgment  of  others,  and  the  undersigned  was  forced  to 
rely  upon  his  own,  however  great  might  be  the  loss  thereby  occasioned 
to  the  reader.  Moreover,  he  has  felt  obliged  to  linnt  himself  to  a  moder- 
ate number  of  the  essays  submitted,  and  even  these  he  will  be  constrained 
to  contleuse  as  much  as  may  be  without  injustice  to  the  writers. 


CHAPTER    XXIII. 
PEISONEKS   AND   THEIR  REFORMATION. 

Mr.  Z.  R.  Brockway,  superintendent  of  the  Detroit  House  of  CoiTec- 
tion,  and  oneoftlie  most  eminent  among  the  prison  officers  of  Amer- 
ica, comTnuni<;ated  a  i>a[)er  on  tlie  subject  which  forms  the  title  to  the 
present  (chapter. 

Civilized  sentiment  (he  sjiys  in  substance)  concedes  that  the  protec- 
tioH  of  society  is  tlu^  msiin  pnrjtos*'  (tj"  imprisonment ;  but  effective  i)ro- 
tection  rcipiircs  one  of  two  (ri)ndivions:  the,  reformation  of  the  criminal 
or  his  eoTitinued  detention.  ITence  relbrmation  is  th<'  immediate  object 
to  be  sought.  Uut  doubt  exists  in  many  minds  whether  prisoners  gen- 
erally can  be  reformed,  and  e\'en  lU'ison  oflicers  have  little  ho])e  of  this. 
The  writer,  liowever,  believes  that  criminal  law  may  be  so  relbrme«l  iii 
its  sjjirit  and  administration  as  to  i)roduce  a  soothing  and  healing, 
instead  of  an  irritating  and  (esteriiig,  etV<'(!t  upon  prisoners,  and  restore 
a  large  projxMtion  of  them  to  society.  The  species  of  crime  to  which  a 
person  is  addicted  depends  upon  the  eii'-umstauces which  suri'oundhim,. 


PRISONERS    AND    THEIR    REFORMATION.  183 

or  upon  inherited  tendencies,  or  both;  but  whether  a  man  will  commit 
crime  at  all  depends,  to  a  great  degree,  upon  his  constitutional  charac- 
teristics. 

Since  the  welfare  of  society  is  the  true  measure  of  every  man's  i)er- 
sonal  interest,  it  follows  that  a  criminal  act  proves  obliquity  of  some 
kind  in  the  perpetrator — moral  imbecility,  incoherent  meutal  develop- 
ment, feebleness  of  will-power.  Nor  is  this  to  be  wondered  at,  since 
criminals  are  so  commonly  without  systematic  education,  by  which 
alone  the  moral,  mental,  and  volitional  powers  can  be  rightly  and 
effectively  trained.  All  who  have  studied  criminals  closely  must  have 
observed  the  undeveloped,  incongruous,  ill-balanced  state  of  their 
higher  powers,  and  the  consequent  sway  of  the  animal  instincts.  Mr. 
Brockway  says  that  he  has  been  constantly  surprised  at  the  blindness 
of  prisoners  to  the  moral  quality  of  their  conduct.  This  undeveloped 
state,  this  paralysis,  as  it  were,  of  the  moral  faculties,  though,  no  doubt, 
largely  due  to  the  want  of  proper  early  education,  he  nevertheless  be- 
lieves to  be  often  inherited  from  progenitors ;  and  he  adduces  very 
striking  statistics  in  support  of  this  belief.  Now,  if  there  is  a  common 
idiosyncracy  among  criminals,  consisting  in  the  activity  of  the  grosser 
and  more  selfish  impulses,  and  in  the  imbecility  or  absence  of  the  moral, 
reflective,  or  volitional  faculties,  the  writer  asks,  have  we  not  found  the 
right  basis  of  a  reformatory  system, whose  philosophy  may  be  stated  in 
the  one  word — cultivation  f 

Mr.  Brockway  discusses  at  considerable  length  the  comparative  merits 
of  the  Philadelphia  and  Auburn  systems  of  prison  discipline,  and,  while 
giving  his  j)reference  to  the  latter,  arrives  at  the  conclusion  that  no  sys- 
tem of  imprisonment  can  regularly  produce  reformed  convicts  so  long 
as  the  present  or  any  like  system  of  sentences  prevails.  He  believes 
that  the  true  remedy  lies  in  the  substitution  of  indeterminate  or  reform- 
atory sentences  in  place  Of  mere  time-sentences.  His  personal  experi- 
ence, from  recent  legislation  of  his  own  State  of  Michigan,  embodying 
a  partial  adoption  of  this  principle,  is  altogether  confirmatory  of  its 
truth  and  soundness,  and  demonstrates  beyond  contradiction  the  prac- 
ticability of  its  application.  He  found  that  it  tended  to  cultivate  in 
criminais  a  kindly  feeling  for  the  law  and  its  executors;  and  its  effect, 
he  argues,  must  necessarily  be  to  increase  for  society  protection  from 
crimiuals,  either  through  this  continued  restraint  or  their  reformation, 
the  latter  of  which  objects  cannot  fail  to  be  essentially  aided  by  enlist- 
ing the  active  co-operation  of  criminals  in  their  own  improvement. 

Mr.  Brockway  lays  down  the  postulate  that  any  change  in  the  char- 
acter and  life  of  criminals  must  be  effected  by  one  of  two  methods:  in- 
timidation or  education.  Eestraint  by  intimidation  does  not  go  to  the 
root  of  matters ;  it  touches  only  the  surface,  and  must,  therefore,  be  but 
momentary.  Reformation,  therefore,  cannot  be  through  intimidation  ; 
it  must  of  necessity  be  the  result  of  such  cultivation  of  the  mind  and 
heart  as  is  required  to  give  the  criminal  knowledge  and  appreciation  of 
the  beneficent  design  and  friendly  protection  of  law,  to  supply  better 
thoughtsandimpulses,  and  to  invest  with  authoritative  control  the  mind's 
legitimate  sovereign,  the  will.  The  educational  effort  in  prisons,  if  made 
efficient  for  reformation,  must  be  broadly  and  thoroughly  organized;  it 
must  be  such  as  to  develop  and  strengthen,  not  only  the  mental,  physi- 
cal, and  industrial  faculties  of  the  prisoner,  but  also  his  moral  and  relig- 
ious nature. 

The  effectual  reformation  of  criminals  requires :  1,  a  graduated  series 
of  peuitentiary  establishments,  embracing  a  phase  of  the  separate  sys- 
tem, of  the  congregate  silent  system,  and  of  the  congregate  social  sys- 


184 


INTERNATIONAL    PENITE^TIAKy    CONGRESS. 


tern;  2,  centralized  coutrol,  with  guardiau  care  of  discharged  prisouers; 
3,  the  principle  of  indeterminate  or  reformatory  sentences ;  4,  indus- 
trial, scholastic,  and  religious  education  and  cultuie;  and,  o,  a  better 
public  sentiment  on  the  whole  penitentiary  question  and  on  that  of  the 
laboring  classes  in  general. 


CHAPTEE    XXIY. 


CUAIULATm:   PUNISH^IENTS. 


A  paper  of  high  practical  interest  and  value  on  this  subject  was  con- 
tributed by  Messrs.  Clarke  Aspinall,  Edward  Lawrence,  and  S.  Grey 
Eathbone,  on  behalf  of  the  Liverpool  magistracy,  England.  They  com- 
mence by  reciting  two  resolutions  unanimously  passed  by  the  magis- 
trates, January  17.  1S72,  as  follows :  1,  that  it  is  desirable  that  the  cu- 
mulative principle  be  applied  to  the  iiunishment  of  all  classes  of  crimes 
and  oftenses :  and,  2,  that  it  is  further  desirable  that  the  visiting  justices 
(corresponding  to  our  boards  of  jnison  managers)  should  be  empowered 
to  transfer  well-conducted  prisoners  to  homes  for  a  short  period  prior  to 
the  termination  of  their  sentences.  These  resolutions  are  followed  by  a 
table,  showing  the  number  of  prisoners  confined  in  the  Liverpool 
borough-prison  during  the  first  six  months  of  the  official  year  1870-71, 
•who  had  been  committed  fifteen  times  and  more: 


Fifteen  timps  iiBd  i  Twenty     times  ,ThirtT  times  and 
under  twenty.    ;  and  under  thirty.        under  forty. 


Females 


Forty  times 
and  under  fifty 


Fifty  times  and   Seventy  times 
under  seventy,  i  and  upward. 


The  authors  of  the  paper  are  strongly  of  the  opinion,  in  which  all  re- 
flecting persons  must  concur,  tliat  punishments  should  be  gradually  iu- 
crea.'^ed  in  severity,  if  offenses  are  often  repeated.  This  opinion  is  based 
upon  two  grounds,  viz :  fir.st,  because  long  sentences  would  be  more 
fornii<laV)le,  and  therefore  more  deterrent  to  persons  who  had  become 
indifferent  to  short  ones;  and,  .secondly,  because  such  sentences  would 
aid  persons  who  had  become  addicted  to  a  disorderly  or  criminal  life  to 
abandon  it,  by  giving  greater  scope  to  the  action  of  reformatory  in- 
fluences. 

Wlien  the  criminal  laws  .shall  have  been  amended  in  the  direction 
indicated,  so  that  terms  of  imprisonment  of  considerable  duration  are 
impo.scd  on  habitual  petty  tran.sgre.s.sors,  it  is  the  opinion  of  the  writers 
that  the  pri.son  authorities  should  have  ])ower  to  transfer  any  prisoners, 
under  proper  limitations,  to  any  home  which  is  willing  to  receive  them, 
and  is  at  the  same  time  under  the  management  of  a  certitied  dis- 
cliarged  pri.soner.s'  aid  society.  The  advantage  of  such  an  arrange- 
ment would  be  that  well-conducted  pri.soners  could  be  selected 
and  jdaced  in  such  homes  for  sonie  time  jtrior  to  their  discharge,  in  a 
state  intermediate  between  the  stringent  restraints  of  the  prison  and 
l)erfect  lil)erty.  In  sueli  a  state  they  would  have  better  opi)ortunities 
than  can  be  aflorded  in  a  prison  of  exercising  and  acipiiring  habits  of 
.*>K*lf-control,  and  of  earning  such  a  character  as  may   facilitate  their 


CUMULATIVE   PUNISHMENTS — TKEATMENT    OF    PRISONERS.    185 

obtaining  an  honest  living  when  discharged.  Several  homes  for  adult 
discharged  prisoners  (the  authors  of  the  paper  say)  have  been  es- 
tablished, and,  if  successful,  more  would  no  doubt  be  opened  by  volun- 
tary efibrt,  and  the  expenses  of  adult  prisoners  would  not  be  large,  if  the 
homes  were  well  managed  and  placed  in  situations  favorable  for  the 
profitable  carrying  on  of  the  industries  in  which  their  iuniates  were  oc- 
cupied. The  prisoners,  knowing  that  if  they  did  not  work  well,  the 
managers  of  the  homes  would  return  them  to  the  deprivations  of  a 
prison,  would  have  a  j^otent  stimulus  to  real  industry^  for  it  would  of  course 
be  one  of  the  conditions  of  the  transfer  of  a  prisoner  to  a  home  that,  if 
he  or  she  became  idle,  disorderly,  or  discontented,  the  prisoner  should 
be  returned  to  prison  for  the  remainder  of  the  sentence.  The  writers 
suggest  that  the  homes  should  not  be  largely,  if  at  all,  subsidized  from 
public  funds.  Their  utility  will  depend  much  on  the  labor  in  them 
being  of  the  genuine  kind,  which  would  render  them  to  a  great  extent 
self-supporting,  and  all  or  most  of  the  deficiency  should  be  raised  by 
the  managers,  as  a  guarantee  that  they  are  really  interested  in  the 
work.  It  would  be  far  better  that  the  growth  of  such  homes  should 
be  slow  and  gradual,  as  the  fruit  of  satisfactory  experience,  than  that 
they  should  be  prematurely  forced  into  existence  in  large  numbers  by 
such  liberal  public  grants  as  have  been  given  to  reformatories  and  indus- 
trial schools. 

If  the  proposed  amendments  in  the  law  were  made,  it  is  believed  that 
the  following  results  might  be  hoped  for : 

1.  That  the  short  sentences  passed  on  young  ofitenders  would  become 
much  more  deterrent,  because  they  would  be  known  to  lead  up  to  tbe 
really  long  sentences,  which  are  unquestionably  much  feared  by  nearly 
all  the  criminal  classes. 

2.  That  under  the  influence  of  long  detentions,  when  they  became 
necessary,  (particularly  if  part  of  the  time  were  passed  in  well-regulated 
homes,)  a  certain  proportion  of  the  offenders  would  be  reformed. 

3.  That  the  residuum  of  reckless  incorrigibles  would  be  detained  in 
prison  under  a  succession  of  long  sentences  instead  of  a  succession  of 
short  sentences,  from  which  the  great  advantage  would  arise  that  they 
would  have  fewer  opportunities  of  committing  crimes  themselves  and  of 
training  up  others  in  bad  ways,  while  the  expense  of  their  imprison- 
ment would  not  be  materially,  if  at  all,  increased,  since  the  labor  of 
long-time  prisoners  can  be  made  profitable  to  an  extent  quite  impossi- 
ble in  the  case  of  short-time  pris6ners. 

•4.  That  the  power  of  the  police  to  enforce  order  and  decency  in  the 
streets  could  be  supported  by  the  magistracy  far  more  efficiently  than 
un<ier  existing  laws. 


CHAPTER   XXV. 

THE   TREAT^NIENT   OF  PRISONERS. 

The  right  honorable  Sir  Walter  Croftou  offered  a  valuable  paper 
under  the  above  caption.  He  lays  down  tbe  proposition  that  the  end  of 
punishment  is  twofold :  amendment  and  example.  But  it  is  diflicult  to 
embrace  both  these  requirements  in  a  system  of  prison  discipline.  A 
system  of  natural  training  from  the  start  might  amend  individuals  and 
reconcile  the  public  to  tbeir  employment  on  discharge;  but  how  would 


186  INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

such  a  system  prove  exemplary  to  others?  An  artificial  system,  carried 
through  from  the  beginniug  to  the  eud,  would  be  an  example  to  the 
crimiually  disposed ;  but  would  such  a  system  reform  prisoners  and 
further  their  employment  on  their  release  ? 

Reflecting  upon  these  things,  when  called  to  preside  over  the  convict- 
department  in  Ireland,  he  was  led  to  discard  each  of  these  plans  as  a 
system  complete  in  itself,  for  he  felt  that  they  would  fail  to  attain  the 
object  in  view,  but  that,  as  component  parts  of  one  system,  definite  and 
distinct  in  their  several  arrangements,  both  plans  might  be  beneficially 
employed,  and  the  one  made  so  to  lead  up  to  the  other  as  to  give  to  the 
whole,  in  the  mind  of  the  criminal,  the  felt  aspect  of  amendment.  But 
in  order  to  attain  amendment,  you  must  gain  the  co-operation  of  the 
criminals,  to  effect  which  they  must  realize  that  their  punishment  is 
not  merely  retributive,  but  that  it  has  a  benevolent  aim,  and  that  this 
aim  is  to  improve  them. 

Long  experience  has  enabled  him  to  state  that  if  this  point  is  made 
sufiiciently  clear  to  the  mind  of  the  criminal  at  the  commencement  of 
the  sentence,  it  will  not  be  in  hostility  to  tbose  placed  over  him,  even  in 
the  necessarily  penal  and  more  stringent  stages  of  his  punishment,  for 
he  will  "look  to  the  eud,"  and  hope  will  be  ever  present  with  him. 

The  solution  of  this  problem,  to  his  mind,  lay  in  a  classification  which 
should  lead,  by  successive  stages,  from  very  great  strictness  to  a  state 
of  semi-freedom,  in  which  the  reformation  of  the  criminal  might  be  sat- 
isfactorily tested  through  the  absence  of  the  artificial  restraints  neces- 
sary in  the  earlier  stages  of  detention. 

To  give  to  these  stages  in  classification  real  value,  it  was  necessary 
that  self-control  and  self-denial  should  be  developed  in  the  process. 
To  attain  the  object  in  view,  the  idle  and  ill-disciplined  should  become 
industrious  and  orderly.  No  plan  could  so  well  effect  this  result  as 
marks,  (introduced  into  Ireland  in  1854,)  or  numerical  records  of  labor. 

But  without  associating  industry  in  the  minds  of  criminals  with  profit 
and  pleasure,  the  marks  would  not  be  gained,  and  the  end  in  view  would 
be  lost.  As  a  general  rule,  it  may  be  assumed  that  thecrimiual  classes 
dislike  labor.  I3ut  if  labor  is  made  a  privilege  to  be  earned  by  its  absence 
in  the  very  earliest  stages  of  seclusion  and  by  its  gradual  introduction, 
coupled  with  other  advantages  as  classification  advances,  it  will  by 
degrees,  Hloicly  perhaps  at  first,  but  surely,  supplant  idleness  in  the  ma- 
jority of  criminals. 

Those  conversant  with  the  plan  of  convict  treatment  introduced  into 
Ireland  in  18;>lr  will  at  once  ])erceive  that  the  principles  of  prison  train- 
ing just  sketched  formed  the  basis  of  the  system. 

kSo  far  as  the  prison  (lisci[)line  of  the  system  is  concerned,  we  have, 
then : 

1.  The  stage  of  penal  and  stringent  discipline. 

2.  The  stage  of  asso<;iated  labor,  (with  separate  dormitories,)  in 
whieli,  Ity  means  of  i»rogre,ssive  classification  governed  by  marks,  the 
industrial  improvement  and  self-control  of  the  prisoner  are  both  stimu- 
lated and  t^^sted  l)y  the  motive  i)o\ver  which  is  at  work,  viz,  improve- 
ment in  i)resent  position  and  the  opjiortunity  of  obtaining  earlier  libera- 
tion. It  will  be  atonee  realized  that  thus  the  crin)inal,  within  certain 
<lefined  lituits,  becomes  the  arbiter  of  his  own  fate,  and  the  system  is 
depriv(ul  of  any  aspe<;t  of  vengence,  while  it  secures  the  co-0})eration 
of  the  prisoner  in  his  own  iuiprovenient.  It  is  scarci^ly  necessary  to 
point  out  the  self-drilling  which  is  rcipiired  )inder  sui^h  a  system,  if  the 
advantages  held  out  by  |)rogressive  classification  are  to  be  r<'aped. 

When  tiiese  two  stages  are  satisfactorily  i)assed — /.  e.,  when  the  crim- 


PREVENTIVE    POLICE    ORGANIZATION.  187 

* 

nals  have  attained-  the  required  uumber  of  marks  to  entitle  them  to 
the  privilege — they  are  removed  to  a  stage  of  serai  freedom,  called  the 
third  or  intermediate  stage,  which  is  a  stage  of  probation  in  a  more 
natural  state  of  training  before  liberation. 

This  stage  of  natural  training  in  its  very  nature  prepares  the  criminal 
for  his  return  to  the  ordinary  avocations  of  free  life,  and  reconciles  the 
I)ublic  to  his  emijloyraent.  As  it  has  had  the  test  of  sixteen  years'  ex- 
perience and  has  more  than  fulfilled  what  was  expected  from  it,  it 
must  be  looked  upon  as  a  great  success.  The  conduct  and  industry  of 
the  inmates  during  this  long  period  have  equaled,  and  even  exceeded, 
those  of  ordinary  laborers  in  similar  positions  of  temptation. 

Sir  Walter  believes  the  above  to  be  the  best  prison  training  to  pre- 
pare a  criminal  for  his  release  and  his  re-absorption  into  society.  It  is  a 
training  so  simple  in  its  principles  that  its  very  simplicity  formed  at  one 
time  its  great  stumbling-block  in  the  minds  of  men,  and  so  easy  of 
application  that,  in  some  form,  it  is  suited  to  every  locality  and  every 
human  being. 


CHAPTER  XX  Y  I. 

PREVENTIVE   POLICE   ORGANIZATION. 

Mr.  Edwin  Chadwick,  C.  B.,  of  England  presented  to  the  congress  a 
paper  of  much  ability  and  breadth  on  the  question  of  a  preventive  police. 
One  great  object  (he  says)  of  a  compulsory  system  of  public  relief  for  the 
destitute  is  to  disarm  the  mendicant  of  his  plea  that,  unless  alm.^  be 
given  him,  he  must  perish.  Juvenile  mendicancy  leads  to  juvenile  de- 
linquency, and  both  are  fed  by  indiscriminate  alms-giving.  English 
prisons  were,  at  one  time,  filled  chiefly  with  delinquents'  orphans  reared 
in  mendicancy,  who  from  begging  advanced  to  stealing.  Juvenile  va- 
grancy and  juvenile  mendicancy  are  the  great  seed-plot  of  adult  habitual 
criminality.  Most  of  those  who  follow  stealing  as  a  business  have 
mainly  entered  their  -careers  as  juvenile  vagrants  and  mendicants. 
After  having,  with  the  aid  of  able  colleagues,  completed  a  report  on  a 
compulsory  system  of  relief  to  the  poor  and  after  considerable  expe- 
rience in  administering  such  a  system',  Mr.  Chadwick  became  convinced 
that  to  attain  the  object  of  the  law  in  regard  to  the  great  evil  of  vagrancy 
and  mendicancy,  as  well  as  for  other  purposes,  the  concurrent  action  of 
a  police  was  necessary.  But  beyond  the  metropolis  there  was  no  force 
in  existence  deserving  the  name  of  a  police  force.  He  therefore  sug- 
gested to  the  government  the  expediency  of  instituting  an  inquiry  into 
the  subject.  The  result  was  that  a  royal  commission  was  created  for 
that  purpose,  consisting  of  himself,  Colonel  Rowan,  chief  commissioner 
of  the  metropolitan  police,  and  Mr.  John  Shaw  Lefevre,  M.  P.  The 
leading  results  of  this  inquiry  were  embodied  in  Mr.  Chadwiok's  paper, 
and  submitted  for  the  iutormation  of  the  congress. 

The  commissioners  found,  in  the  first  place,  that  the  gains  of  habitual 
criminals,  as  arule,  greatly  exceeded  those  obtainable  by  honest  industry, 
being  in  fact,  on  an  average,  about  double.  In  the  next  place,  they 
found  that  their  average  careers  of  spoliation  upon  the  community, 
without  interruption  by  arrest  and  conviction,  were  about  five  years  in 
duration.  More  recently  the  estimate  is  that  habitual  depredators  spend- 
about  one-third  of  their  time  in  prison,  and  the  other  two-thirds  at  large, 


188  INTERNATIOXAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

plying  their  craft.  The  duration  of  these  long  careers  of  uninterrupted 
villainy  are  owing  mainly  to  two  causes:  first,  to  the  adroitness  of  the 
criminals  ;  and,  secondly,  to  the  fact  that  the  party  robbed  generally  dis- 
continues the  prosecution  on  the  restoration  of  the  property. 

Instances  of  the  reformation  of  habitual  thieves  were  unknown,  and 
the  possibility  of  such  reformation  was  not  believed  in  by  the  police. 
But  proof  was  given  that  careers  of  habitual  depredation  had  been  dis- 
continued because  of  difficulties  which  reduced  the  chances  of  escape 
and  rendered  such  depredation  less  gainful  than  honest  industry,  as,  for 
instance,  highway  robbery  by  mounted  and  armed  horsemen.  Evidence 
was  given  that  there  were  house-breakers  who  had  returned  to  honest 
occupations  since  the  institution  of  the  police,  because  the  chances  of 
escape  had  been  so  far  narrowed  that  tlie  business  no  longer  paid.  But 
if  the  chances  of  impunity  w^ere  again  lengthened  from  months  to  years, 
highway  robbers,  on  foot  and  mounted,  would  re-appear,  even  though 
the  gallows  and  the  gibbet  should  re  appear  with  them.  What  is 
wanted,  therefore,  to  check  criminality,  so  far  as  objective  agencies  are 
concerned,  is,  not  severe  punishments,  (these  have  little  eft'ect,)  but  few 
chances  of  escape,  certainty  of  detection,  short  careers  out  of  prison, 
and  a  reduction  of  the  profits  below  those  of  honest  industry.  To  leave 
the  chances  wide  open,  the  careers  long,  and  the  profits  large,  and  to 
rely  mainly  on  punitive  agencies,  would  be  a  wisdom  akin  to  that  of 
directing  effort  to  the  cure  or  alleviation  of  marsh-diseases  and  leaving 
the  marshes  undrained.  The  whole  mass  of  habitual  depredation  exists 
through  the  defects  of  repressive  legislation,  and  especially  through  the 
's^'aut  of  a  properly-organized  and  systematic  pursuit  by  an  effective 
police  force. 

But  the  efficient  action  of  a  police  depends  upon  the  completeness  of 
its  information,  and  this  again  upon  the  effective  co-operation  of  the 
public  in  supplying  it.  The  commissioners  found  that  the  police  are  very 
incompletely  informed  of  the  number  of  depredations  committed.  They 
also  found  that  the  failure  of  the  public  to  co-operate  was  owing  in  some 
degree  to  carelessness  and  alow  morality,  but  much  more  to  :  1,  a  dread 
of  trouble  and  vexation  arising  from  the  cumbrous  forms  of  penal  pro- 
cedure; 2,  the  absence  of  systematic  public  prosecution;  and,  3,  the 
fact  tliat  the  charges  of  prosecution  fall  mainly-  on  the  party  robbed, 
and  this  in  addition  to  tlie  loss  and  annoyance  caused  by  the  depreda- 
tion. It  hence  follows  that,  for  the  efficient  action  of  a  police  and  a  close 
and  successful  pursuit,  a  considerable  reform  in  penal  law  and  adminis- 
tration is  necessary,  as  well  as  a  more  general  and  generous  public  sup- 
port. 

The  chief  objective  i)oints  of  a  police  are  to  render  it  difficult  and 
laboiious  to  get  at  pro])erty,  to  render  it  difficult  and  hiborious  to 
convert  ])roi)erty  when  obtained,  to  r«;n<ler  it  dillicult  to  escai)e  detec- 
tion ;  and  in  this  way  to  narrow  the  cliances  of  escape  to  the  depredator, 
to  sliorten  liis  career  of  impunity,  and  to  reduce  the  profits  of  the  career 
l)e]ow  those  of  lionest  hibor.  When  tliese  ends  are  attained,  particu- 
larl}'  the  last,  tlie  ])redatory  career  will  be  abandoned.  Crime  for  i)rofit 
lias  subsisted  and  conlinues  to  subsist  by  the  absence  or  inelliciency 
of  systematic  organization,  devised  with  a  view  to  detect  and  ]»uiiishit. 

The  reniaiiiiiig  portion  of  Mr.  (!ha(h\  iek's  ])ai)er  is  mainly  taken  up 
with  an  account  of  t  iif  stiite  of  t  liings  in  i']nglaiid  and  the  refi>riiis  needed 
tluire,  himI  has,  tlierefctic,  little  more  than  a  local  interest.  He  closes  his 
essay  with  the  stateriienl  tli;it  the  lirst  report  of  the  commissioners  w\is  . 
directed  to  the  elaboration  of  the  i)rinci])les  of  the  organization  of  a 
j)rerentire  police  forcr^  and  that  the  said  report  has  serv«Ml  very  much 


CKIMES    OF    PASSION    AND    OF    REFLECTION.  18,9 

as  a  text-book  for  some  of  the  imperfect  organizations  that  exist,  and 
that  they  have  the  material  for  a  second  report  on  the  preventive  action 
of  a  police  when  organized.  It  is  much  to  be  hoped  that  their  second, 
report  will  not  be  long  delayed. 


CHATTER    XXy  II. 

CRIMES   OF  PASSION   AND   CRIMES   OF  REFLECTION. 

Eev.  Dr.  Bittinger,  of  the  United  States,  submitted  a  paper  to  the- 
congress  treating  of  crime  under  the  twofold  aspect  indicated  by  the 
title  which  forms  the  subject  of  the  present  chapter.  The  discussion, 
was  one  of  great  originality,  sharp  analysis,  and,  withal,  of  a  highly  prac- 
tical cast.  The  undersigned  cannot  but  regret  that  an  essay  of  such 
value  should  not  have  been  given  in  full.  But  the  respected  editor  of 
the  Transactions,  whose  prerogative  it  was  to  decide  upon  questions  of 
that  nature,  has  inserted  in  his  volume  only  a  short  abstract,  and  with 
that  the  undersigned  must  be  satisfied.  Dr.  Bittinger's  view,  as  ei^it- 
omized  in  the  Transactions,  is,  in  substance,  as  follows  : 

Sin  is  the  primal  cause"  of  lawlessness,  but  it  is  not  amenable  to  hu- 
man legislation  until  it  finds  expression  in  criminal  acts.  The  two  factors 
of  crime  are  i)assion  and  reflection.  The  passions  differ  both  in  kind 
and  degree :  they  are  malign  and  non-malign.  Eeflection  differs  only  in 
degree.  Crime  is  punishable,  because  it  injures  society.  The  character 
and  degree  of  the  iujuriousness  of  crime  must  determine  the  nature  of 
our  penal  legislation ;  and  the  possibility  of  diminishing  crime  and  re- 
forming the  criminal  must  determine  the  nature  of  our  penal  treatment.. 
The  enormity  of  criminal  acts  is  modified  by  their  relation  to  the  person 
of  the  victim  as  nearer  or  more  remote.  Thus  murder,  rape,  mayhem, 
malicious  mischief,  arson,  and  robbery  have  a  closeness  of  relation  to 
the  person  corresponding"  to  the  order  in  which  they  are  named,  and  the 
same  order  marks  the  degree  or  intensity  of  guilt  which  attaches  to  the 
several  acts.  Another  distinction  tO  be  made,  which  has  been  already 
alluded  to,  is  between  crimes  of  passion  thenjselves,  namely,  crimes  of 
malign  passion,  as  murder,  and  crimes  of  non-malign  passion,  as  rape. 
Acts  springing  from  malign  feelings  are  always  criminal,  while  those 
springing  from  the  non-malign  jiassions  are  criminal  only  in  their  ex- 
cess. The  malign  passions  are  in  their  nature  objective,  being  always 
aimed  at  the  ijerson,  as  murder,  mayhem,  malicious  mischief.  The  non- 
malign  passions  are,  in  their  nature,  subjective,  their  aim  being  ever 
the  gratification  of  one's  self,  and  not  harm  to  another.  The  former  are 
personal,  the  latter  impersonal.  The  punishment  of  crimes  of  passion 
is  aimed  at  the  quality  of  the  passion,  as  malign  or  non-malign.  The 
punishment  of  crimes  of  reflection  is  aimed  at  the  degree  of  reflection,  as 
involving  more  or  less  of  intelligence  and  purpose.  Personality,  as  being 
that  which  tends  most  to  excite  and  intensify  reflection,  is,  in  general, 
the  measure  of  the  offense  as  regards  its  guilt :  larceny  of  detached  prop- 
erty, pocket-picking,  burglary,  robbery,  rai)e.  Tlie  nearer  the  criminal 
gets  to  the  person,  the  darker  is  the  crime  and  the  sterner  should  be 
the  punishment.  Crimes  of  passion  are  to  crimes  of  reflection  as  1 
to  27.  The  most  inveterate  crimes  of  reflection  are  the  following  :  Horse- 
stealing, burglary,  robbery,  forgery;  and  this  is  the  order  of  their  fre- 
quency as  well  as  of  their  guilt.     Of  crimes  of  passion  the  orderis  murder, 


190  INTERNATIONAL   PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

rape,  felonious  assault.     Statistics  sliow  that  grave  crimes  of  passion  do 
not  tend  to  repetition,"  while  crimes  of  reflection  tend  strongly  in  that 
direction.     Hence,  crimes  of  passion  are  few,  of  reflection  many. 
For  crimes  of  passion,  i)reventive  legislation  is  the  remedy — 

1.  By  imi)roving  the  condition  of  the  poor  and  degraded  through 
work,  education,  and  moral  instruction  and  culture. 

2.  By  protecting  all  classes  through  laws  against  drunkenness,  gamb- 
ling, and  prostitution. 

'  Crimes  of  reflection  demand  repressive  and  deterrent  legislation — such 
as  a  vigilant  police,  certain  detection,  and  swift  punishment. 

The  penal  treatment^f  both  these  classes  should  be  framed  on  justice, 
as  opposed  to  vindictiveness.  Criminals  have  rights  which  justice  must 
respect.  The  moral  character  of  the  jailor  is  of  prime  importance.  The 
jailor  and  the  judge  are  equally  the  ministers  of  justice.  The  prisoner's 
sense  of  justice  must  be  respected  by  those  who  are  charged  with  ad- 
ministering punishment,  or  his  punishment  will  neither  deter  nor  re- 
form him.  In  dealing  with  i^rofessional  criminals,  justice  may  fitly  be 
made  to  wear  an  aspect  of  severity,  or  at  least  of  sternness  ;  in  dealing 
with  crimes  of  passion,  there  should  be  a  leaning  toward  mercy.  The 
victim  of  passion  is  to  be  i^itied ;  the  criminal  of  reflection  is  to  be 
punished.  The  man  who  does  criminal  acts  under  a  sudden  assault  of 
passion  leaves  room  for  hope,  for  cooler  moments  turn  him  against  him- 
self and  move  him  to  repentance ;  the  man  who  deliberates  and  plans 
his  crimes  is  comparatively  hopeless,  because  coolness  is  the  essence  of 
his  criminality.  The  one  is  overtaken  by  crime ;  the  other  elects  it. 
Criminals  of  passion  have  no  accomplices,  but  often  witnesses ;  crimi- 
nals of  reflection  have  accomplices,  but  seldom  witnesses.  The  former 
rarely  combine,  and  are  without  organization ;  the  latter  form  them- 
selves into  communities,  and  organize  for  crime. 

These  characteristic  difierences  between  the  two  classes  of  crimi- 
nals demand  a  corresponding  diflerence  in  criminal  legislation  and  penal 
treatment.  Ur.  Bittinger  in  his  essay  explained  why  and  wherein  this 
diflerence  of  legislation  and  discipline,  as  applied  to  them,  consisted. 
But  the  abstract  in  the  Transactions  ends  at  this  point,  and  the  under- 
signed is  consequently  unable  to  follow  him  further. 


CHAPTER    XX  VIII. 

JOHN  HOWARD — Ills  LIFE  AND  SERVICES. 

John  Howard  entered  upon  his  career  as  a  prison  reformer  in  the  year 
177."{.  It  was  therefore  lit  tiiat  an  international  i)enitentiary  congress, 
convened  in  I'ingland  ninety-nine  years  after  that  <late,  should  be  made 
the  occasifvn  of  a  centenary  commemoration  of  the  great  English  jdiilan- 
thropist.  r.y  special  recpiest,  Kev.  Henry  W.  Jiellows,  D.  D.,  of  the  United 
Stat(;s,  delivered,  during  the  sittings  of  the  <;ongr(^ss,  a  discourse  on  his 
life,  eharacfer,  and  services,  which  was  a  worthy  tribute;  to  the  man  and 
the  cause.  The  address  of  Dr.  liellows  fills  sixty  i)ages  of  the  volume  of 
l>rinfed  Transa(!fions  ;  it  is  evident,  therel'ore,  that  the  brief  extracts  to 
which  the  undersigned  feels  constrained  to  limit  himself  can  give  but  a 
meager  i<lea  of  th(5  nuistei'ly  analysis  and  glowing  eloquence  of  the  dis- 
tinguished orator. 

Jn  one  of  fhe  opening  paragrai)lis  of  his  discourse.  Dr.  Bellows  thus 
speaks  of  its  subject : 


JOHN  Howard's  life  and  services.  191 

The  u.ame  of  Howard  has  become  a  synonym  of  philanthropy.  It  is  more  widely 
known,  and  known  with  more  unqualified  praise  and  honor,  than  any  private  name  iu 
modern  history.  Hundreds  of  associations  for  charity  and  beneficence  have  chosen  it 
for  their  title.  It  has  passed  out  of  the  keeping  of  his  own  countrymen  into  that  of 
mankind.  The  lips  of  little  children  learn  it  almost  next  after  that  of  their  divine 
Master.  Its  glory  belongs  to  neither  sex,  but  celebrates  virtues  and  graces  equally 
honorable  and  acceptable  iu  both.  It  is  one  of  the  few  names  religion  dares  to  repeat 
in  connection  with  her  holiest  themes.  There  is  scarcely  a  shadow  upon  it.  It  min- 
gles with  all  that  is  purest,  noblest,  most  celestial  in  human  feelings.  It  overleaped, 
even  iu  the  days  of  angry  polemics,  the  walls  of  sect,  and  acted  as  a  solvent  of  bigotry 
and  a  cement  among  theological  rivals  and  antagonists.  It  stands  for  universal 
mercy,  world-wide  sympathy,  and  absolute  consecration  to  human  service.  A  name 
for  mildness,  self-forgetfulness,  sleepless  activity  in  benevolent  work,  for  interest  iu 
the  most  abandoned  and  repulsive  of  our  species,  for  hope  toward  those  despaired  of 
by  all  others,  for  chivalrous  and  heroic  daring  against  enemies  more  perilous  than 
artillery,  but  from  w'hom  eveu  wisdom  had  accounted  it  univei'sally  permissible  to 
flee — pestilence  aud  crime ;  a  name  for  humility  which  fled  from  the  echoes  of  its  own 
resonant  goodness,  wept  at  the  praises  it  could  not  escape,  and  unaft'ectedly  longed  to 
be  unknown.  What  a  halo  hangs  around  these  syllables!  Howard!  If,  as  he  himself 
declares,  not  one  insulting  word  or  disparaging  and  contemptuous  act  ever  met  his 
eye  or  ear  iu  the  sixteen  years  of  his  pilgrimage  among  the  reprobate  class  confined  iu 
tlie  prisons  of  all  Europe,  a  hundred  years,  in  which  that  name  has  circulated  like  a 
household  word  through  the  homes  of  civilized  man,  have  hardly  produced  oue  jar  or 
discord  iu  the  universal  symi)hony  of  love  aud  praise. 

In  the  following  sentences  T)r.  Bellows  gives  us  Howard's  own 
account  of  what  first  awakened  his  interest  in  prisoners  and  led  him 
to  a  visitation  of  prisons : 

Howard  says  that  the  first  circumstance  Avhich  excited  Bim  to  activity  in  behalf  of 
prisoners  was  in  observing,  when  sheriff  of  the  county  of  Bedford,  that  persons 
accused  of  crimes,  but  on  trial  foilud  not  guilty,  or  against  whom  prosecutors  failed  to 
appear,  after  having  suffered  previous  to  trial  or  arraignment  months  of  unjust  im- 
prisonment, were  often •  dragged  back  to  jail  and  looked  up  uutil  they  should  pay  sun- 
dry fees  to  the  jailer,  clerk  of  assize,  &c.  He  represented  the  hardship  to  the  court, 
aud  begged  that  the  jailer  should  have  a  salary  in  place  of  fees.  The  court  was  moved 
with  tlie  justice  of  the  suggestion,  but  wanted  a  precedent  for  charging  the  county 
with  the  expense.  Howard  rode  into  several  counties  in  search  of  a  pre  cedent,  and 
his  failure  to  find  one  did  not  prevent  him  from  discovering  the  general  sufteriugs  of 
debtors  and  felons  iu  all  the  prisons  he  visited,  and  ■^aked  up  an  earuest  desire  to 
alleviate  what  excited  his  pity  aud  off'euded  his  sense  of  justice. 

Dr.  Bellows  describes  the  zeal,  activity,  minute  diligence,  and  scrup- 
ulous conscientiousness  of  Howard,  in  these  words : 

Howard  had  now  become  unsparing  in  the  demands  he  made  on  his  own  diligence; 
he  gave  himself  barely  time  to  attend  to  his  inivate  obligations.  He  regarded  neither 
distance,  labor,  nor  expense  in  his  investigations.  Hundreds  of  miles,  by  post,  on  horse- 
back, by  night  and  by  day,  he  hurried  through  England,  Wales,  Ireland,  Scotland,  the 
Isle  of  Wight,  ubiciuitous",  making  almost  superhuman  haste,  and  yet  overlooking  and 
forgetting  nothing.  A  jail  with  one  prisoner  was  important  enough  to  draw  him  fi'e- 
quently  to  its  inspection.  He  took  nothing  on  hearsay  ;  made  no  rough  geueralizatiou  ; 
exposed  himself  boldly  to  jail-fever,  small-pox,  typhus,  aud  every  personal  trial  to 
whicH  delicate  sense  or  humane  feelings  can  be,  subjected,  that  he  might  be  able- to 
speak  with  unanswerable  authority  on  a  subject  which  he  had  perfectly  exhausted. 
Let  us  remember  that  this  was  not  a  time  when  immense  accumulations  of  facts,  exactly 
observed,  had  taken  the  place  which  they  now  possess,  even  iu  the  physical  sciences, 
much  less  in  the  moral.  Howard's  hunger  for  facts  was  unexampled  in  his  time.  He  an- 
ticipated even  scientific  observers  in  rigor,  exactness,  hesitation  to  generalize,  and  patient 
•waiting  for  an  exhaustive  examinatiou  of  the  field.  This  was  partly  due  to  the  want 
in.  him  of  a  discursive  understanding  or  tendency  to  generalizing ;  the  absence  of  a 
lively  imagination  and  an  intuitive  perception  ;  but  still  more  to  the  scrupulous  con- 
scientiousness of  his  character,  his  inability  to  tell  lies  of  carelessness,  his  plodding 
patience  and  utter  self-forgetfuluess  iu  the  pursuit  of  his  ends.  It  is  hardly  too  much 
to  say,  then,  that  every  prison,  bridewell,  house  of  detention,  spouging-house,  in  the 
three  kingdoms,  and  every  apartment  in  each  of  them,  aud  every  individual  prisouer 
iu  every  cell,  had  by  this  time  been  under  his  inciuiriug  eye  and  had  felt  his  influence. 
The  whole  race  of  prison  keepers  and  jail  authorities,  as  well  as  all  the  felons,  convicts, 
and  debtors  had  seen  his  face  and  felt  the  genuineness,  the  authority,  and  the  strength 
of  his  purpose.  What  other  man  has  made  his  personality  for  so  many  years  so  directly 
felt  by  the  very  persons  for  whose  improvement  and  reform  he  was  laboring  ?    Asso- 


192  INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

ciated  beneticeuce,  clepnteil  and  vicarious  sacrifices  for  the  vicious,  organized  corpora- 
tions for  charity  and  for  reform — we  all  know  their  necessity,  their  advantages,  and 
their  power.  But  do  we  not  also  know  their  limitations,  their  dangers,  their  exposures 
to  superficiality  and  perfunctory  work,  their  tendency  to  become  at  last  only  costly 
machines,  run  largely  or  mainlj^  for  the  sake  of  the  olScers  who  administer  them  1 
John  Howard  was  a  sublime  exception  to  the  rule  which  trusts  more  to  the  machinery 
than  the  power  that  drives  it ;  to  the  wheels,  than  the  spirit  in  the  wheels.  His  per- 
sonal labors  were  as  abundant  as  his  public  reports  were  few  and  far  between  ;  his  in- 
quiries as  minute,  special,  andparticular  as  they  were  numerous,  broad,  and  universal. 
He  swept  the  whole  field,  but  it  was  as  carefully  as  if  it  had  been  only  a  single  thresh- 
ing-floor. 

This  account  is  given  of  Howard's  first  publication  of  his  work  ou 
the  State  of  the  Prisons  of  England  and  Wales,  with  Preliminary  Obser- 
vations, and  an  Account  of  some  Foreign  Prisons  and  Hospitals  : 

Never  was  so  original  and  costly  a  work — costly  in  the  personal  sacrifices  and  severe 
labors  it  represented,  original  in  being  the  record  of  one  observer's  personal  study  of 
a  subject  hitherto  treated  only  in  the  library  by  philosophers  like  Montesquieu  and 
Beccaria — issued  with  less  pretension.  Printed  at  the  author's  expense,  in  a  provincial 
town — and,  it  may  almost  be  said,  without  a  publisher— given  away  mostly  by  Howard 
himself,  it  came  out,  without  the  smallest  flourish  of  trumpets  or  the  least  aid  from  an 
expectant  public,  carefully  manipulated  by  such  a  skill  as  now  ushers  works  of  im})ort- 
ance  into  the  reading  world.  And  it  was  as  modest  in  its  pretensions,  restrained  in 
style  and  statement,  free  from  rhetoric  and  false  sentiment,  as  if  it  had  been  a  legal 
document.  Howard  had  a  perfect  eye  for  facts.  He  saw  them,  too,  in  a  true  perspec- 
tive. He  hated  sentimentality  and  romance  almost  as  he  did  falsehood.  He  was  incapa- 
ble, even  had  he  been  desirous,  of  arranging  his  observations  in  a  pictorial  or  dramatic 
form.  His  work,  therefore,  is  a  plain,  straightforward,  condensed  narrative  of  his  ob- 
servations upon  the  conditions  of  all  the  prisons  he  visited,  with  little  generalization, 
no  philosophy,  and  few  other  comments  than  those  of  a  plain,  practical  man.  But  the 
vast  accumulation  of  facts  exhaustive  of  the  subject  is  fitted  to  produce  an  efi'ect  which 
no  abstract  and  no  general  inferences  could  possibly  have  accomplished.  He  really 
makes  his  reader  a  fellow-traveler,  and,  by  inspiring  him  with  absolute  confidence  in 
his  scrupulous  conscientiousness  as  an  observer  and  recorder,  he  feels  that  his  impres- 
sions from  the  book  are  nearly  or  quite  equal  in  freshness  and  force  to  those  an  actual 
circuit  of  all  the  prisons  in  England  and  Wales,  and  of  most  in  Holland,  France,  and 
Switzerland,  would  have  produced. '  It  may  almost  be  said  to  hiive  been  the  first  suc- 
cessful attempt  to  arouse  puldic  opinion,  independent  of  class  or  order,  to  a  concern,  on 
grounds  of  justice  and  humanity,  in  the  treatment  of  a  large  and  repugnant  class  of 
our  fellow-iiien.  It  has  become  so  common  since,  that  the  originality  and  boldness  of 
Howard's  course  are  not  fully  appreciated.  Prior  to  that  time,  the  appeal  of  all  social 
reformers  had  been  to  scholars,  philosophers,  statesmen.  Howard  addressed  the  ordi- 
nary intelligence  of  tradesmen  and  the  great  middle  class.  He  did  not  shoot  an  inch 
above  their  heads,  and  still  less  above  their  hearts.  The  narrative  form  <(>f  his  book 
adapted  it  to  its  end,  and  nothing  but  its  cumbrous  size  and  cost  prevented  it  from  a 
still  wider  circulation. 

Such  self-denial,  sucli  purity  of  purpose,  such  self-subsistent  efforts  as  Howard's  oould 
not  but  give  an  apostolic  cliaracter  to  his  reputation,  disarm  criticism,  and  almost  place 
him  and  his  work  outside  the  common  arena  of  judgment.  It  is  not  too  much  to  say 
that  his  personal  character,  as  exhil)ited  in  his  work,  was  itself  almost  a  now  revelation 
of  humanity  ;  and  so  moved  and  amazed  England,  that  the  suggestions  and  wishes  of 
such  a  working  saint  uec(lc,d  hardly  any  sujiport  except  its  own  sublime  simplicity  and 
nii])arallcle(l  <lfV(>tii>n.  Martyrs  dying  in  the  cause  of  religion  tlie  world  had  kirown, 
and  soon  faileil  to  reverence.  '  But  saints  living  through  labors  and  dangers  and  sacri- 
fices Hindi  as  Howard  encountered,  to  soften  the  lot  of  the  most  degraded  and  oi)probri- 
ourt  class  of  human  beings — felons  and  murderers,  thieves  and  robbers — and  that  with- 
out regard  to  country,  race,  creed,  color,  and  at  no  possible  advantage  to  himself — at 
liis  own  risk  and  cost,  and  without  any  warrant  or  authority  but  his  own  will :  this  liad 
iriade  an  impnssidn  on  the  English  public  which  was  uniiiue,  complete,  ami  without 
deduction.  And  it  is  no  wonder  lliat  Howard's  woik,  though  its  circulation  was  neces- 
sarily limited,  Hhould,  liy  liie  nid  of  citationH  in  the  ])ublic  press,  have  cnsitcd  what 
ca;nc,  aa  near  uh  the  condilicni  of  England  then  allowed,  to  a  universal  interest. 

The  concliidiiig  |»aragr;ipl.is  of  J)r.  P)i'llows's  address  contain  what 
may  be  calFcd  ;it  (nice  a  (•(Hiii);uison  and  a  (contrast  bet\ve<'n  two  of  the 
most  eniiiH'iit  ;iiid  iriiiaik;il)l('  iikmi  of  the  eighteenth  century,  lie 
HJiys  : 

There  are  two  diaractcrs  belonging  to  tin-  last  century  who  may  be  said  in  did'er- 
ent  way8  to  have  left  a  stronger  imjiression  ou  the  world  than  any  other  two  men  of 


JOHN    IIOWAKD  S    LIFE    AXD    SERVICES.  19d 

tlwMr  time,  wlio  were  not  connected  with,  political,  scientific,  economic,  or  literary 
nlfairs;  both  Englishmen,  both  cosmopolites,  and  both  originators  of  movements  that 
have  swept  over  the  whole  face  of  the  earth,  and  drawn  the  admiration  and  Hymi)athy 
of  anccessive  generations  to  their  respective  uudertakiugs  ;  both  men  wiiose  influence 
continues  and  increases,  and  who  have  taken  their  places  among  the  ]>(^rmanent  orna- 
ments and  benefactors  of  their  race  :  John  Wesley  and  John  Howard.  Wesley  the  elder 
was  born  in  1703  and  died  in  1791.  Howard  was  born  in  1726  and  died  171)6,  one  year 
only  before  bis  great  contemporary.  They  resembled  each  other  even  in  person,  both 
being  men  of  light  weight,  spare,  under-sized,  and  of  ascetic  and  self-denying  habits. 
15oth  were  men  unconformed  to  the  world,  and  living  habitually  in  view  of  another 
state  of  being;  both  intensely  religious  and  Christian  in  faitli  and  temper;  both  eaten 
up  with  a  zeal  for  the  welfare  of  their  fellow-creatui-es ;  both  self-subsist<!nt  and  self- 
relying  men,  so  far  as  dependence  on  human  sympathy  is  concerned.  Both  were  men 
of  immense  powers  of  work,  who  never  spared  themselves  when  personal  sacrifices  of 
ease,  sleep,  food,  society,  friendship,  could  advance  their  unselfish  aims.  Both  pos- 
sessed iintlinchiug  courage,  and  met  the  prejudices,  passions,  and  perils  of  unpopular 
<'auses,  and  of  rude  and  violent  classes,  with  the  firmest,  calmest,  and  most  controlling 
will.  Both  were  equally  marked  by  invincible  convictions,  a  single  and  undeviating 
aim,  an  indomitable  resolution  which  success  could  not  intoxicate  nor  opposition  tame. 
Both  were  practical  men  of  great  executive  ability,  aiming  at  clear  and  definite  ends, 
with  clear-cut  purposes,  and  little  embarrassed  by  speculative  misgivings,  self-distrust, 
or  deference  to  others'  opinions.  Both  relied  mainly  upon  their  own  personal  judg- 
ment, their  own  personal  exertions,  their  own  self-sacrificing  spirit  and  labors  for  then- 
success.  Both  were  intensely  protestant  in  their  principles  and  intensely  papal  in 
their  sense  of  infallibility — men  who  could  only  lead,  not  follow  ;  govern,  not  obey. 
Both  were  wholly  consecrated  to  their  aims,  above  the  temptations  of  riches  and 
liouoi-s  ;  holding  jiomp,  place,  ostentation,  ease,  money,  applause,  in  contempt,  and 
freely  spending  all  they  possessed  or  created,  at  the  service  of  the  needy.  They  both 
lived  on  horseback,  and  were,  iu  an  age  of  obstructed  intercourse,  ubiquitous — travel- 
ing by  night  and  by  day,  with  a  speed  practically  equal  to  that  which  even  modern 
facilities  afford  to  8elf-in<lulgent  travelers ;  careering  through  these  three  kingdoms, 
and  into  the  remotest  parts  of  the  islands,  in  a  way  to  make  themselves  equally  at 
home  in  city  and  hamlet,  among  the  rich  and  the  poor. 

Wesley  is  computed  to  have  journeyed  a  quarter  of  a  million  of  miles  on  his  volim- 
tary  itineracy,  chiefly  on  horseback;  and  Howard  probably  traveled  in  the  same 
way,  iu  a  life  twenty  years  shorter,  half  as  far.  But  what  he  lacke<l  iu  miles  was 
made  up  in  the  varietj^  of  the  countries  he  visited,  the  scope  of  the  circuits  he  made, 
the  character  of  the  obstacles  and  perils  he  encountered,  and  the  solitary  nature  of  his 
pursuits.  Considering  that  his  public  work  was  confined  within  sixteen  years,  was 
begun  iu  middle  life,  and  ended  at  the  natural  period  of  human  existence,  he  perhaps 
exceeded  iu  the  intensity  of  his  labors  aufl  sacrifices,  for  the  time  he  was  engaged  in  it, 
any  ef|ual  period  in  Wesley's  laborious  life.  But  Wesley  began  his  work  at  twenty-aix, 
and  continued  it  to  eighty-eight,  with  almost  ecjual  spirit  and  activity  from  the  be- 
ginning to  the  close — an  unexampled  miracle  of  toil  and  persistency. 

Wesley  eucouutered  personal  passions,  hatred,  scorn,  violence,  ignorance,  and  con- 
tempt;  was  pelted  with  stones  and  garbage,  with  lampoons  and  polemic  .abuse;  had 
knives  and  pistols  drawn  upon  him  ;  encountered  mobs  and  soldiery  ;  was  in  frequent 
<larig(.'r  of  his  life.  Howard  faced  dangers  more  fearful  to  brave  men  :  jail-fever,  pest- 
ilence, plague,  aud  the  apathy  of  all  the  best  portion  of  society.  Mobs  aud  persecution 
might  have  su}q)orted  his  courage  by  the  anger  and  defiance  they  rouse,  but  he  needed 
no  such  stimulants.  He  was  brave,  without  witnesses  or  visible  enemies,  without  ex- 
citement or  organized  opposition  ;  not  braver  than  Wesley,  for  who  could  be?  but  as 
brave  under  more  depressing  circumstances.  Wesley's  weapon  was  his  tongue,  cloven 
with  the  dame  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  With  it  alone  he  carved  his  way  through  all  oppo- 
sition, calnnng  tumultuous  mobs  with  its  spell;  subduing  violent  aud  wicked  spirits 
with  its  divine  meekness  aud  power,  aud  converting,  like  the  fii'st  apostles,  thousands 
in  a  day.  And  wliat  his  never-silent  nor  weary  tongue  did  not  accomplish,  his  ever- 
active  pen  did— keen,  plain,  with  less  ink  and  more  blood  in  it  than  any  pen  that  ever 
wrote  so  much — a  pen  that  uttered  things,  not  words,  terse,  nuornamented,  wholly  to 
the  purpose,  vigorous,  aud  decisive.  Howard  had  no  cunning  in  his  tongue  nor  in  his 
pen  ;  not  a  man  of  thought  nor  of  words,  but  a  man  of  action  ;  his  weapon  was  an 
eye  to  see,  to  search,  to  penetrate  to  the  very  bottom,  to  pursue  into  every  hiding- 
]dace  the  evil  and  curse  that  had  aroused  his  mingled  sense  of  justice  and  humanity. 
He  hunted  down  the  prison  wrongs  of  the  world  with  the  chivalric  devotion  of  a 
8i>anish  knight  or  the  spirit  of  Sir  Lancelot  in  solitary  pursuit  of  the  H(dy  Grail. 
He  collected  facts  Avith  the  zeal,  the  labor,  and  the  patience  of  a  modern  Darwin,  in 
S(ditary  explorations  in  distant  countries  whose  tongues  he  did  not  sjieak,  and  from 
the  deepest  dungeons,  the  most  poisoned  plague-spots,  the  dreariest  aiul  most  hateful 
holes,  in  which  the  moral  and  social  fungi,  whose  natural  history  he  sought,  were  to 
be  studied  and  described.     Slow  aud  deliberate,  cautious  aud  intent,  he  spared  no 

H.  Ex.  185 13 


194  INTERXATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

paius,  ho  shnuued  no  dangers,  he  h^ft  nntiirued  no  stoiie,  he  hurried  to  no  conclusion  ; 
he  repeated  his  observations,  examined  and  re-examined  his  facts;  and  then,  without 
art,  circumlocution,  rhetoric,  or  self-display,  mainly  by  the  aid  of  others,  laid  them 
calmly  before  the  little  world  who  then  read  books,  and  left  them  to  work  their  effects. 
Wesley  was  an  organizer  of  the  first  order.  He  knew  how  to  win,  how  to  hold,  and 
how  to  use  other  men.  Solitary  in  plan  and  purpose,  he  was  eminently  social  in 
method  and  co-operative  in  means.  He  builded  as  fast  as  he  collected  materials.  It 
was  no  disembodied,  uninstituted  work,  the  diffusion  of  ideas  as  a  spirit,  that  occupied 
his  formative  and  shaping  brain.  He  was  a  churchman  in  every  fiber,  and  he  aimed 
at  visible,  methodic  ends — the  great  methodist,  who  swept  thousands  of  the 
ablest  and  most  earnest  souls  of  his  generation  into  the  ranks  of  his  cause,  or- 
ganized them  with  an  almost  military  drill,  uuiformed  them  with  precise  opinions, 
ba<lgedtheiu  with  similar  phrases  and  methods,  and  left  them  a  distinct  corps  in  the 
church  militant,  with  a  polity  of  their  own,  to  make  conquest  at  last  of  twelve  millions 
of  people,  who  are  destined  to  multiply  into  scores  of  millions  before  the  life  Wesley 
gave  them  lias  found  any  superseding  rival  or  absorbent.  Howard  was  a  prophet,  and 
not  a  priest ;  a  prophet  of  action,  no  organiser,  no  founder;  an  impulse  ;  an  example  ; 
an  alarm-bell :  a  trumpet  heard  in  the  night.  He  was  a  sort  of  John  the  Baptist,  his  meat 
locusts  and  wild  honey,  crying  in  the  wilderness,  repent,  repent.  Solitary,  difficult 
to  work  with,  and  wholly  lonely  in  labors  and  in  aims,  he  built  up  no  work,  he  laid 
the  foundations  of  no  scheme,  he  became  the  architect  of  no  system.  But  he  drew  the 
attention  of  the  world  and  fastened  it  upon  the  cruelties,  the  inefficiency,  and  the  in- 
humane and  unchristian  character  of  the  dark  prison  territory.  Nay,  by  his  exalted 
devotion,  the  noiseless  enthusiasm  of  his  labors,  the  purity  and  intensity  of  his  zeal, 
his  absolute,  uncalculating  humanity,  he  made  his  name  not  only  a  landmark  but  an 
inextinguishable  voice,  which  has  ever  since  sounded  through  tbe  nations,  demand- 
ing attention  to  prisoners'  rights  and  claims.  He  who  can  thus  gild  bis  own  name  with 
mercy  and  truth,  until  it  shines  over  all  lands  with  the  glory  of  an  nusetting  constel- 
lation, who  can  turn  its  very  letters  and  syllables  into  a  universal  language,  until  it 
becomes  a  spell,  a  synonym  for  humanity,  a  rally  for  the  prisoner's  relief,  has  joined 
the  small  company  o£  the  immortals  in  human  history,  and  is  among  the  saints,  apostles. 
martyrs,  who  stand  nearest  to  the  Head  of  the  glorious  company  in  heaven. 


CHAPTER    XXIX. 


THE   PRISON   OF   GHENT. 


M.  xVuouste  Visscbers,  a  jurist  and  pliilanthropist  of  great  distiuctioii 
aud  ability,  wa.s  one  of  live  comniis.sioners  named  by  tbe  government  to 
represent  Jielgiuni  in  tlie  congress  of  London.  Forbidden  by  bis  pbysi- 
cian,  on  account  of  tbe  state  of  bis  bealtb,  to  leave  bome  at  tbe  time  of 
tbe  meeting  of  tiie  congress,  be  communicated  in  print  a  paper  entitled, 
"Notice  relating  to  tbe  construction  of  tbe  i)rison  of  Ghent,  decreed  by 
the  States  of  Flanders  in  1771,  and  to  the  two  memoirs  drawn  up  by  tbe 
Viscount  J.  P.  Vilain  XIV,  on  tbe  subject  of  tbe  establishment  of  the 
said  '  prison  in  1771-1775,  followed  by  some  considerations  on  the 
l)rogress  and  development  of  tbe  ])enitentiary  system."  No  more  inter- 
esting or  instructive  paper  was  olfi'rcd  to  the  congress,  yet,  by  some 
unaccountable  ov<'rsight — for  certaiidy  there  could  have  been  no  sucb 
design — it  does  not  appear,  nor  is  any  allnsion  made  to  it,  in  tbe  volume 
of  Transactions  IssiumI  l)y  order  of  the  ixnly  and  cditcil  by  its  secretary, 
I'Mwin  iN'ars,  «'S(|.,  under  tin;  supervision  of  an  I'higlisli  committee  ap- 
pointed for  that  purpose.  For  this  icason,  and  beeausi^  of  tlu^  exceed- 
ingly inteicsting  e,haraet<-r  of  tiie  information  (>lfered  by  I\I.  V'issehers 
in  liis  hist«uieal  e.ssiiy,  information  so  honorable  to  his  country  and  to 
oiH^  of  its  eminent  citizens,  tin*,  undi-rsigned  has  deemed  it  lit  and  desir- 
able, to  give  in  the  present  chapter  a  somewhat  extended  sunimary  of 
its  ("ontents. 

."M.  X'issclicrs  ilivides  his  paper  into  scacu  seel  ions,  or,  as  he  names 
tliem,  cliaptcrs,  each  trc.itiii;',  of  a  spccia!  department  ol'  his  subject. 


THE    PRISON    OF    GHENT.  195 

The  first  section  treats  of  the  state  of  society  in  the  Belgian  provinces, 
near  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century,  and  of  the  imperfection  of 
its  repressive  hiws.  The  author  says  that  at  this  time  the  whole  of 
Europe  was  desolated  by  the  scourge  of  innumerable  mendicants  and 
vagrants,  a  scourge  which  the  laws  and  customs  rather  encouraged 
than  repressed.  That  enlightened  and  able  Empress,  Maria  Theresa, 
moved  by  this  state  of  things,  sought  to  introduce  remedial  measures 
more  eflective  than  those  previously  employed,  A  letter  of  Prince 
Charles  of  Lorrain,  governor-general  of  the  Austrian  low  countries, 
dated  August  2,  1705,  called  the  attention  of  the  privy  council  to  the 
abuses  existing  in  the  administr.ition  of  criminal  justice,  and  particularly 
to  the  iuefficacy  of  the  punishments  of  whipping,  branding,  and  banish- 
ment for  the  repression  of  crimes.  M.  de  Eierlant  resumed  the  discus- 
sion of  these  questions  in  the  session  of  the  privy  council  of  April  13, 
1771.  He  denounced  infamous  and  torturing  punishments,  and  advo- 
cated, instead,  the  immediate  establishment  of  houses  of  correction,  de- 
claring that  people  without  honor  could  not  be  restrained  by  the  fear  of 
infamy  ;  that  neither  the  scaflbld,  nor  the  scourge,  nor  the  branding- 
iron  could  ever  put  an  end  to  disorders  which  had  their  source  in  a  dis- 
like of  work,  and  that  the  only  means  of  correcting  the  indolent  and 
the  idle  was  to  compel  them  to  labor.  M.  Visschers  cites  two  state  papers 
of  the  Empress  Maria  Theresa,  honorable  alike  to  her  intelligence  and 
her  humanity,  in  which  she  recommends  the  gradual  abolishment  of 
capital  punishment,  except  in  cases  of  atrocious  crime,  and  the  estab- 
lishment of  correctional  prisons  to  take  the  place  of  these  punishments. 
He  mentions  also  another  letter  of  Prince  Charles  of  Lorraine,  under 
date  of  May  11, 1772,  pressing  the  work  of  building  the  prison  at  Ghent, 
agreeably  to  the  plan  of  the  Viscount  Vilain,  with  separate  cells  for  each 
prisoner,  that  it  might  serve  as  a  model  and  an  incitement  to  the  other 
provinces. 

The  second  section  touches  briefly  on  the  principal  events  in  the  life, 
as  well  as  on  the  more  important  writings,  of  the  founder  of  the  house 
of  correction  of  Ghent,  the  Viscount  J.  P.  Vilain.  Born  at  Ghent  in  the 
year  1712,  this  great  man  passed  through  all  the  gradations  of  public 
honor  and  responsibility  in  his  native  country,  ever  showing  himself 
able,  wise,  and  faithful,  and  closed  a  career,  at  once  useful  and  illus- 
trious, in  1777,  at  the  age  of  sixty-five  years.  His  works  were  chiefly 
memoirs  or  essays  on  finance,  economics,  and  penitentiary  science,  all  of 
a  practical  character,  all  marked  by  broad  common  sense  and  a  keen  in- 
sight, and  all  intended  to  promote  the  highest  interest  and  welfare  of 
the  state. 

Section  third  enters  into  the  heart  of  the  subject,  giving  a  most  inter- 
esting resume  of  the  two  memoirs  of  the  Viscount  Vilain,  in  1771  and 
1775,  for  the  construction  and  internal  arrangement  of  the  house  of  cor- 
rection. The  first  presents  the  basis  on  which  the  new  establishment 
was  to  be  founded.  The  second  is  mainly  taken  up  with  setting  forth 
the  rules  and  regulations  of  the  house.  In  the  former  the  viscount 
maintains  that  mendicity  and  vagrancy  are  encouraged  and  fostered  by 
the  hospitals  and  alms-houses  intended  for  their  relief  and  prevention, 
and  that  they  form  the  seed-plot  and  nursery  of  theft  and  robbery.  Of 
61,081  j)aupers  then  found  in  Flanders,  exclusive  of  the  cities,  fully  one- 
half  were  able-bodied  mendicants,  imposters,  vagabonds,  wandering  from 
village  to  village  and  committing  all  sorts  of  spoliations  upon  the  honest 
peoi»le  of  the  country.  He  says  that  for  such  offenses  there  were  no  pun- 
ishments between  fines  and  tortures,  and  asks  why  it  would  not  be  bet- 
ter to  make  of  these  sturdy  beggers  workmen  useful  to  the  public  before 


196  INTERNATIONAL    PP:NITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

they  became  criminals.  He  then  examines  the  question  of  cost,  and 
concliules  that  the  proposed  house  of  correction  would  be  an  economic 
measure  as  compaied  with  the  expenses  of  justice  and  the  losses  occa- 
sioned by  the  spoliators. 

The  proposition  received  the  assent  of  the  states  of  Flanders  and  of 
the  Empress  Maria  Theresa.  It  was  determined,  according  to  the 
recommendations  of  the  viscount's  report,  that  there  should  be  a  sepa- 
rate \Yard  for  able-bodied  mendicants,  a  second  for  women,  a  third  for 
laborers  oirt  of  employment  who  desired  work,  and  a  fourth  for  the 
children  of  paupers.  It  was  ordained,  not  only  that  there  should  be  a 
separate  establishnient  for  each  of  these  classes,  but  that  each  indi- 
vidual should  be  confined  separately  at  night.  The  first  three  wards, 
radiating  from  a  common  center,  were  erected  in  the  year  1772-1773, 
and  provisional  regulations  for  the  discipline  were  decreed  in  February, 
1773;  but  the  general  opening  did  not  take  place  till  May,  1775. 

After  two  years'  experience  the  Viscount  Vilain  presented  to  the  states 
his  second  memoir,  in  1775.  The  first  was  intended  to  i)repare  for  the 
creation  of  the  establishment,  the  second  to  consolidate  it.  In  it  he 
remarks  that  the  punishments  inflicted  on  the  bandits  who  caused  the 
honest  laborer  to  tremble — exile,  whipping,  branding — effected  no  im- 
provement in  them,  and  were  a  remedy  lor  nothing.  The  offenders 
rather  grew  worse.  He  believed  it  would  be  preferable  to  change  these 
jmnishmeuts  to  correctional  imprisonment.  There  was,  however,  a 
]>eril  to  which  the  new  experiment  was  exposed,  that  might  prove 
disastrous;  it  was  that  of  having  too  great  a  number  at  the  beginning. 
Provision  was  made  against  this  danger  by  the  resolution  to  receive 
only  a  limited  number,  and  to  increase  it  when  the  first  comers  should 
be  relbrmed  and  inured  to  labor. 

The  fourth  section  describes  the  plan  and  interior  division  of  the 
house  of  correction  of  Ghent.  The  general  plan  was  that  of  wings 
radiating  from  oiie  center,  five  of  wliich  were  completed  in  1775  and 
the  renuiining  three  not  until  1827.  The  first  wing  on  the  left,  as  you 
enter,  was  alone  at  that  time  used  as  a  prison  for  criminals.  The 
secoiul  was  occuj^ied  by  able-bodied  beggars,  misdemeanants,  and  dis- 
orderly persons.  Tiie  third  was  aj)i)r()]>rialed  to  girls  and  women.  The 
other  two  were  destined  to  the  reception  of  i)ersons  in  want  of  work 
and  to  the  children  of  paupers  received  on  fouiulations  or  scholarships. 
Each  wing  had  four  stories,  with  stairs  and  the  necessary  private 
entrances.  The  whole  structure  was  surrounded  by  an  inclosing  wall. 
Each  ])risom'r  was  confined  in  a  separate  (!ell  at  night.  The  crinunals' 
wing  liad  two  liiiiuired  and  eighty-four  cells,  eacli  seven  feet  long  and 
five  and  a  hall'  wich'.  They  weie  all  of  the  same  form  and  ])ro])ortions, 
and  ail])rovided  with  the  same  fuinilurc,  viz:  a  bed  six  and  a  half  feet 
long  and  two  and  a  half  i'cvt  wide,  a  ])ailliisse,  a  mattress,  a  i)illow,  a 
])air  of  sheets,  and  two  blaid^cts  in  winter  and  oiu'-  in  sunuuer.  They 
wer<!  also  ])i<)\id('<l  with  a  vessel,  a  small  bench,  a  hinge-table,  and  a 
closet  in  which  tli<^  juisoners  kept  their  criccts.  The  grouiul-lloor  was 
occupied  i»artly  by  the  work-sliojts  and  partly  by  dark  cells  for  the 
])unishnient  of  faults  against  discipline. 

On  the  first  story  was  the  kit<;hen,  with  its  adjuncts.  The  lefectory, 
wliich  was  (H)ntiguous  to  it,  was  one  huiulred  an<l  twenty  feet  long  and 
twenty-six  feet  wide;  eighteen  tables  might  be  spread  in  it,  with  twenty 
covers  each. 

in  the,  chajtel  iKljoiiiiiig  llic  icCectoi'v  nmis  celebrjitcd,  Sundays  and 
fe;isl(lays,  di\  ine  scixiee,  ;it  which   all    llie   pi  isoneis   were  re(iuire<l  to 


THE    PRISON    OF    GHENT.  197 

be  present,  as  well  as  at  tbe  sermon,  and  at  daily  prayers  morning  and 
evening. 

The  second  structnre,  designed  for  able-bodied  beggars  and  prisoners 
sentenced  for  minor  offenses,  was  built  and  arranged  in  tbe  same  man- 
ner, with  separate  cells  for  two  hundred  and  tifty. 

The  third  wing,  appropriated  to  young  girls  and  women,  was  of  the 
same  dimensions,  containing  eight  large  apartments  twenty-two  by 
sixteen  feet,  and  forty  smaller  ones,  ten  and  a  half  feet  in#  length  by 
eight  and  three-quarters  in  breadth.  The  refectory  for  the  women  was 
of  tlie  same  proportions  as  that  for  the  criminal  men. 

Tlie  tvA^o  remaining  wings,  and  the  three  still  to  be  constructed  in 
order  to  complete  the  octagon,  had  a  destination  which  attested  the 
breadth  of  the  views  which  presided  over  the  conception  of  the  plan. 
For  the  realization  of  the  end  proposed,  it  was  expected  that  there  would 
be  a  foundation  of  four  hundred  to  five  hundred  scholarships,  yielding 
annually  GO  llorijis  each.  Already  the  states  of  Flanders  had  resolved 
to  contribute  to  this  foundation  by  establishing  twenty  scholarships.  It 
was  proposed  to  establish  in  the  house  of  correction  schools  for  the 
children  of  the  poor  and  for  apprentices  in  general,  who,  for  want  of 
sufficient  means,  were  unable  to  acquire  the  knowledge  of  trades. 

The  broad  views  and  large-hearted  humanity  of  tlie  Viscount  Vilain 
are  shown  in  his  declaration  that  "  this  establishment  ought  to  be  looked 
upon  by  the  public  as  a  school  or  nursery  of  arts  and  trades  for  the  re- 
lief of  the  really  poor,  who,  deprived  of  resources  sufficient  to  supi)ort 
their  children,  are, obliged  to  let  them  languish  in  idleness  and  to  make 
of  them  beggars,  who,  as  a  consequence,  become  onerous  to  the  public 
and  useless  to  the  state," 

To  encourage  this  plan,  the  Empress  decreed  "that  those  who  shall 
become  most  capable  as  workmen,  shall  be  received  into  the  trade-cor- 
porations of  the  towns  of  Flanders  which  they  shall  find  convenient  to 
their  locality,  without  charges- of  any  kind,  and  without  being  subjected 
to  years  of  apprenticeship,  but  only  to  the  x>roduction  of  a  trial-piece, 
and  that,  in  addition,  they  shall  enjoy  the  rights  of  citizenship  {bourge- 
oisie) without  expense  or  formalities,  in  the  towns  where  they  shall  be- 
come members  of  the  trade-corporations,''' 

The  author  of  the  memoir  i)laced  his  supreme  reliance  upon  this  mode 
of  encouraging  labor ;  he  sought  to  prevent  crime  by  combating  idle- 
ness. Private  citizens  had  already  announced  their  intention  to  found 
scholarships  for  the  benefit  of  prisoners  of  this  establishment ;  and,  with 
a  view  to  insure  its  success,  the  great  Queen  Empress  had  exhorted  the 
bishops,  the  abbots,  the  spiritual  corporations — in  a  word,  all  her  sub- 
jects— to  lend  their  aid  in  a  project  so  excellent  and  useful. 

In  the  fifth  section  M.  Yisschers  treats  of  the  administration  of  the 
prison,  its  discipline,  and  the  management  of  its  industries.  The  ad- 
ministration was  confided,  under  the  general  direction  of  the  states  of 
Flanders  and  the  special  protection  of  the  Empress,  to  a  college  of  gov- 
ernors, composed  of  three  deputies  of  the  assembly  of  the  states,  one 
jurist,  two  notables,  and  four  merchants.  The  Viscount  Vilain  was 
made  a  member  of  the  college.  The  police  and  discipline  of  the  estab- 
lishment, and  the  reception,  lodging,  and  conduct  of  the  prisoners,  were 
directed  by  officers  who  had  under  their  orders  various  agents,  and 
were  themselves  subject  to  the  instructions  of  the  dei)uties  of  the  prov- 
ince. The  management  of  the  industries  was  confided  to  a  director  of 
manufactures,  who  had  under  him  a  number  of  foremen,  and  was  him- 
self guided  by  the  rules  and  resolutions  of  the  college  of  governors.  An 
accountant  kept  the  books.     A  surgeon  was  attached  to  the  house.     A 


198    *^  INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

cbaplaiu  bad  Lis  residence  iu  the  establisluiient.  Tbe  Viscount  Vilaia 
says  in  his  memoir  :  "  Eeligiou  is  not  neglected  in  the  prison  ;  it  is  even 
made  one  of  tbe  objects  of  attention,  and  is  never  lost  sight  of.  The  change 
of  manner,  the  quietness  and  submission  of  the  prisoners,  and  their  ex- 
emplary observance  of  tbe  duties  of  piety  assure  us  of  the  impression 
which  has  been  nuide  on  the  minds  of  many  by  pious  exhortations  and 
the  word  of  God.'' 

No  priscyier  was  received  except  upou  previous  notice,  given  at  least 
forty-eight  hours  in  advance,  and  on  tbe  production  of  an  authentic 
copy  of  tbe  sentence  of  tbe  judge  or  of  the  decree  of  commutation  of 
afflictive  punishments  to  imprisonment.  At  first  no  convict  was  ad- 
mitted who  was  not  able  to  work  and  to  learn  a  trade. 

Tbe  viscount  gives  formulas  for  keeping  tbe  registers  relating  to  tbe 
general  state  of  the  prisoners,  the  trades  at  which  they  worked,  and  the 
product  of  their  labor.  A  special  register  shoiced  the  amount  helonfjivg  to 
each  2)rhoner  of  his  share  of  his  earnings.  Instructions,  are  set  down  for 
the  management  of  tlie  hospital  and  tbe  care  to  be  given  to  the  sick. 
A  regulation  of  the  20th  March,  1773,  decreed  by  tlje  Empress,  fixed 
everything  relating  to  tbe  maintenance  of  good  order  and  discipline. 

Que  of  the  articles  of  this  decree  deserves  to  be  cited  at  length,  as 
showing  at  once  the  progress  of  humanity  and  tbe  impossibility  of 
wholly  escaping  the  influence  of  tbe  ideas  and  usages  of  the  times. 
Article  26  reads  thus : 

As  regards  the  police  of  tLe  prisou,  we  reserve  it  for  a  separate  regulation,  but  iu  tlio 
mean  time  we  declare  that  tbe  directors,  who  sbail  be  placed  over  tbe  police,  will  not 
be  permitted  to  iullict  upon  any  prisoner  graver  punishment  than  that  of  confinement 
for  two  days  on  bread  and  water ;  and  in  case  the  offense  merit  a  more  severe  correc- 
tion, they  shall  report  it  to  the  tirst  meeting  of  the  administrators,  who,  on  their  part, 
will  be  allowed  to  prescribe  only  correctional  puuishmeuts,  snclv  as  bein»  tied  for  some 
hours  to  a  post,  to  receive  some  hJoivs  wilh  a  stick,  which  shall  not  exceed  twenty-five, 
or  of  being  confined  for  a  moderate  time  in  a  ribbed  prison— that  is,  on  a  floor  with  sharp 
edges,  {duns  nne  prison  a  cotes,  sur  im  plancher  a  aretes  vives) — or  for  a  few  days  in  an 
ordinary  jirison  on  bread  and  water. 

Article  27  also  contains  a  remarkable  provision,  and  one  which  must 
have  been  very  sensibly  felt  by  tbe  prisoners  when  the  time  for  their 
liberation  came : 

Every  prisoner  who,  by  lesolution  of  the  administrators,  shall  have  been  confined  in 
a  ribbed  prison,  shall  remain,  for  each  time  that  lie  shall  have  be;m  so  punished,  eight 
days  in  the  prison  beyond  his  term. 

(3n  this  the  Viscount  Vilain  ])ei"tiiieut]y  inquires  whotber,  conversely, 
justice  does  not  also  icquire  tiiat  tlu^  inisoncr  who  siiall  bave  strictly 
observed  tbe  ruU'S  an<l  regulations  be  rewarded  therefor;  whether  it 
is  not  just  tbat  he  mIio  has  shown  zeal  and  exactness  in  tbe  fulillment 
of  liis  duties,  wbo  has  labored  to  reform  his  manners,  and  has  mastered 
a  trade  tbat  will  insure  him  an  honest  living,  should  not  be  sooner  re 
Htored  1o  liberty.  If  bad  conduct  prolongs,  ought  not  good  conduct 
to  aljridge  bis  imprisonment"?     The  viscount  adds: 

Tlie  hope  of  sliortcning  his  captivity  would  be  of  the  greatest  service  lo  liim  ;  it 
woiild  be  a  strong  modvtj  to  industry  and  good  order;  it  woidd  tend  to  beget  and 
elwrixli  in  ]jim  a.  love  of  work;  and  it  would  certainly  be  a  nuNins  of  inii)roving  the 
discipline. 

\'ihiin  liebl  and  prochiiiiicd  I  be  soiiiKlcst  opinions  regarding  tbe  dura- 
tion of  inq)ris()niii('iits  ;ind  the  ntt(U'  wortbicssness  of  short  detentions 
as  an  agent  of  relbrm.     Jle  says : 

Tho  admlMlHtratiou  will  please  observe  that  the  (crin  of  six  montlis  is  too  short  to 
reform   cri.ninals  and   train   them  to  tlw  love  ;iiul   priicticcor  iiidiistiy.     These  short- 


THE    PELSON    OF    GHENT.  1S9 

term  prisoners  set  a  bad  example  to  tbo  others.  They  say  that  it  is  uot  worth  the 
trouble  of  beginniuf^-  an  apprenticeship;  and  all  their  thought  is  directed  to  the  termi- 
nation of  their  iniprisounuiut,  that  they  may  again  return  to  a  life  of  idleness. 

These  considerations  lead  him  to  the  conclusion  that  the  niiuiiuum  of 
imprisonment  should  be  Hxed  at  a  year.     On  the  other  side,  he  says : 

A  life-sentence  reduces  convicts  to  despair.  Deprived  of  hope,  they  are  indifferent 
alike  to  reforuuition  and  labor,  and  tliey  turn  their  attention  only  to  schemes  of  escape 
or  revolt.  Since  we  have  not  ^een  fit  to  deprive  them  of  life,  why  should  we  seek  to 
make  it  insupportable  to  them?  Why  not  hsave  them  the  hope  of  re-enteriiiff  society 
after  expiating-  their  crimes  and  rendering  themselves  worthy  by  assiduous  labor  and 
a  genuine  repentance? 

The  viscount,  in  his  memoir,  enters  into  the  further  inquiry  whether, 
by  the  labor  of  the  prisoners,  the  establishment  may  not  be  made  self- 
supporting,  and  whether  this  same  labor  may  not  even  be  rendered  a 
source  of  profit  to  the  state  without  prejudice  to  free  labor  outside,  and, 
in  fine,  whether  the  establishment  of  the  house  of  correction  sufficiently 
answers  to  the  general  desire  of  the  ])ublic  and  to  the  end  proposed, 
which  is  to  dry  ui),  or  at  least  lessen,  the  sources  of  the  evil,  viz,  idle- 
ness and  vagrancy,  so  hurtful  to  the  repose  of  society.  He  insists,  above 
all,  on  the  necessity  of  establishing  in  the  house  of  correction  manufac- 
tures and  trades,  which  will  assure  to  the  prisoners  on  their  liberation 
the  means  of  an  honest  livelihood  by  their  own  labor.  The  aim  is  de- 
clared to  be  to  impart  a  love  of  work,  and  to  form  them  to  habits  of  in- 
dustry. 

Finally,  he  i)roposes  an  establishment  or  school,  under  the  name  of 
hospital — a  hospital  for  moral  rather  than  bodily  diseases — where  the 
children  of  the  poor  will  be  reared  and  maintained  in  labor  and  good 
manners.  The  state,  he  says,  is  too  much  interested,  has  too  deep  a 
stake,  in  the  extirpation  of  mendicity,  not  to  make  trial  of  this  supreme 
agency  to  that  end. 

In  his  sixth  section  M."  Visschers  has  collected  divers  honorable  testi- 
monies from  various  countries  attesting  the  merit  of  the  work  so  hap- 
pily accomplished  by  the  Viscount  Vilain.  Tlie  first  and  most  impor- 
tant is  that  of  the  great  English  philanthropist  Howard.  He  visited  the 
prison  in  ITTo-'TO,  and  iound  there  two  hundred  and  fifty  criminals — 
one  hundred  and  ninety-one  men  and  one  hundred  and  fifty-nine 
women.  Being  present  at  the  dinner  of  the  male  prisoners,  he  admired 
the  regularity,  decency,  and  order  with  which  everything  was  done  at 
the  word  of  the  director  ;  not  the  least  noise  or  wrangling  was  heard. 
He  remarks : 

This  assemblage  of  one  hundred  and  ninety  criminals,  robust  and  turbulent,  seems 
to  be  governed  with  greater  facility  and  less  confnsion  than  would  be  an  assemblage 
of  wise  and  educated  men  in  civil  society. 

Eight  small  chambers  or  dungeons  existed  at  that  time  for  the  punish- 
ment of  refractory  prisoners;  but  Howard  found  them  always  empty. 
He  visited  Ghent  again  in  1778.  "  I  then  saw,"  he  wrote,  "that  the 
establishment  was  managed  like  a  well-regulated  manufactory.  The 
prison  population  consisted  of  two  hundred  and  eighty  men  and  one 
hundred  and  seventy  women.  These  last  were  engaged  in  making  the 
clothing  necessary  for  the  house.  ]\Iost  of  them,  ranged  in  order,  were 
spinning,  knitting,  or  weaving,  all  attentive  to  their  work  and  perfectly' 
quiet.  There  was  given  to  all,  both  men  and  women,  one-fifth  of  their 
earnings.  The  specimens  of  cloth  made  there  proved  how  much  those 
are  mistaken  who  think  that  no  manufacture  can  be  useful  or  prosper- 
ous which  is  carried  on  by  hands  imprisoned  and  forced  to  labor." 

In  1781  he  found  the  same  care,  the  same  discipline,  the  same  dili- 


200  INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

.  gence,  aud  the  same  progressive  amelioration  of  the  prisoners.  There 
were  two  hundred  and  six  male  criminals,  one  hundred  and  six  male 
delinquents,  (including  sturdy  beggars,)  and  one  hundred  and  fifty 
women,  all  occupied  in  divers  manufactures  or  in  the  service  of  the 
establishment.  The  bread,  soup,  and  meat  were  of  good  quality  and  in 
abundance.  Everything  announced  the  care  and  vigilant  attention  of 
the  director. 

I  cannot  but  pause  here  for  a  moment  to  gather  up  and  i)resent  to 
the  admiration  of  all  who  read  these  pages  the  salient  features  of  this 
remarkable  experiment,  conceived,  inaugurated,  and  carried  out  to  a 
complete  success  by  Viscount  Vilain,  certainly  one  of  the  wisest  and 
most  gifted  statesmen  who  have  ever  contributed  by  the  light  and 
warmth  of  their  genius  to  the  progress  of  humanity.  Here  we  lind,  al- 
ready discovered  and  applied  a  century  ago,  nearly  all  the  great  prin- 
ciples which  the  world  even  to  day  is  but  slowly  and  painfully  seeking 
to  introduce  into  ])rison  management.  What  are  they  "?  lieformatiou, 
as  the  supreme  end  to  be  kept  in  view  ;  hope,  as  the  great  regenerative 
force  in  i)risons ;  industrial  labor,  as  another  of  the  vital  forces  to  be 
employed  to  the  same  end  ;  religious  and  scholastic  education  and  train- 
ing, as  a  third  force  belonging  to  the  same  category ;  abbreviation  of 
sentence  and  ])articipatiou  in  earnings  as  incentives  to  be  held  out  to 
prisoners  to  diligence,  good  touduct,  and  effort  at  self-improvement ; 
the  enlistment  of  the  will  of  the  criminal  in  the  work  of  his  own  moral 
regeneration — his  new  birth  to  a  respect  for  the  laws ;  the  introduction 
of  variety  of  trades  into  i)risons,  and  the  thorough  mastery  by  every 
prisoner  of  some  one  handicraft,  as  supplying  the  means  of  honest  sup- 
port after  discharge ;  the  use  of  the  law  of  love  and  kindness  as  an 
agent  of  prison  discipline,  to  the  exclusion,  as  far  as  possible,  of  the 
grosser  forms  of  force,  which  act  upon  the  will  mainly  through  the  body  ; 
the  utter  worthlessness  of  short  imprisonments,  and  the  absolute  neces- 
sity of  longer  terms,  even  for  minor  offenses,  as  the  sole  condition  of  the 
application  to  such  offenders  of  reformatory  processes;  and  the  care, 
education,  and  indnstiial  training  of  the  children  of  the  poor,  and  of 
other  children  addicted  to  vagrant  habits,  or  otherwise  in  i)eril  of 
falling  into  crime ;  an  anticipation,  in  essential  features  and  aims,  of 
the  industrial  school  and  Ju\'enile  reformatory  of  the  present  day. 

Howard  revisited  Ghent  in  ITSo,  but  tlie  jjiison  was  no  longer  what 
it  had  been.  The  I'imperor,  Joseph  II,  had  yielded  to  the  hostile  re]>- 
resentations  of  interested  persons,  wlio  claimed  that  the  prison  labor 
offered  an  unjust  competition  with  tree  labor  outside,  and  had  abolished 
the  system  of  labor  introduced  by  the  Viscount  Vilain  and  practised 
with  such  excelkMit  effect.  In  conse(iuence  of  this  action  of  tiie  Em- 
])eror,the  manufacture,  so  useful  and  tiouiishiiig,ha(l  been  <lestroyed,  the 
trades  al)and()iH'd,  the  tools  sold,  and  the  nobk'  views  of  the  founders  of 
the  lioiisc;  were,  ibr  the  time,  utterly  thwarted  and  overthrown.  IJnf  un- 
der tlie  ibstciing  care  (»f  tlie  hitci  able?  insjx'ctor-general  of  prisons  in  Bel- 
gium, lOdwaid  Ducpctiaux,  the  prison  of  (Iheiit  rej^ained  in  great  part 
its  former  chaiactcr. 

In  liissevenfli  section  M.  Visscheis  tracesbiielly  the  progress  of  prison 
discipliru^  during  the  hist  century,  and  gives  an  inter<\sting  rr,v/f/«J  of 
the  i)risoti  systrmsof  <lilfcnMit  <;ountries  at  the  present  time.  As  the  re- 
sult of  this  review,  lie  tlius  (\xpr(!ss(^s,  in  the  closing  sentences  of  his 
essay,  his  ]>refeien(;e  for  what  lias  become  widcily  known  as  the  Oroftou 
prison  system  : 

rroj^ti'HHiv«i  cliiHsiric'if  i(in,  with  fjr.'Khinl  amolioriitioii  of  Iho  priHoncM-'H  condiliioii  uiiil 
iiiif^iiiriitatitiii  of  till!  jicciiiiiury  jnolils  dcrivctl  IVoiii  lus  labor,  lias  lud  to  the  diHuovory 


PRISON    OF    GHENT DR.    DESPINE's    PAPER.  201 

of  a  new  and  fruitful  princiiile,  cmnlation.  On  one  side,  tlie  convict  dreads  the  conse- 
quences of  every  fault  against  discipline  wliich  would  degrade  bini  to  a  lower  class ; 
and,  on  the  other,  he  sees  the  means  of  gradually  iiuprovitig  his  lot  and  hastening,  per- 
chance, the  moment  of  his  liberation.  In  the  class  to  which  he  belongs,  he  has  seen 
such  and  such  comrades  in  toil,  who,  in  recompense  for  their  good  conduct  and  dili- 
gence, have  been  promoted  to  a  higher  class.  He  says  to  himself  that  it  depends  upon 
his  own  will,  upon  the  steadfastness  of  his  efforts,  to  arrive  at  the  same  result. 

Another  consideration  :  We  haveoltserved  how  nuich  deeper  is  the  impression  made 
by  the  divine  word  upon  the  heart  and  mind  of  prisoners  when  they  are  associated 
in  worship.     The  same  advantage  is  found  in  associated  scholastic  instruction. 

But  how  great  the  dilierence  for  the  convict,  who  must  one  day  re-enter  society,  to 
have  accjuired  the  knowledge  of  a  trade  and  to  have  labored  under  the  ordinary  con- 
ditions of  life!  It  is  a  labor  spirited,  active,  sustained  ;  while,  in  the  cell,  after  a  so- 
journ too  protracted,  the  convict  knows  only  sadness,  depression,  and  somnolence,  and 
loses  all  energy,  moral  and  physical.  If,  on  his  return  to  society,  he  must  encounter 
the  rough  competitions  of  labor,  if  life  itself  has  its  asperities,  will  he  be  better  pre- 
jjared  for  these  by  a  long  sequestration  ?  Shall  freedom  be  given  back  to  him  without 
any  tests  to  show  whether  he  is  able  to  bear  it,  or  worthy  to  obtain  it  f  Ought  not  soci- 
ety to  exact  guarantees  sufficient,  I  will  not  say  of  his  repentance,  but  of  his  good  con- 
duct, and  his  ability  to  henceforth  lead  an  honest  life  ? 

It  is  in  view^  of  the  happy  results  promised  by  the  system  inaugurated  in  Ireland  by 
Sir  Walter  Crofton,  and  now  introduced,  with  mo<lifieations,  into  the  convict-prisons  of 
England,  that  I  give  it  all  my  sympathies,  considering  the  ideas  which  belong  to  it  to 
be  as  wise  as  they  are  well  conceived. 

The  congress  which  is  about  to  assemble  will  listen  to  the  exposition  and  defense  of 
all  the  systems.  From  its  discussions  there  will  flash  a  living  light,  which  will  pene- 
trate two  hemispheres,  and  contribute,  no  doubt,*  to  elucidate  questions  which  too 
long  await  a  solution.  I  have  desired  to  recall  the  i)oiut  of  departui'e,  the  attempts 
made,  a  century  ago,  toward  the  reform  of  prisons  aud  the  regeueration  of  criminals. 
The  measures  taken  by  the  states  of  Flanders  in  1771,  under  the  inspiration  of  the  Vis- 
count Vilain,  for  the  construction  of  the  house  of  correction  of  Ghent,  were  marked  by 
a  wisdom  which  cannot  be  misunderstood — those  measures  which  have  borne  fruits, 
whose  excellence  was  recognized  even  by  contemporaries.  The  men  who  have  been 
benefactors  of  their  age  and  their  country  belong  to  all  nations  in  virtue  of  the  ties  of 
a  common  interest  which  unite  all  the  members  of  the  great  human  family.  Is  not 
the  approaching  reunion  of  the  congress  about  to  give  the  most  illustrious  example  of 
this  truth  ? 

Let  us  place  side  by  side  these  two  mehujrable  dates  of  1772  and  1872,  which  will  re- 
call to  our  successors  the  erection  of  the  fust  Penitentiary  and  the  meeting  of  the  great 
International  Penitentiary  Congress  ! 

NOTE. 

A  paper  of  masterly  ability  and  profouud  pliilosopbical  analysis  was 
sent  to  the  congress  by  Dr.  Prosper  Despine,  of  France,  on  the  crimi- 
nal himself,  of  which  only  a  short  and  imi^erfect  abstract  was  printed 
in  the  Transactions.  The  undersigned  thought  this  essay  of  such  excep- 
tional value,  because  of  its  great  originality  audfreshness,  and  still  more 
on  account  of  the  just  and  practical  views  embodied  in  it  and  the  scieu- 
titic  basis  on  which  it  seeks  to  build  all  prison  management,  that  he 
translated  and  read  it  in  the  Kational  Prison  Peform  Congress  of  Balti- 
more, held  since  the  International  Congress  of  London.  As  it  Avill  ap- 
pear in  full  in  the  ])roceedings  of  the  Baltimore  meeting,  no  fuither  no- 
tice of  it  need  be  given  here. 


PART    FOURTH. 

EESTTLTS  OF  THE  COMMISSIONER'S  PERSONAL  OBSERVATIONS 
AND  INQUIRIES  RELATING  TO  THE  PRISONS  AND  REFORMA- 
TORIES OF  EUROPE. 


INTEODUCTORY. 

Both  oil  his  visit  to  Europe  in  1871,  to  orgtiuize  the  Cougrcss  of  Lon- 
don, and  on  that  in  1872,  to  take  part  in  it,  the  undersigned  acted  in  a 
double  capacity,beiug'  at  once  commissioner  of  the  ISTatioual  Government 
and  of  the  National  Prison  Association  of  the  United  States,  and,  on  his 
second  visit,  being  still  further  honored  with  a  commission  from  the 
I)resident  of  Mexico  to  represent  the  government  of  that  country  in  the 
congress.  He  received,  on  the  eve  of  his  first  sailing,  the  following 
letter  of  instructions  from  the  Hon.  Horatio  Seymour,  President  of  the 
^STational  Prison  Association,  to  wit : 

United  States  of  America, 

New  Yoi'k,  July  6,  1871. 

Silt :  As  you  have  been  designated  by  the  National  Prison  Association  of  the  United 
■States  of  America  as  their  commissioner  and  agent  to  arrange  the  j)relinunarie3 
of  an  international  congress  on  penitentiary  and  reformatory  discipline,  which  is  pro- 
posed to  be  held  in  Enrope  in  1872,  it  becomes  my  duty  as  president  of  the  associa- 
tion to  convey  to  you  the  wishes  of  the  body  touching  the  extent  and  scope  of  the  work 
required  of  you,  as  well  as  the  manner  in  which  you  are  to  discharge  the  duties  of  your 
mission.  You  are  to  proceed,  then,  to  Enroi)o  at  the  earliest  practicable  moment,  in 
fulKlment  of  tlie  trust  with  which  you  have  been  cliarged. 

If  rclbrms  in  prison  management  are  ever  to  be  inaugurated,  resort  must  sooner  or 
later  be  had  to  governments,  as  legisbition  is  the  only  mi'ans  through  which  they  can 
be  effected.  It  has  therefore  been  thought  desirable  that  their  co-operation  in  this 
work  sliould  be  enlisted  in  advance.  Hence,  one  of  your  chief  duties  will  be  to  visit 
the  several  governments  of  Europe,  to  endeavor  to  awaken  their  interest  in  this  pro- 
jtosition,  and  to  induce  them  if  possible  to  take  part  in  the  proposed  congress  by  duly- 
commissioned  ri'presentatives. 

It  isi)ro1)al)le  tliat  the  initiative  of  the  United  States  in  this  project,  and  the  official 
participal  ion  tiierein  by  the  (iiitieral  (jlovcrnment,  will  smooth  your  path  in  approach- 
ing foreign  governnu'iits,  and  materially  aid  the  success  of  your  mission.  You  will  not 
fail  to  bring  this  point  to  their  attention,  and  to  press  it  upon  their  consideration  as 
you  liave.  o]i])oitunity. 

Anotlicr  duty  r('(|uired  at  your  hands  will  be  that  of  visiting,  inspecting,  and  exam- 
ing  as  many  of  the  ])enal  and  reformatory  institutions  of  the  several  countries  to 
wiiicli  youi-  mission  siiall  extend  as  you  conveniently  can,  in  all  cases  carcifully  re- 
cording the  results  of  your  olmervations.  You  will  also  inciuire  into  the  i)rison 
HyHteniH  of  the  ditVerent  states  of  lCuro])e,  including  tiie  ))rinciitl(is  on  wliicii  tlnsy  are 
organized,  llii-ir  mcules  of  administration  and  discipline,  and  the  results  accomiilislu^d 
through  tiu'ir  ;ig(Micv.  You  will  si-ek  to  secure  the  attendance  at  the  congress  of  n^p- 
resent'iit  i  vcH  IVoin  all  the  iikui-,  important  ))risi»iis  ;ind   rcfcu  iiialoiics  in  each  country. 

A  furfiier  oliji'ct  to  Im;  kept  in  view  hy  you  will  l)e  tliat  of  conferiing  with  Ixiards  of 
]>riHon  managers,  juison  discipline  associations,  amlolher  oigani/.ations  iiavingin  view, 
wholly  or  in  |iait,  the  prouKiliiui  of  refoi'nis  in  this  departnu-nt  of  sucial  sciience, 
and  of  juocuring  rej»reHentali\es  to  be  scnti  by  them  to  lake  i)art  in  tin;  deliheratious 
of  the  congresH. 

Another  of  your  dudes  will  be  tliat  of  orgiini/.iMg,  wherevisr  you  <'an,  n;iliou;i.l  com- 
mittees, who  will  take  chargii  of  the  ^vll(lle,  l)usiiies.s  of  Mi.ikiugtlie  rei|uisite  pn^paia- 
tifUis  for  the  congiess  in  the  seveial  countries  for  which  tln-y  may  lie  appointed,  an<l 
who  will  also  j)repare,  (to  lie  reail  at  the  (!ongress)  i>rief  memoianda  sitting  Ibrtli  tiie 
present  stall!  of  tlie  jtrison  ()uesfion  in  their  r(;sp(ict.ive  nationaliiies. 


PERSONAL    INSPECTION    OF    IRISH    PRISONS.  203 

As  far  as  England  and  France  art^  concerned, thoir  national  committees  should  be 
cliarj^ed  with  the  duty  (it,  as  it  is  hoped,  they  are  willinj^  to  assume  it)  of  correspond- 
ing with  tile  pro))er  colonial  authorities  of  their  respective  countries,  and  of  securing 
rejjresentation  from  every  colony  suliject  to  their  authority. 

An  additional  duty  expected  of  you  will  bo  that  of  conferring  with  x)rominent  per- 
sons al)r(jad  in  regard,  first,  to  the  ])roper  questions  to  come  before  tlie  congri^ss  for  its 
consideration,  and,  secondly,  the  proper  persons  to  be  invited  to  prci)are  papers  upon 
the  topics  deemed  most  lit  and  necessary  to  be  considered  by  the  body.  Tlie  object 
here  will  he  to  prepare  the  way  for  and  facilitate  the  formation  of  such  a  jjrogramme 
of  proceedings  as  may  be  judged  best  adapted  to  the  ends  in  view  in  the  calling  of 
such  a  congress  as  the  one  |)roposed. 

On  the  subjects  above  referred  to,  and  such  others  as  your  own  familiarity  with 
(juestions  and  interests  of  this  nature  may  suggest,  you  will  naake  the  broadest 
inquiries  and  gather  the  largest  amount  of  inforuiatiou  practicable,  and  will  report 
fully  thereon  ro  the  association  on  your  return. 

HORATIO  SEYMOUR, 

President  of  the  Association. 

E.  C.  Wines,  D.D.,  LL.D., 

Corrc><p'Jiidi»g  iSccrelarg  and  Commissioner  of  the  National  Prison  Association. 

All  the  points  in  the  foregoing  letter  of  instructions  are  covered  in 
]>revions  parts  of  the  present  report,  except  that  which  makes  it  the 
duty  of  the  undersigned  to  visit,  inspect,  and  examine,  as  far  as  circum- 
stances would  permit,  the  penal  and  reformatory  institutions  of  Europe. 
To  this  work  he  was  prompted  as  well  by  his  own  inclination  as  hy  the 
iustructious  of.  the  president  of  the  association.  In  obedience,  then,  to 
the  dictates  at  once  of  choice  and  of  duty,  1  personally  examined,  more 
or  less  closely,  during  my  visits  to  Europe  in  1871  and  1872,  from  (ifty 
to  sixty  of  the  institutions  referred  to  in  the  above-cited  letter.  Of  these 
I  propose  to  give,  not  a  detailed  description,  for  that  would  require 
both  time  and  sjiace  not  ut  my  command,  but  some  passing  notice,  in 
the  chapters  of  this  fourth  part  of  my  report. 


CHAPTEE  XXX. 

PERSONAL  INSPECTION  OF  PRISONS   AND   REFORMATORIES  IN  IRELAND. 

§  1.  Convict  prisons  of  Ireland. — The  penitentiary  system,  devised  and 
carried  into  effect  by  Sir  Walter  Crofton  in  the  convict-prisons  of  Ireland, 
has  been  so  fully  described  in  previous  parts  of  this  report,  and  has  be- 
come in  other  ways  so  widely  known,  that  I  do  not  feel  called  upon  to 
go  into  any  detail  upon  the  subject,  and  shall  but  briefly  describe  what 
1  personally  saw  and  heard  during  my  visit  to  this  now  far-famed  con- 
vict institution. 

Penal  servitude  in  Ireland,  sentence  to  which  is  never  less  than  five 
years,  is  undergone  in  three  different  stages  and  at  three  separate  and 
distinct  establishments.  The  first  of  these  establishments  is  at  Moantjoy, 
a.  suburb  of  Dublin,  and  consists  of  two  prisons — male  aud  female  ;  the 
second  is  a  public-works  prison,  on  Spike  Island,  opposite  Queenstown, 
at  the  southern  extremity  of  Irelaml,  and  more  than  a  hundred 
miles  distant  from  Dublin  ;  the  third  is  at  Lusk,  twelve  miles  from 
Dublin,  and  is  what  is  called  an  intermediate  ])risou.  I  spent  a  day  at 
each  of  these  establishments,  accom[)anied  throughout  by  one  or  the 
other  of  the  two  gentlemen  composing  the  board  of  directors,  viz,  Mr. 
Murray  or  Captain  Barlow — by  the  latter,  however,  everywhere,  except 
at  the  male  prison  of  Mountjoy.    Every  desirable  attention  was  shown. 


204  INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIAEY    CONGRESS. 

me,  and  every  possible  facility  afforded  for  the  most  thorough  ex- 
amiuation  of  every  department  of  the  convict  service.  I  was  per- 
mitted everywhere  to  converse  freely  with  the  convicts  to  any  ex- 
tent I  desired,  and  that  without  the  presence  of  the  director  who 
accompanied  me,  or  i\uy  officer  of  the  establishment;  and  I  invited 
the  confidence  of  the  prisoners  by  the  assurance  that  whatever  they 
communicated  would  be  regarded  as  strictly  confidential,  and 
should  not,  in  any  event,  be  reported  to  the  authorities  of  the 
prison.  Had  I  chosen  to  continue  my  investigations  long  enough 
I  might,  in  this  manner,  have  conversed  with  every  inmate  of  every 
prison  in  the  Irisli  convict  establishment.  As  it  was,  I  improved  my 
opportunity  to  the  utmost  that  my  time  would  permit  in  conversing 
with  a  greater  or  less  number  of  cdnvicts  in  each  of  the  three  stages 
into  which  their  iin}nisonment  is  divided.  For  a  decade  of  years  I  had 
been  a  diligent  stu(leut  of  the  system,  devouring  everything  I  could  get 
hold  of  on  the  subject.  As  far  as  books  could  teach  it,  it  is  scarcely  an 
exaggeration  to  say  that  I  kuew  it  by  heart.  And  1  had  done  what  1 
could  to  make  it  known  to  my  countrymen.  In  my  annual  reports 
as  secretary  of  tue  Prison  Association  of  Kew  York,  in  numerous  short 
articles  written  for  the  daily  and  weekly  press,  in  more  extended  essays 
published  in  the  monthly  and  quarterly  journals,  in  an  exhaustive 
paper  read  before  the  American  Social  Science  Association,  in  addresses 
made  at  public  meetings  in  various  parts  of  the  country,  and  in  private 
conversations  without  number,  I  had  opened,  explained,  and  com- 
mended this  system  in  the  clearest  and  strongest  terms  I  could  com- 
mand. I  had  echoed  and  re-echoed  the  opinion  of  Italy's  greatest 
statesman,  the  late  Count  Cavour,  that  the  fundamental  principle  of 
this  system — progressive. classification  based  on  merit,  a  progressive 
withdiawal  of  restrait  and  enlargement  of  privilege,  as  they  should  be 
earned  and  warranted  by  the  prisoner's  coiuluct,  a  gradual  and  almost 
impercei)tible  melting  of  prison  life  into  the  freedom  of  ordinary  society 
through  a  i)robationary  stage  of  natural  training — that  this  principle, 
applied  in  some  form,  whatever  the  system  adopted  may  be,  is  "the 
only  efficacious  means  of  discountenancing  vice  and  checking  crime,  by 
encouraging,  through  agencies  purely  philanthropic,  the  reform  of  the 
criminal,  without,  however,  holding  from  him  his  just  punishment." 
And  now  1  solemnly  declare  that  the  impressions  received  from  pub- 
lished descriptions  of  the  system  have  been,  in  the  main,  (I  will  not 
say  without  some  modifications  and  abatements,)  contirmed  by  i)ersonal' 
inspection  and  study. 

in  the  two  piisons  at  Mountjoy — first  stage — I  saw  the  prisoners  con- 
fined in  sejtaratc  c<'Ils,  where  tijey  were  kc^pt  on  coarse  and  low  diet,  and 
cm](h)yfd  at  rougli  and  uninteresting hibor — oakum-[)ickingand  the  like. 
This  is  tlH",  penal  stage,  and  is  intended,  among  other  ends  to  be  answ(>red 
by  it,  to  make  th<',  ])rison('r  fe(^l  that  the  way  of  the  transgressor  is  hard. 
Its  maximum  (hiration  is  niiu^  months,  wliich  \n;\y  by  good  comhict  be 
shorteniMl  toeiglit.  J>ut  liope  is  even  here  early  i)hinted  in  the  prisoner's 
l)r<'ast.  The  utmost  i)ains  is  taken  to  explain  to  the  (jonvict,  in  the  fullest 
and  clearest  manner,  the  (Mitiro  course  of  iiis  imprisonment,  and  all  the 
a«lvantag«*s  that  will  accrue  to  him,  as  he  advances  from  stage  to  stage 
and  class  to  class,  from  good  conduct,  industry,  diligence  in  stud}", 
and  att«Mition  to  his  moral  improvement.  Not  only  are  these  things 
set  bel'ori;  each  jniso'ier  in  his  cell,  but  once  a.  w<'ek  ther<^  is  held 
u  kind  of  (;ateclietieid  exercise  on  the  subject,  in  which  tlic^  convicts  are 
♦luestioned  as  to  tln^  e()mi)leteness  and  accuracy  of  theii'  knowledge  in, 
regaid  to  it.  According  to  the  answers  given,  all  eirors  are  corrected 
and   nil   (leli(;iencies  sni»prM'(I.     Tiie  eriect,  «'V(mi  in  this  ixMial  stage,  I 


PERSONAL    INSPECTION    OF    IKISH    PRISONS.  205 

found  to  be  hope,  courage,  clieerfuluess,  and  a  patient  waiting-  for  i)rom- 
ised  ameliorations.  Indeed,  these  ameliorations  begin  during  the  i)eriod 
of  cellular  separation,  and  early  in  it.  At  lirst  the  seclusion  is  absolute. 
After  a  while,  the  cell-door  is  thrown  open  a  i)art  of  the  day,  then  all  day. 
This  slight  approach  to  society  is  felt  to  be  a  great  alleviation,  and  is 
withdrawn  for  any  mis(ronduct.  From  the  first,  the  prisoners  in  this 
stage  are  together  in  chapel,  school-room,  and  exercise-yard.  Much 
attention  is  given  to  education  and  to  moral  and  religious  culture, 
wherein  the  "profiting"  of  the  ]irisoners  "appeareth  unto  all  men,"  who 
have  oi)portunity  of  observing  it. 

The  day  passed  at  Spike  Island,  where  the  second  stage  of  imijrison- 
meut  under  the  Croftou  system  is  passed,  was  one  of  great  interest  to 
ane.  This  may  be  properly  designated  as  the  reformatory  stage,  for  it 
is  here  that  the  principle  of  progressive  classification  is  applied  and 
exerts  all  its  force,  having  no  existence  in  either  the  first  or  third  stage. 
There  are  lour  classes  here,  arranged  in  this  order:  third,  second,  first, 
and  advanced  or  exemplary.  Promotion  is  determined  by  marks,  of 
which  the  convict  can  earn  a  maximum  of  nine  per  month,  viz,  three  for 
general  good  conduct,  three  for  industry,  and  three  for  school  duties — not 
actual  progress,  but  attention  to  lessons  and  the  desire  shown  to  im- 
prove. On  his  transfer  from  Mountjoy  to  Spike  Island,  the  convict  is 
l^laced  in  the  third  class  ;  18  marks  must  be  earned  in  order  to  his  pro- 
motion from  the  third  to  the  second  class ;  54  for  promotion  from  the 
second  to  the  first ;  and  108  for  promotion  from  the  first  to  the  ad^'auced 
or  exemplary  class.  Thus  the  minimum  time  in  the  third  class  is  two 
mouths;  in  the  second,  six;  and  in  the  first,  twelve.  The  time  neces- 
sary to  be  ])assed  in  the  advanced  class  before  removal  to  Lusk  is  not  a 
fixed  period,  but  depends  upon  the  length  of  the  prisoner's  sentence. 
With  a  five  years'  sentence,  he  must  remain  in  this  class  fourteen 
months;  with  a  fifteen  years'  sentence,  he  must  remain  five  years  and 
eight  months;  and  with  a  sentence  between  these  two  extremes,  a 
period  varying  with  its  length.  I  was  surprised  to  learn  that  a  majority 
of  the  convicts  earn  the  maximum  of  marks,  and  of  course  secure  their 
promotion  from  class  to  class,  and  finally  their  transfer  to  Lusk,  within 
the  minimum  period.     But  hope  has  a  quasi  omnipotence. 

On  the  day  of  my  visit  to  Spike  Island,  the  number  of  prisoners  was 
705,  distributed  as  follows:  advanced  class,  320;  first  class,  200; 
second  class,  101 ;  third  class,  81.  The  motive  to  strive  for  promotion 
is  not  only  powerful,  but  it  is  constant,  and  constantly  increasing  in 
strength.  The  progress  toward  liberation  is  the  great  motive-power; 
but  there  are  manifold  inducements  to  exertion,  self-denial,  self-con- 
quest, and  self-control  besides  this.  With  every  advance,  there  is  a 
lifting  of  restraint,  an  enlargement  of  privilege,  an  increase  of  gratuity, 
distinctive  badges,  better  food,  improved  dress,  greater  liberty  of 
action.  The  great  effort  is  to  induce  the  prisoner  to  become  the  chief 
agent  in  his  own  reformation.  The  authorities  seem  to  feel  that  unless 
this  is  done,  nothing  is  done.  The  result,  as  I  learned  it  from  the  lips  of 
manj^  prisoners  Avith  whom  I  conversed — all  separate  and  apart  from 
their  officers — is  that  the  entire  prison  population,  with  few  exceiitions, 
are  putting  forth  constant  and  vigorous  effort  to  secure  their  promotion 
within  the  ujinimum  time;  that  Lusk  is  ever  in  their  thought  and  on 
their  tongue;  and  that  the  hope  of  attaining  that  coveted  goal,  and  a 
respectable  position  as  honest  laborers  beyond  it,  keeps  up  heart  in 
them,  and  produces  alacrity  at  work  and  a  constant  fiow  of  good  spirits. 

Tile  men  are  nearl^^  all  employed  on  jmblic  works — quarrying  and 
dressing  stone  and  building  docks.     Their  work  is  conJ^equently  in  the 


206  INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

open  air,  and  a  bnsy  set  of  fellows  I  found  tliein.  I  never  saw  men 
either  more  industrious  or  more  cheerful  in  their  industry.  They  were 
doing  quite  as  much  as  any  free  laborers  outside  would  luiv^e  dotie 
at  the  same  kind  of  work,  and  a  great  deal  more  than  the  free  laborers 
at  that  time  employed  on  the  island  were  doing.  Still  1  would  much 
rather  have  seen  them  at  trades,  with  a  free  choice,  among  twenty  or 
more,  of  which  they  would  learn. 

Mr.  Hays,  the  active  and  able  governor,  allows  any  and  all  prisoners 
to  come  to  him  in  his  oflSce  at  6.30  a.  m.,  with  their  burdens  and  griev- 
ances. From  twelve  to  eighteen  visit  him  in  this  way  every  day,  and 
he  allays  their  agitations  and  composes  their  difficulties.  The  effect,  he 
informed  me,  is  excellent.  At  7  he  holds  a  kind  of  court,  at  which  the 
warders  bring  in  their  reports  against  any  prisoners  who  may  have  been 
guilty,  or  who  are  by  tliem  regarded  as  having  been  guilty,  of  violating 
the  prison  rules.  Of  this  class  of  cases  he  has  some  four  or  five  every 
morning.  He  keeps  a  record  of  them  in  a  book  with  the  following- 
headings  :  J.  Kegistered  number  of  prisoner.  2.  Name.  3.  Date  of 
report.  4.  Nature  of  charge.  .  5.  By  whom  reported.  6.  Summary  of 
evidence.  7.  Explanation  offered  by  prisoner.  8.  Decision  of  gov- 
ernor.    0.  Date  of  decision. 

The  punishments  here  are  chiefly  of  a  moral  kind  :  loss  of  marks,  for- 
feiture of  gratuities,  withdrawal  of  privileges,  change  of  badge,  degra- 
dation to  a  lower  class,  remanding  to  the  cellular  prison  at  Mountjoy^ 
to  which  may  be  added  (as  punishments  occasionally  employed)  depri- 
vation of  a  meal,  close  confinement  on  bread  and  water,  and  even,  in 
aggravated  cases,  the  lasb,  which,  I  trust,  will  soon  be  banished  in 
■scvcK  la  Hoecu  lor  urn . 

The  day  I  passed  at  Lusk  was  a  day  of  mingled  wonder  and  delight. 
This  is  the  intermediate  prison,  so  called  because  it  holds  a  middle 
ground  between  an  imprisonment  strictly  penal  and  the  enjoyment  of 
full  liberty.  The  aim  of  the  intermediate  prison  is  twofold  :  first,  to  test 
the  reality  of  the  convict's  refornuition,  his  power  of  self-government, 
his  ability  to  withstand  temptation ;  and,  secondly,  to  train  him  for  a 
considerable  period — never  less  than  six  months — under  natural  condi- 
tions, and  so  to  prei)are  him  for  full  freedom  on  discharge  by  the  enjoy- 
ment of  partial  fieedom  as  a  preliminary  step.  Accordingly,  the  impris- 
onment here  is  little  more  than  moral. 

I  had  known  thisi)aitof  the  Irish  convict-system,  as  I  had  the  others, 
from  books.  My  expectations  regarding  it  were  high,  but  they  were 
more  than  met.  Indeed,  1  have  never  elsewhere  seen  anything  to  com- 
pare with  the  results  shown  here.  The  intermediate  prison  which  for- 
merly existed  at  Smitlifiehl,  in  the  outskirts  of  Dublin,  has  been  given 
np,  and  all  intermediate  ])risoncrs  are  now  sent  to  Lusk.  The  number, 
on  the  day  of  my  visit,  was  fifty-seven ;  the  usual  number  is  a  little  in 
excess  of  that  figure. 

Farm-work  is  the  only  industry  from  which  income  is  received,  and 
the  cash  revenue  from  this  source,  over  and  above  the  value  of  the  pro- 
iluctsusedin  tiie  eslal)lishment,  amounts  (at  least  such  is  my  under- 
standing ot  the  matter)  to  al)ont  *!<), <>()(»,  which  makes  tin;  institution 
well-nigh  self-supporting.  'JMie  larm  contains  nearly  200  acres.  Prior 
to  the  estahlishnient  of  the  piison,  this  land  was  a  common,  wild  and 
uncultivated.  The  whole,  of  it  has  now  bec^n  subdued,  and  brought 
under  suceessfiil  and  profitable  tillage.  The  valine  of  the  land  has  in- 
creased under  the  labor  of  the  ]>risoners,  from  lO.s'.  to  £5  per  acre. 
There  is  a  large  animal  hay-crop  gathered;  wheat,  oats,  and  barley 
are    grown    in    consideialtle    (immtities,    but    the   princii)al  products 


PERSONAL    INSPECTION    OF    IRISH    PRISONS.  207 

are  potatoes,  cabbages,  turnips,  celery,  and  other  vegetables.  It  was 
the  14th  of  October  when  I  was  there,  and  the  ])risoners  were  at 
work  on  various  parts  of  the  farm,  digging  esculents,  hauling  and 
spreading  lime,  and  performing  other  kinds  of  farm-labor ;  and  a 
half  dozen  or  more  were  engaged  in  the  construction  of  a  stone 
dwelling  for  the  superintendent,  in  place  of  the  iron  hut  which  at 
that  time  served  him  for  a  residence.  Everywhere  they  were  as  busy  as 
bees,  and,  to  all  appearance,  as  happy.  I  never  saw  a  brisker  or  more 
cheerful  set  of  laborers.  They  accomplish  fully  as  much  work  as  an 
equal  number  of  free  hands.  Indeed,  the  farmers  of  the  neighborhood 
aver  that  they  would  be  glad  to  get  men  who  would  work  as  well.  For 
the  most  part  they  work  in  groups,  and  have  a  warder  to  overseer  them, 
who  is,  however,  at  the  same  time,  a  fellow-laborer  with  them.  But 
this  is  not  always  the  case.  Often  they  work  alone,  or  in  companies  of 
tvYO  or  three,  without  any  one  in  charge,  on  the  most  distant  parts  of 
the  farm.  As  far  as  appears  to  the  view,  there  is  no  more  imprison- 
ment here  than  on  any  other  farm.  There  are  no  walls,  no  bars, 
no  bolts,  no  gratings,  no  apparent  confinement  of  any  kind.  The  doors 
of  the  iron  tents  which  serve  them  as  dormitories  are  locked  at  night, 
just  as  our  own  houses  are  when  we  retire.  The  only  difference,  as  far  as 
I  could  see,  between  this  and  any  other  large  farm  employing  a  great 
many  hands,  was  that  here  a  warder  slept  in  a  small  room  at  the  end  of 
the  large  dormitory  of  the  convicts. 

In  the  afternoon  I  walked  about  the  farm,  mingled  freely  with  the 
convict  laborers,  and  talked  with  quite  a  number  of  them  entirely  apart 
from  the  ofticers.  Their  uniform  testimony,  the  truth  of  which  was  at- 
tested by  their  whole  tone  and  bearing,  was  to  this  effect :  That  the  hope 
held  out  to  them  of  constantly  bettering  their  condition  by  their  own 
exertions  was,  throughout  the  whole  course  of  their  imprisonment,  a 
powerful  stimulus  to  good  conduct,  industry,  and  exactness  in  the  dis- 
charge of  all  their  duties;  that  the  intermediate  prison  was  the  goal  to- 
ward which  they  had  been  constantly  aiming,  the  object  of  incessant  desire 
and  effort ;  that  at  Lusk  they  never  heard  any  ])lottiug  of  future  crimes; 
that,  on  the  contrary,  all  the  talk  of  the  men  in  that  prison,  when  the  time 
of  their  liberation  was  drawing  nigh,  was  as  to  where  they  would  go, 
what  they  would  do,  what  wages  they  might  be  able  to  obtain,  and  how 
they  could  win  honest  bread  and  an  honorable  position;  that  a  profane 
or  obscene  expression  was  scarcely  ever  heard  there;  and  that  if  such  a 
thing  chanced  to  occur,  as  it  sometimes  did,  it  was  instantly  frowned 
down  and  put  a  stop  to  by  the  prisoners  themselves.  Yet  thei'e  is  no 
restraint  upon  conversation  at  Lusk  more  than  there  is  among  the  labor- 
ers on  any  large  farm  or  other  well-regulated  industrial  establishment. 
Lusk  has  now  been  nearly  twenty  years  open  for  the  reception  and  treat- 
ment of  intermediate  prisoners,  with  opportunities  of  evasion,  such  as 
no  other  prison  in  the  world  offers,  and  yet  scarcely  have  a  dozen  at- 
tempts at  escape  been  made.  The  whole  vicinage  was  in  terror  at  the 
announcement  that  a  prison  witliout  walls  or  bolts  was  to  be  established 
on  Lusk  Common  ;  yet  only  one  complaint,  in  all  these  years,  has' been 
made  against  the  prisoners  who  have  found  a  home  there.  That  hap- 
pened on  thiswise:  There  is  no  chapel  on  Lusk  farm,  and  the  prisoners 
attend  the  parish  church  on  Sunday  in  a  body.  On  one  occasion  a  pris- 
oner, in  leaving  the  church  at  the  close  of  the  service,  addressed  a  pass- 
ing remark  to  a  young  woinan  at  his  side.  There  was  no  pretense  that 
the  word  spoken  was  in  itself  an  iminoper  word.  The  coni[)laint  was 
that  he  spoke  to  her.  There  is  no  (liacipihie  at  Lusk;  no  piuiishnieuts 
are  administered  there  any  more  than  on  a  farm  or  in  a  manufactHring 
establishment  where  free  laborers  are  ein[(Ioyed.     The   prisoner  was, 


208  INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

therefore,  sent  back  to  Mouutjoy,  from  wliicli,  after  a  montli's  "  separate 
and  solitary  coutiiienient,"  lie  was  restored  to  his  place  on  the  i)risoii- 
farm,  and  neither  before  nor  since  has  complaint  been  made  by  any 
human  being  against  the  inmates  of  the  intermediate  establishment,  a 
fact,  to  my  mind,  truly  marvelous. 

During  my  visit,  the  entire  prison  population  was  called  in  from  their 
work  to  allow  me  to  see  them  in  their  school,  and  especially  to  witness 
one  of  those  competitive  examinations,  conducted  by  the  prisoners  them- 
selves, which  became  so  marked  a  feature  of  the  intermediate  prisons 
under  the  late  i\[r.  Organ.  As  the  men  came  in,  there  was  nobody  in 
the  room  but  myself,  not  a  single  officer  being  present ;  yet  so  quietly 
did  each  prisoner  enter,  go  to  his  own  desk  or  table,  take  out  his  book 
and  commence  his  studies,  that,  if  my  eyes  had  been  closed,  I  should 
scarcely  have  snpposed  that  a  half  dozen  persons  were  in  the  room; 
certainly  I  could  not  have  dreamed  that  nearly  sixty  men  had  entered. 
Isot  a  word  was  spoken  ;  not  a  disorderly  or  even  playful  act  was  done; 
nor  was  there  the  least  confusion  or  noise  of  any  sort.  Tlie  men  were 
arrayed  in  two  long  rows  on  either  side  of  the  room,  and,  under  the. 
superintendence  of  the  school-master,  the  two  sides  put  questions  alter- 
nately to  each  other.  The  exercise  was  an  interesting  one,  but  less  so 
than  I  had  anticipated.  It  had  somewhat  the  appearance  of  being,  as 
we  say,  "cut  and  dried."  Mr.  Organ  is  dead,  and  his  successor,  in  the 
lecture  department,  has  not  yet  been  found.  Speaking  of  Mr.  Organ, 
who,  for  a  dozen  years  or  more,  held  the  double  office  of  superin- 
tendent of  discharged  convicts  and  lecturer  to  the  intermediate  prisons 
of  Lusk  and  Smitlifleld,  I  cannot  close  my  brief  account  of  the  visit 
made  in  1871  to  the  convict-prisons  of  Ireland  without  citing  a  few  sen- 
tences trom  one  of  the  last  reports,  if  not  indeed  the  very  last,  made  by 
him  before  his  lamented  death.     lie  says : 

Crime  is  fast  disapi)eariii<jj  in  Dublin.  Old  and  habitual  thieves  are  becominfj  honest 
and  industrious  citizens,  while  homes,  which  have  hitherto  been  tlie  scenes  of  vice  and 
poverty,  are  now  replaced  by  those  of  morality  and  plenty. 

Employers  continue  to  repose  confidence  in  my  men,  and  the  demand  for  them  has 
at  times  exceeded  the  snpi)ly. 

The  moral  tone  of  the  institution  is  most  satisfiictory.  There  is  an  entire  absence 
of  even  the  sli^fhtest  tendency  to  immorality,  wlietlier  in  word  or  act ;  and  should  hy- 
pocrisy show  itself  in  a  new-comer,  it  is  promptly  detected,  and  as  promply  censured 
by  the  jtublic  opinion  of  tlie  men  in  the  huts." 

I  cannot  speak  too  hi;;hly  of  the  charnnng  effects  which  farm-labor  has  produced, 
even  upon  t  lie  most  slu^^yisli  criminals,  nor  of  its  happy  results  on  even  the  cool  and  cal- 
<nlatin^  adept  in  crime,  on  whose  brow  the  honest  drop  of  sweat  had  never  before 
trickled. 

I  am  ready  to  stake  my  reputation  on  the  fact,  proved  in  innumerable  instances,  that 
the  most  indolent  criminal  can  be  trained  to  honest  and  iiulepenih^nt  toil,  not  so  mucli- 
tlii()n;;li  fear  or  coercion,  as  tbiougb  tlie  inlluence  of  hope  and  cncouraiiemeut. 

Truly  liusk  is  a  magnificent  triumph  of  reason  and  humainty  over  coer- 
cion and  brute  f<)r(;e — asph'ndul  an(i  irn'IVagaI)Ie  tcstiiMoiiy  to  the  sound- 
ness of  till'.  ])('iiitentiary  system  wliich  the  genius  of  Sir  Walter  Crofton 
lias  given  to  the  worhl. 

§  2.  Jumnilc  rc/onuatoric.s  of  Jrchuvl. —  Ireland  is  now  well  sujjplied 
with  fills  class  of  institutions,  both  Catholic  and  Protestant.  Only  one 
of  tiicm,  however,  was  vi.sited  by  me;  and  to  that  I  shall  conline  my 
remarks,  whi(!h,  for  the  rest,  will  be  V(M-y  brief.  1  was  accompanied  by 
Mr.  .Jolin  Leiitaigne,  the  intelligent  and  amiable  Inspectoi-  of  reforma- 
t4)ries  for  Ireland,  and  two  other  gentlenuMi,  friends  of  his.  The  insti- 
tnlion  visited  is  tin*,  St.  Kevin's  reformatory,  for  the  treatment  of  d<v 
lincpient  (Catholic  boys  exclusively,  and  is  the  largest  of  the  kiml  in 

*Mr.  Or;;nii  refers  lierc  f  o  flie  (wo  iron  tents  at  Liisk.  erected  at  a  cost  of  only  |i3,0UU 
cacli  of  whicli  is,  nevertJicless,  capalde  of  accommodating  fifty  convicts. 


PERSONAL    INSPECTION    OF    PRISONS    IN    ENGLAND.  209 

Ireland,  having  an  average  of  more  than  three  hundred  inmates.  It  is 
distant  ten  miles  from  Dublin,  the  road  ascending  nearly  all  the  way, 
and  at  a  pretty  steep  grade,  as  the  reformatory  is  1,800  feet  above  the 
level  of  the  sea.  It  is  situated  at  the  head  of  a  romantic  and  picturesque 
glen,  called  Glencree,  or  the  Valley  of  the  Heart.  The  name  is  most 
appropriate,  as  being  significant  of  the  spirit  of  love  and  kindness  in 
which  such  institutions  should  be  conducted.  But,  for  all  that,  the 
place  has  not,  in  my  judgment,  been  well  chosen.  The  soil  is  of  the 
worst  possible  description,  the  greater  jiart  of  the  one  hundred  acres 
rented  for  the  use  of  the  establishment  being  utterly  irreclaimable  and 
worthless  ;  and  even  on  the  forty  or  fifty  acres  that  have  been  brought 
under  tillage  by  the  labor  of  the  boys,  little  will  grow  except  grass. 
The  cold  in  winter  is  often  intense  and  the  storms  terrific.  It  is  but  a 
few  years  ago  that  a  juvenile  convict,  on  his  way  to  the  reformatory, 
was  frozen  to  death  before  reaching  it.  All  supplies  for  the  institution 
have  to  be  hauled  on  carts  or  wagons  ten  miles  up  a  mountain,  and 
all  manufactured  articles,  seeking  a  market,  the  same  distance  down  it. 
Yet,  despite  all  these  disadvantages  and  drawbacks,  the  Glencree  re- 
formatory is  doing  good  work.  Father  Fox,  born  and  reared  in  the 
Quaker  faith,  (and  none  the  worse  for  that,)  is  at  the  head  of  it;  and  he 
impressed  me  as  being — if  I  may  be  allowed  a  hackneyed  but  expressive 
phrase — pre-eminently  "  the  right  man  in  the  right  place."  At  all 
events,  he  and  his  indefatigable  corps  of  assistants  have  shown  them- 
selves greatly  successful  as  regards  the  main  purpose  of  their  work.  If 
the  acres  on  which  the  boys  are  placed  have  proved,  in  large  measure, 
irreclaimable,  the  case  of  the  boys  themselves  has  been  quite  different. 
[Ninety  per  cent,  of  these  are  reformed,  and,  on  their  liberation,  become 
a  constituent  part  of  the  industrious  and  honest  yeomanry  of  the 
country.  That  tells  the  whole  story  more  eloquently  than  I  could ;  and 
all  further  words  may  be  spared. 


CHAPTER    XXXI. 

PERSONAL  INSPECTION  OF  PRISONS  AND  REFORMATORIES  IN  ENGLAND. 

§  1.  English  x^risons. — In  the  course  of  my  two  visits  to  England  I  had 
opportunity  to  examine  more  or  less  thoroughly  four  convict-prisons 
and  some  ten  or  twelve  county  and  borough  jails.  Compelled  to  study, 
in  what  remains  of  my  report,  a  rigid  economy  of  both  time  and  space,  I 
can  give  to  these  establishments  only  the  most  cursory  notice — far  less, 
indeed,  than  either  their  merits  demand,  or  my  own  feelings  would  prompt. 
There  is  much  in  the  English  prisons  and  the  English  i^enitentiary 
system  to  be  admired,  commended,  and  imitated;  but  there  are,  also,  as 
I  conceive,  things  in  them  to  be  criticized  and  avoided;  things,  too, 
which  belong  to  the  very  core  and  essence  of  a  just  and  especially  a  re- 
formatory prison  discipline. 

The  prison  buildings  in  England,  as  a  rule,  are  substantial  structures 
of  stone  or  brick,  on  the  radiating  plan,  well  proportioned  and  pleasing 
to  the  eye,,  with  a  lofty  tower  attached,  for  purposes  of  ventilation  ;  the 
grounds  are  handsomely  laid  out  in  parterres  and  gravelled  walks,  and 
many  oi^them  ornamented  with  flowers,  vines,  and  shrubbery;  halls,  run- 
ning through  the  center  of  each  wing,  are  lighted  from  the  top,  and  the 
light  is  so  disposed  as  to  produce  a  soft  and  cheerful  effect ;  the  ceils  are 
spacious,  airy,  and  well  lighted,  each  having  a  water-closet,  gas-burner, 
H.  Ex.  185 14 


210  INTERNATIONAL   PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

and  bell-pull,  Avith  an  iron  card  attached  to  it  by  a  spring,  wliich  starts 
out  from  the  wall  on  the  ringing  of  the  bell,  and  each  is  also  provided  with 
all  needful  furniture;  the  long  galleries,  tier  above  tier,  impart  a  feeling 
of  perfect  adaptation  to  their  special  object,  which  is  far  from  unpleas- 
ing;  the  chapels  are  generally  of  ample  dimensions,  of  gothic  architec- 
ture, with  groined  roofs,  always  neatly  and  sometimes  beautifully 
arranged,  and  well  suited  to  produce  a  solemn  and  soothing  effect  upon 
the  prisoners ;  an  extraordinary  cleanliness  reigns  throughout — in  cells, 
corridors,  offices,  everywhere — and  one  is  particularly  struck  with  the 
brightness  of  the  brass-fittings  and  the  polish  of  the  metal  staii'-cases  ; 
the  hospital  accommodations  are  excellent,  the  wards  being  well  arranged 
for  the  treatment  of  diii'ereut  classes  of  disease,  and  all  the  appointments 
adapted  to  the  convenience,  comfort,  and  cure  of  the  patients ;  the  venti- 
lation, drainage,  and  all  other  sanitary  arrangements  are  the  best  that 
science  can  supply ;  the  discipline  is  exact,  and  is  rigidly  enforced ; 
obedience  is  prompt,  and  order  and  decorum  everywhere  observed ;  and 
there  is  a  certain  charm  in  the  symmetry,  harmony,  and  clock-like  regu- 
larity of  the  whole,  which  takes  away,  at  least  from  the  first  view,  the 
awe  and  horror  anticipated  by  the  inexperienced  observer. 

Such,  in  brief,  and  without  any  attempt  to  exhaust  the  attractions  of 
the  picture,  is  the  bright  side  of  the  English  prisons,  whether  convict, 
county,  or  borough.  But,  unhappily,  there  is  a  per  contra.  While  the 
material  efficiency  of  these  prisons  is  certainly  very  high,  the  moral 
action  seemed  to  me  feeble.  While  the  avowed  end  of  all  prison  au- 
thorities— or  nearly  all — is  "reformation,''  it  appeared  to  me  doubtful 
whether  they  fully  appreciated  what  that  work  demands.  The  whole 
aim  and  instinct  are  for  material  efficiency.  Hence — so  it  seemed  to  my 
apprehension — the  shell  is  preferred  to  the  kernel;  the  forms  are  made 
of  more  account  than  the  substance.  Hence,  too,  reformatory  disci- 
pline is,  to  far  too  great  an  extent,  made  secondary  to  punitory  inflic- 
tions. Consequently  the  men  chosen  for  officers — though,  as  a  class, 
superior,  I  freely  adniit,  to  the  same  class  among  ns — are  often  not  of 
the  sort  required  for  the  work  to  be  done.  They  are  too  artificial,  keep 
the  prisoners  too  much  at  arm's  length,  rely  too  exclusively  on  author- 
ity, have  too  little  iaith  in  the  susceptibility  of  criminals  to  reforma- 
tory agencies,  and  hence  work  but  feebly— and,  as  a  consequence,  with 
little  effect — to  that  end.  In  a  word,  they  are  not  such — at  least  the 
greater  ])art  are  not — as  can  subdue,  control,  and  change  the  prisoners 
by  moral  influence.  Though  the  governors  are  generally  men  of  ability, 
character,  and  culture,  all  are  not  such.  Some  are  unfit  for  their  jiosts. 
There  sliould  tluux'forebesome  means  devised  for  testing  the  deserving 
among  these  and  other  officers;  some  mode  adopted  whereby  rewards 
and  jirelerments  maybe  given  to  the  meritorious,  and  the  unfit  and  un- 
woitliy  remoAed  from  their  ofiices. 

Too  liLtl(!  ac(!Ount,  speaking  generally,  (there  arc  honorable  excejv 
tions,)  is  iiuide  in  JOnglish  ])risons  of  industrial  and  skilled  Avork ;  too 
much  of  wasted  labor,  in  its  many  forms.  Tread-mill,  crank,  shot- 
<lrill,  stone  breaking,  and  costly  usages  of  that  sort  prevail,  and  the 
reaHOUH  assigned  for  their  use  are  a])t  to  be  given  in  such  (;atch-words 
as  these:  "Ancient  jtrestige,"  "  nothing  to  be  learned  from  theorists,'' 
"  practical  men,"  "  not  presume  to  be  wiser  than  our  forefathers," 
"pro<luctive  woik  injurious  to  lionest  outsiders,"  (Jtc.  I  am  sorry  to  differ 
frorji  some  most  ex(;ellent  lOiiglisii  friends,  (tliougli,  1  am  glad  to  add, 
sn[t{)ortcd  by  a  host  of  ollieis.)  I)ut  I  altogether  disapprove  of  mere 
penal  and  unproductive,  industry  as  irritating  and  brutalizing  to  pris- 
oners.    'Jhe  infi'o(lucli<»n  of  tia<l<'s,  as  many  as  possible,  cou]»led  with 


PERSONAL    INSPECTION    OF    ENGLISH    PRISONS.  211 

longer  sentences  in  the  country  and  borough  prisons,  seems  to  me  at 
the  present  moment  a  great  want  in  England.  Special  prisons  might, 
l)erhaps,  be  usefully  employed  for  special  trades.  I  should  think  it  most 
desirable  to  multiply  trades,  so  as  to  insure,  as  far  as  possible,  that 
every  prisoner  should  learn  a  way  of  getting  his  bread  according  to  his 
turn  ;  and  to  this  turn  the  aptitudes  and  tastes  of  individuals  should  be 
particularly  studied.  Some  liberty  of  choice  should  be  given  in  this 
matter,  even  to  prisoners  ;  it  would  be  a  great  step  toward  the  restora- 
tion of  their  manhood.  An  incidental  advantage  of  the  multiplication 
of  trades  would  be  that  it  would  tend  to  stop  the  mouth  of  those  who 
complain  of  the  competition  of  prison  labor  with  free  labor,  though  really 
there  is  scarcely  enough  in  that  argument  to  merit  a  refutation  of  any 
kind.  Bat  for  its  practical  effect  on  prisons  and  prisoners,  it  might  be 
given  to  the  winds. 

Scholastic  education  in  English  prisons  receives  more  or  less  atten- 
tion ;  in  the  government  or  convict  prisons,  much  care  is  given  to  it. 
But  everywhere  it  needs  a  broader  development,  a  higher  activit3\ 

Twenty  years  ago  boys  were  mixed  with  men  in  the  English  prisons, 
and  came  out  old  knaves,  skilled,  theoretically,  in  all  the  devices  of 
practised  villainy.  This  is  no  longer  so.  But  the  principle  of  pro- 
gressive classification,  by  which  prisoners,  on  the  ground  of  merit,  are 
advanced  from  stage  to  stage,  with  constantly  diminished  restrictions 
and  constantly  enlarged  privileges  and  comforts,  is  not  widely  applied 
in  county  and  borough  goals  ;  nor,  indeed,  can  it  be,  until  the  principle 
of  cumulative  sentences  is  incorporated  in  the  penal  code.  In  the  con- 
vict establishments,  known  as  public- works  prisons,  progressive  classi- 
fication exists ;  but  promotion  is  earned  by  industry  alone,  all  other 
qualities  and  efforts  being  thrown  out  of  the  account ;  a  grave  mistake, 
in  my  judgment ;  though  in  part  repaired  by  a  forfeiture  of  marks  for 
misconduct. 

Voluntary  and  unofficial  visitation,  for  moral  and  reformatory  ends, 
by  competent  and  discreet  persons,  is  not  admitted  in  English  prisons 
of  any  class.  In  this  respect  England  has  made  progress  backward  in 
these  later  years.  Even  Latimer,  in  a  sermon  preached  before  Edward 
VI,  lifted  up  his  voice  for  this  :  "  I  would  ye  would  resort  to  prisons," 
he  exclaimed,  "  a  commendable  thing  in  a  Christian  realm.  It  is  holy- 
day  work  to  visit  the  prisoners."  In  Elizabeth's  reign,  Bernard  Gilpin, 
not  as  chaplain,  but  as  a  volunteer  worker,  regularly  visited  all  the  jails 
that  fell  within  the  range  of  his  missionary  circuits  in  the  northern 
counties.  Very  soon  after  the  organization  of  the  Christian  Knowl- 
edge Society, in  1690,  a  ''committee  of  prisons"  was  appointed,  who 
visited,  exhorted,  and  distributed  religious  books  to  the  prisoners  of 
Newgate,  Marshalsea,  and  other  London  prisons,  and  sent  packages  of 
their  books  to  all  the  county  jails  in  the  kingdom.  The  members  of  the 
"  Godly  Club,"  embracing  the  Wesleys,  Whitefield,  and  their  most 
zealous  followers,  visited  unofificialTy,  preached,  prayed,  and  distributed 
books  and  alms  in  all  the  prisons  within  their  circuits,  and  continued 
the  practice  till  compelled  by  the  authorities  to  desist  from  this  part  of 
their  labors.  At  a  later  day,  John  Howard,  Elizabeth  Fry,  Sarah  Mar- 
tin, and  many  other  excellent  men  and  women,  less  known  to  fame,  but 
no  less  zealous  or  worthy,  became  volunteer  visitors  in  prisons,  to  the 
abundant  advantage  of  England  and  the  world ;  insomuch  that  England, 
to-day,  may  be  fitly  exhorted,  in  the  words  of  the  Hebrew  prophet,  to 
''  search  for  the  old  paths,  and  walk  therein."  I  do  not  think  that  the  clergy 
oughttobetheonly  teachers  of  prisoners.  Competent  persons  of  both  sexes 
should,  under  fit  restrictions,  be  admitted,  when  they  are  willing,  to  share 
his    work  with   them.     Especially  women — intelligent,  discreet,  aiid 


212  INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

sweetlj-mauiiered  womeu — should  be  eucouraged  to  visit  prisons  and 
to  briug  their  magnetic  influence  to  bear  on  the  improvement  and  re- 
formation of  the  prisoners. 

Another  defect  in  the  penitentiary  administration  of  England:  the 
will-power  of  the  prisoners  is  not  adequately  developed  and  invigorated. 
Fifty  years'  experience  of  men,  fifty  years'  work  among  men,  have  im- 
pressed upon  my  mind  only  one  idea.  It  is  that  nothing  can  be  done 
with  them  except  through  the  will.  The  will  can  be  reached  only  through 
the  intelligence  and  the  heart.  For  this,  first,  religion,  in  all  its  freedom, 
purity,  and  i)ower,  is  necessary;  and,  secondly,  in  the  case  of  prisoners, 
progressive  classification,  whereby  the  ordinary  motives  which  control 
men  in  free  society,  and  urge  them  to  industry  and  virtue,  may  act 
steadily  and  eftectively  upon  these  also,  determining  to  good  the  choices 
of  their  will,  and  so  the  actions  of  their  life. 

One  further  jioint  in  a  way  of  criticism  :  I  refer  to  the  want  of  unity 
in  the  county  and  borough  jail  system.  Every  jail  in  J^^ngland  is  inde- 
pendent of  every  other.  The  little  discrimination  exercised  in  tbe 
treatment  of  prisoners  struck  me  as  a  great  defect.  There  seems  only 
one  medicine  for  all  the  diseases.  Even  in  the  employment  of  the 
tread-mill,  on  which  no  prisoner  can  be  placed  except  by  express  author- 
ization of  the  medical  officer  of  the  prison,  and  where,  therefore,  uni- 
formity might  be  looked  for  if  anywhere,  the  usages  are  exceedingly 
different.  In  some  jails  the  working  hours  on  this  machine  are  six  and 
a  half  per  day;  in  others,  eight  and  three-quarters.  In  some  the 
velocity  per  minute  is  thirty-six  steps ;  in  others,  forty-eight.  And  the 
number  of  feet  ascended  daily  varies  from  7,800  to  21,000  !  In  other 
departments  of  the  administration  the  differences  are  no  less.  Now,  I 
do  not  object  to  local  government  within  reasonable  limits;  on  the  con- 
trary, I  favor  it  strongly,  believing  it  essential  to  a  living,  energetic, 
effective  administration.  At  the  same  time  I  hold,  with  equal  strength 
of  conviction,  that  the  penal  system  of  a  country  should  be  a  unit;  that 
there  should  be,  in  each,  some  central  authority,  having,  within  due 
bounds,  (for  in  this,  as  in  other  departments  of  the  public  service, 
there  may  be  an  excess  of  centralization,)  the  oversight  and  control  of 
all  institutions,  whether  of  a  penal  or  reformatory  character,  looking  to 
the  prevention  and  repression  of  crime.  On  this  condition  alone,  it 
seems  to  me,  can  there  be  secured  that  skillful  adaptation  to  each  other 
of  the  several  parts  of  the  system  which  is  necessary  to  the  harmonious 
and  efficient  action  of  the  whole. 

1  do  not  propose  a  description  of  particular  i)risons,  but  will  make  a 
passing  reference  to  one  or  two  of  them  which  offer  favorable  points. 
The  Devenport  prison,  of  which  Mr.  Edwards  is  governor,  is  one  of 
these.  It  has  an  average  of  seventy  i»risoners.  The  labor  is  chiefly 
industrial.  From  cocoa-nut  fiber,  costing  £2  sterling  per  ton,  the  pris- 
oners manufacture  textiles  worth  JC15.  Tiio  j)risoners  work  in  associa- 
tion ;  tlusre  is  no  sepaiation,  except  at  night.  In  four  years  there  have 
been  but  two  recommittals — a  pretty  strong  ju'oof  that  industrial  labor 
is  not  inferior  to  ])enal  laboi-  in  deterrent  effect.  There  has  not  been 
an  indrmaiy  cas<',  in  the  last  four  years. 

The  Waliclield  ])rison,  West  ]viding,  Yorkshire,  is  admirably  organ- 
ized an<l  managed  by  its  energ(!tic  governor,  Captain  Armytage.  The 
encircling  wall,  which  is  of  hewn  stone,  massive  and  lofty,  incloses 
eigliteen  acres  of  ground,  wliicli  are  almost  wholly  covered  with  the 
numerous  buildings  belonging  to  fluj  establislinuint.  'J'lie  avi-rnge  num- 
ber of  prisonei's  is  about  tw(jlve  hnnd^(^(l,  ol'  whom  nearly  one  sixth  are 
womeji.     The  \\'ak(^rield  jail  is  conspicuous  among  the  [uisons  of  iOng- 


AID    TO    DISCHARGED    PRISONERS.  213 

land  for  the  zeal  ami  success  with  which  industrial  labor  is  carried  on 
in  it.  In  this  respect  it  is  quite  a  counterpart  to  our  American  prisons, 
presenting  in  every  part  a  scene  of  busy  toil.  I  believe  it  is  n(3arly,  it' 
not  quite,  self-sustaining",  and  I  think  it  has  no  tread-mill ;  but  my  notes 
are  silent  on  both  points,  and  ray  recollection  is  not  perfectly  clear  on 
either.  The  prison  is  built  on  the  separate  pUiu,  which  is  carried  out 
to  a  certain  extent;  but  the  exigencies  of  the  labor  system  adopted  have 
made  great  inroads  u])on  that  principle.  In  effect,  the  prison  is  conducted 
much  more  upon  the  Auburn  than  the  Philadelphia  system.  Numerous 
trades  are  carried  on  here,  being  required  to  meet  the  wants  of  so  vast 
an  establishment;  but  the  only  industry  which  brings  in  a  money  rev- 
enue is  the  manufacture  of  mats  and  matting.  Of  these  the  amount  pro- 
duced is  enormous.  The  chief  market  is  the  United  States,  particularly 
Xew  York  and  San  Francisco,  the  great  carpet-house  of  the  Messrs. 
Sloane,  in  the  former  of  these  cities,  being  purchasers  to  the  extent  of 
something  like  $25,000  annually.  The  prison  has  a  cash  capital  of 
$100,000,  all  derived  from  the  earnings  of  the  prisoners. 

§  2.  Aid  to  discharged  prisoners — the  refiiges  at  WaJ,:eJi.eld. — Liberated 
prisoners  in  England  are  helped  in  their  efforts  to  reform  mainly  by  aid 
societies  ;  but  two  of  the  most  interesting  establishments  in  the  world, 
instituted  in  this  view,  exist  in  connection  with  the  Wakefield  prison. 
One  of  these  is  a  refuge  for  male  prisoners  discharged  from  the  estab- 
lishment, and  the  other  a  home,  similar  in  design  and  character,  for  the 
females.  The  chance  here  afforded,  through  these  refuges  or  homes,  to 
every  released  prisoner,  male  or  female,  who  desires  to  reform  and  eat 
honest  bread,  is  beyond  all  praise.  In  the  male  refuge,  at  the  time  of 
my  visit  in  1871,  there  were  accommodations  for  forty  inmates,  but  they 
could,  at  any  time,  be  readily  enlarged  so  as  to  admit  a  considerable 
number  more.  The  inmates  are  furnished  with  good  board  ;  clean  and 
well-aired  dormitories  ;  a  bed  consisting  of  iron  bedstead,  a  first-quality 
hair-mattress,  three  sheets,  two  pillow-cases,  two  dark  blankets,  one 
white  coverlet,  and  a  box  serving  at  once  as  a  trunk  and  a  seat ;  a  night- 
school  every  evening ;  a  preaching  service  and  Sunday-school  on  the  Sab- 
bath; a  well-selected  miscellaneous  library;  a  reading-room,  provided 
with  daily  and  weekly  journals,  «&c.,  all  at  an  average  rate  of  7s.  2d. 
sterling  per  capita  a  week.  They  work  at  mat-making,  and  their 
average  weekly  earnings  are  from  eleven  to  twelve  shillings.  They 
do  piece-work  at  rates  a  little  less  than  those  usually  paid,  because 
the  refuge  is  not  designed  to  afford  permanent  employment,  but  merely 
to  bridge  over  the  chasm  between  the  prison  and  steady  remunera- 
tive labor.  This  chance  is  given  to  every  man  released  from  the 
Wakefield  prison  who  desires  it,  and  its  benefits  are  fully  ex])lained  to 
all  during  their  incarceration,  so  that  not  a  solitary  person,  discharged 
from  that  prison,  can  ever  come  back  to  it  under  the  pretext  that  he 
could  get  no  work  to  do.  Is  not  that  noble  1  Why  may  not  ail  large 
penal  establishments  organize  something  of  the  same  kind  ? 

The  home  for  discharged  female  prisoners  is  managed  upon  the  same 
general  principles,  but  the  women  are  not  able  to  earn  a  full  support. 
The  income  from  their  work  has  to  be  supplemented  by  private  bene- 
factions. They  are  accommodated  in  a  new  and  spacious  mansion,  built 
expressly  for  the  purpose,  admirably  planned,  and  provided  with  all 
needful  appointments. 

§  3.  Mrs.  Meredith-s  Wash-house. — Among  the  almost  iuuumerable 
charities  of  London  there  is  one  of  a  very  peculiar  character,  called 
the  Prison  Mission,  which  is  as  praiseworthy"  as  it  is  original.  It  was 
devised  seven  or  eight  years  ago  by  the  lady  whose  name  stands  in  the 


214  INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

captiou  of  tbis  section,  aud  who  is  well  known  in  England  as  one  of  the 
most  energetic  and  efficient  workers  in  behalf  of  discharged  female 
prisoners  in  that  conntry.  The  work  of  the  mission  is  divided  into 
four  branches,  of  which  two  only  will  be  noticed — aud  that  all  too 
briefly — in  this  report. 

One  of  these  aims  is  to  assist  aud  save  prisoners  discharged  from  the 
London  House  of  Correction  for  Women.  The  ladies  of  the  mission  have 
hired  two  small  rooms  near  the  gate  of  the  prison,  where  some  of  them 
are  in  attendance  every  morning  at  the  hour  when  those  who  have  served 
out  their  time  are  discharged,  to  capture  (if  that  word  is  admissible  in 
a  good  sense)  as  many  of  the  women  who  have  been  set  free  as  they 
can  persuade  to  try  a  better  way  of  life.  They  give  them  a  hot  cup  of 
tea,  with  a  piece  of  bread  aud  cheese,  read  a  portion  of  scripture  aud 
offer  prayer  on  their  behalf,  and  explain  to  them  their  benevolent  in- 
tentions and  the  advautages  to  be  gained  from  yielding  to  their  persua- 
sions. They  succeed  in  their  endeavors  with  a  few  of  the  multitude  of 
wretched  outcasts  who  daily  emerge  from  those  prison-walls.  But 
what  do  they  do  with  and  for  those  whom  they  have  won  1  They  have 
established  an  immense  laundry,  where  the  clothing  and  bedding  of  the 
poorest  and  foulest  dwellers  in  the  crowded  dens  of  London  are  washed 
by  these  liberated  convicts  at  a  cost  considerably  below  what  they  could  do 
it  for  themselves.  Scores  and  hundreds  of  these  poor  creatures  are  lifted 
up  and  restored  to  the  walks  of  honest  industry  through  this  unique 
an(J  wonderful  agency.  The  women  come  at  8  in  the  morning  and  leave 
at  7  in  the  evening,  having  an  hour's  intermission  at  raid-day.  They 
bring  their  own  dinners,  but  are  provided  with  a  free  tea,  aud  receive  a 
shilling  a  day  for  their  work.  Every  afternoon,  at  4,  they  are  assem- 
bled in  the  chapel,  when  a  chapter  is  read  aud  prayer  offered ;  and 
every  Snuday  evening,  at  7  o'clock,  a  special  service  is  held,  to  which 
all  are  invited  ;  the  gospel  is  preached,  and  each  is  afforded,  if  she  will 
accept,  the  refreshment  of  a  cup  of  tea.  What  a  noble  charity !  It 
gives  work  to  those  whom  none  are  willing  to  employ.  It  pays  wages 
to  those  who  are  forbidden  by  many  barriers  to  seek  their  livelihood 
elsewhere.  It  affords  them  the  opportunity,  while  earning  bread,  to 
earn  also  an  honest  fame,  aud  to  secure  ultimately,  which  nearly  all 
do,  better  work  and  higher  pay.  At  the  same  time,  it  is  a  charity  which 
has  another  aspect,  scarcely  less  important  or  beneficent,  in  enabling  the 
lowest  class  of  the  London  poor  to  secure  (;lean  clothing  and  bedding  at 
the  cheapest  possible  rate — Gd.  per  dozen  i)ie('es. 

The  othoi'  bianch  of  the  ])rison  mission-work,  to  which  reference  will 
here  be  made,  is  of  a  pri^veutive  character.  It  aims  to  save  the  children 
of  ci'iiiiiuals  from  the  i)aths  trodden  by  their  parents.  The  ladies  have 
estal)lished  a  village  of  cottages,  each  cottage  containing  accommoda- 
tions foi-  ten  children,  who  are  ])laced  under  the  care  of  an  adoptive 
mother.  Tills  settlement  is  called  "  Princess  Mary's  Village,"  that  lady, 
now  the  Duchess  of  Teck,  having  taken  the  Avork  under  lier  especial 
l)atroiiag«'.  At  ])resent  there  are  ten  cottages  clustering  around  a  neat 
little  church  :in<l  school-house.  The  intention  is  to  enlarge  the  village 
as  rti])idly  as  (;ii(;umstances  will  i)ermit,  until  the  nund)er  of  cottages 
readies  thirty,  thus  pr()\'iding  for  three  Iiundred  children. 
.  §  I.  The,  Cnrlhk  Memorial  Rcl'iujc  for  ^yom(m. — The  assistan<;e  given  to 
liberated  male  jMisoiieis  in  lOngland  is  almost  wholly  through  aid  socie- 
ties. Mot  so,  however,  with  female  inisoners.  Indeed,  societies  would 
not,  for  them,  meet  (he  necessities  of  the  (^ase.  It  is  far  more  diflicult 
for  women  than  for  men  to  obtain  situations  immediately  on  their  re- 
lease from^piison.      Conse(|uently  they   need  to  have   ])rovi(led  some 


AID    TO    DISCHARGED    PRISONERS.  215 

place  in  wliich  their  good  resolutions  may  be  tested,  aud  some  s'uarantee 
given  for  their  continued  good  conduct,  before  families  will  be  willing 
to  receive  them  into  permanent  employment.  Hence,  those  women  who 
so  elect,  if  their  prison  character  has  been  such  as  to  warrant  the  indul- 
gence, are  allowed  to  pass  the  six  months  immediately  preceding  the 
term  of  their  release  in  refuges  established  and  managed  by  private  ef- 
fortj  but  assisted  by  contributions  from  the  government.  Here  they 
enjoy  the  advantages  of  a  treatment  approaching  that  of  home  influence, 
for  those  establishments  are  not  prisons,  either  in  appearance  or  dis- 
cipline— they  are  homes.  There  are  now  three  refuges  for  female  convicts, 
the  Carlisle  Memoral  Kefuge,  at  Winchester  ;  the  Eagle  House  Kefuge, 
at  Hammersmith,  for  Eoman  Catholics,  and  the  Westminster  Memorial 
Eefuge,  lately  established  at  Streatham.  One  hundred  and  seventeen 
women  passed  through  these  refuges  in  1871  out  of  a  total  of  two  hun- 
dred and  seventy-five  who  were  discharged  from  sentences  of  penal 
servitude.  The  number  availing  themselves  of  the  advantages  they 
ofter  has  heretofore  been  limited,  for  want  of  accommodation  ;  but  the 
establishment  of  the  last-mentioned  refuge  at  Streatham  has  prevented 
the  possibility  of  their  suffering  this  disadvantage  again. 

Of  these,  the  only  one  which  I  visited  in  the  summer  of  1871  was  the 
Carlisle  Memorial  Kefuge,  at  W^inchester,  at  that  time  under  the  general 
direction  of  Sir  Walter  Crofton.  I  was  much  pleased  with  the  institu- 
tion, which,  from  its  reports  and  from  what  Sir  Walter  told  me,  has 
been  very  successful  in  saving  from  a  return  to  crime  the  class  for  whom 
it  is  designed.  The*  superintendent.  Miss  Pumfrey,  seemed  admirably 
fitted  for  her  place.  Lady  Crofton,  1  found,  took  an  active  interest  in 
the  refuge,  spending  three  hours  there  daily  in  keeping  the  books  and 
conducting  the  correspondence.  The  number  of  inmates  was  about  sixty, 
which,  I  think,  is  not  far  from  the  average.  Much  pains  is  taken  to 
keep  track  of  the  women  after  they  leave  the  refuge.  Here  is  a  speci- 
men of  the  record  kept  of  each  : 

,  discharged  August.  9,  18!)7.     Same  date,  Tveut  as  servant  at  14  Queeu 

square,  London.  February,  1869,  left  with  a  good  character,  and  went  aa  housemaid 
in  Grove  street.  No.  104.     January,  1870,  went  as  housemaid  in  Birmingham.     May  16, 

1870,  doing  well  in  same  place.  July,  1870,  in  same  place;  wages  raised;  visited  by 
Miss  Pnmfrey.  November  25,  1870,  doing  well  in  same  place.  Same  in  January,  1871. 
Same  in  June  and  July,  1871,  at  which  latter  date  she  was  receiving  £18  a  year. 

The  sentiments  cherished  toward  the  refuge  by  those  who  have  en- 
joyed and  appreciated  its  advantages  are  well  expressed  in  a  letter  ad- 
dressed to  Miss  Pumfrey  by  this  same  person,  nnder  date  of  June  6, 

1871.  The  original  now  lies  before  me,  and  I  take  from  it  the  following 
sentences : 

Deak  Mis.s  PuMFiiKY :  *  "  *  Will  you  please  write  to  me  soon  ?  I 
do  want  to  hear  how  you  are,  for  I  can  nev^r  forget  you,  dear  Miss  Pumfrey,  never. 
You  did  say,  please,  miss,  you  would  give  me  one  of  your  portraits.  Will  you 
please  send  me  one,  if  you  have  one  to  spare,  so  that  I  may  place  it  beside  dear  Mrs. 
Bradstock  ?  How  is  that  dear  lady*  aud  family  ?  Hope  they,  with  yourself,  are 
well.  May  the  Lord  God  Almighty  ever  bless  you  both  for  the  many  hearts  you  have 
saved  and  made  happy  from  trouble.  Dear  Miss  Pumfrey,  how  are  all  the  women  go- 
ing ou  ?  I  hope  they  do  not  give  you  much  trouble.  Please  remember  me  to  those 
that  know  me,  and  tell  them  I  am  still  quite  happy,  aud  also  tell  them  that  the 
path  of  honesty,  righteousness,  and  truth  is  the  path  that  leads  to  happiness;  and  I 
pray  that  many,  many  more  souls  may  be  brought  to  Jesus — yea,  that  all  may  be 
brought  to  Jesus — as  dear  Mrs.  Barton  used  to  say,  "  one  and  all."  "  Him  that  cometh 
unto  me  I  will  in  no  wise  cast  out."  Precious  woixlsl  Onward,  homeward,  upward, 
heavenward.  Good-bye.  God  bless  you. 
From  vour  humble  friend. 


Referriufr  to  Ladv  Crofton. 


216  INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

§  5.  English  reformatories. — These  have  l)eeii,  both  in  their  principles 
and  Avorkiugs,  so  fully  described  in  preceding  parts  of  this  report,  that 
I  do  not  think  it  necessary  to  enter  into  further  detail  upon  the  subject. 
A  considerable  number  of  them  were  visited  in  different  parts  of  the 
kingdom,  one  or  two  of  which  I  had  intended  to  describe,  particularly 
Miss  Carpenter's  Eed  Lodge  Girls'  Eeformatory,  at  Bristol,  a  model  in- 
stitution in  all  respects,  especially  in  its  intermediate  dei^artment ;  and 
the  girls'  reformatory,  at  Hampstead,  London,  under  the  care  of  Miss 
Mcoll,  which,  in  neatness,  thoroughness,  order,  and  efiiciency,  moral 
and  material,  struck  me  as  one  of  the  best-organized  and  best-managed 
institutions  of  the  kind  I  had  ever  met  with  on  either  side  of  the  At- 
lantic.    But  I  forbear. 


CHAPTER   XXXI  L 

PERSO>^AJ^   INSPECTION    OP-  PRISONS  AND   REFORMATORIES    IN    SWITZ- 
ERLAND. 

§1.  The priHons  of  Sicifzerland. — I  visited  five  penitentiaries  in  Swit- 
zerland, viz,  at  Geneva,  Berne,  Zurich,  Lenzbourg,  and  Xeufchatel.  The 
tendency  of  public  opinion  in  this  little  republic  is  strongly  in  the  direc- 
tion of  the  Crofton  prison  system  in  its  fundamental  principle — that  of 
progressive  classification,,  with  gradual  withdrawal  of  restraint  and 
enlargement  of  privilege,  as  these  are  earned  by  industry,  good  con- 
duct, and  manifest  and  successful  effort  on  the  part  of  the  prisoner 
toward  self-conquest  and  self-control.  However,  the  first  two  of  the 
penitentiaries  named  above — those  at  Geneva  and  Berne — are  quite  an 
exception  to  this  rule.  1  shall  attempt  no  description  of  them  further 
than  to  say  that  they  appeared  to  me  deficient  in  most  of  the  essential 
qualitiies  of  good  prisons.  Each  of  them  may  be  pronounced  a  discredit 
to  the  city  which  i)rovides  no  more  suitable  plan  for  the  treatment  of 
its  criminals,  to  whatever  extent  they  may  have  offended  against  the 
laws.  If,  as  I  hope,  the  next  international  prison  reform  congress  shall 
be  held  in  Switzerland,  it  will  become  these  two  ancient  and  renowned 
cities  to  bestir  themselves  in  the  erection  and  organization  of  prisons 
more  worthy  of  themselves  and  their  country,  and  more  in  harmony  with 
the  progressive  spirit  of  the  age  in  the  matter  of  penitentiary  discipline. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  penitentiaries  of  Zurich,  Lenzbourg,  and  Xeuf- 
chatel  which  I  visited,  and,  as  I  was  informed,  those  of  St.  Gall,  Bille- 
ville,  Tessin,  an(i  perhaps  some  others,  are  in  a  satisfactory  condition. 
Into  all  of  them,  I  think,  has  been  introduced,  in  different  degrees  and 
with  various  modifications,  the  progressive  Crofton  penitentiary  system. 

The  penitentiary  at  Zuricli  is  under  the  care  of  Mr.  Wegmann  as  di- 
rector, who  is  a  most  excclh'ut  i)orson,  Avith  advanced  ideas,  thoroughly 
devot(*<l  to  his  work,  and  intent  on  iwipioving  the  mental  and  moral 
state  of  liis  i)risoners.  The  ])rison  bnihling  is  an  old  Dominician  con- 
vent, of  huge  <limensions,  l)nilt  in  the  iniddU^  uges,  massive  and  strong. 
It  has  been  altered  and  a<'<'()mm()dated  to  its  present)  uses.  Naturally  it 
is  irregular  in  structure  ami  arrangements;  but  it  is  well  kept,  clean 
and  ))ure  in  eveiy  part.  The  average  number  of  inmates  falls  but  little 
short  of  2'>0;  at  the  time  of  my  visit  ther(^  were  210.  It  is  organized 
and  conducte<l  on  the  i)rogressivo  i)lan.  There  are  three  classes.  In 
the  lowest  class,  there  were  00  the  day  1  was  tliere;  in  the  second,  128; 
and  in  tiie  third,  or  highest,  12.  Trisoners  in  the  lowest  class  are  in 
cellular  confinement  night  and  day  ;  those  in  the  other  two  are  in  sepa- 
ration  only  iit  iii^lit.     The  miiiimmn  of  cellular  imprisonment  is  three 


PERSONAL    INSPECTION    OF    SWLSS    PRISONS.  217 

montlis  ;  the  maximum,  six  months.  Privileges  are  increased  as  they  are 
earned.  Ten  to  fifteen  trades  are  carried  on  here.  Prisoners  who  were 
artisans  prior  to  their  commitment  work,  when  possible,  at  the  trades 
which  they  had  previously  practised.  Prisoners  ignorant  of  a  trade  when 
committed  are  allowed  to  choose  from  among  those  practised  in  the  prison 
the  one  they  prefer.  The  prison  has  a  chaplain,  who  devotes  his  whole 
time  to  the  dnties  of  his  office.  This  officer  had  died  the  week  before  my 
visit,  and  no  successor  had  been  appointed.  The  late  incumbent  acted  as 
schoolmaster  as  well  as  chaplain ;  but  hereafter  this  office  will  be  sep- 
arated from  the  chaplaihcy ;  and  the  schoolmaster,  like  the  chaplain, 
will  give  his  whole  strength  to  his  own  work,  that  of  secular  or  scholastic 
instruction. 

The  canton  of  Zurich  has  a  new  criminal  code,  of  rare  simplicity  and 
excellence,  the  work,  largely,  of  the  distinguished  Professor  D'Orelli, 
in  whose  society  and  that  of  a  few  other  cultivated  gentlemen  I  had  the 
honor  to  pass  an  evening,  greatly  to  my  jirofit  as  well  as  delight. 

The  penitentiary  of  Leuzbourg,  in  the  canton  of  Argovie,  has  been 
built  within  the  last  few  years.  It  is  admirably  arranged  in  all  respects, 
and  j)rovided  with  every  convenience  and  facility  for  the  effective  treat- 
ment of  criminal  men  and  women.  Both  its  construction  and  organ- 
ization are  due  to  the  zeal  and  energy  of  the  late  president  of  the 
confederation,  Mr.  Welti,  a  gentleman  of  marked  ability,  wisdom,  and 
philanthropy,  whom  I  found  at  the  executive  office  in  the  national  cap- 
itol,  and  ready  to  receive  visitors  at  8  o'clock  in  tliG  morning,  earlier,  I 
think,  than  any  other  ruler  in  the  world.  The  director  of  the  peniten- 
tiary is  Mr.  Victor  Hiirlin,  whose  installation  had  but  recently  taken 
place.  We  were,  therefore,  shown  through  the  establishment  by  the 
sub-director,  who  has  been  many  years  in  office,  and  who  impressed  me 
as  a  man  of  great  intelligence  and  efficiency.  The  prison  I  found,  through- 
out, in  excellent  condition,  and  altogether  an  admirable  institution.  On 
the  day  of  my  visit,  there  were  two  hundred  and  three  prisoners,  of 
whom  thirty-three  Vv'cre  women.  It  is  managed  on  the  Crofton  system, 
with  the  inmates  divided  into  three  classes.  The  duration  of  cellular 
imprisonment  here  is  quite  elastic.  It  has  a  maximum,  but  no  mini- 
mum limit.  The  maximum  is  a  year,  but  within  that  period  the  director 
can  transfer  a  prisoner  from  the  separate  to  the  associated  stage  when- 
ever he  judges  it  expedient.  Unlike  Zurich,  the  number  of  prisoners 
in  each  of  the  three  classes  in  the  Lenzbourg  penitentiary  was  nearly  the 
same.  The  number  of  trades  practised  is  twelve  to  fifteen,  and  the  con- 
vict has  the  choice  of  which  he  will  learn.  . 

^At  the  penitentiary  of  Xeufchatel  I  passed  several  days  as  the 
-x^est  of  its  director,  Dr.  Guillaume.  I  had  opportunity  to  study 
it  thoroughly,  and  I  feel  no  hesitation  in  placing  it  among  the 
model  prisons  of  the  world.  Dr.  Guillaume  is  a  gentleman  of  great 
versatility  of  talent,  high  culture,  boundless  enthusiasm,  and  rare 
aptitudes  for  his  calling.  He  has  but  one  idea,  one  aim;  and  to  that  he 
bends  all  his  strength  with  a  sleepless  and  tireless  devotion :  it  is  to 
change  the  bad  men  committed  to  his  care  into  good  ones ;  to  receive 
criminals,  and  return  them  to  society  honest  men.  The  average  number 
of  prisoners  is  about  eighty,  all  men.  Thtre  are  three  kinds  of  sentence- 
Some  of  the  inmates  are  sentenced  to  simple  imprisonment,  (these 
are  called  correctionals;)  some  to  reclusion,  (no  English  equivalent  in  the 
sense  here  used,)  and  some  to  travaux  forces,  (hard  labor.)*     Those  under 

*  By  the  introduction  of  tbis  statement  here  it  is  not  meant  to  be  implied  that  these 
sentences  are  peculiar  to  Neufchiitel.  The  distinction  is  one  in  use  in  most  of  the  coun- 
tries of  continental  Europe. 


218  INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

the  first-named  sentence  are  misdemeanants  ;  those  under  the  other  two, 
felons.  Nevertheless,  in  prison  they  all  have  much  the  same  treatment. 
The  number  sentenced  correctionally,  as  compared  with  those  sentenced 
to  reclusion  and  hard  labor,  is  nearly  as  seveu  to  one  ;  but  the  number 
of  correctionals  actually  in  imson  at  any  one  time  is  but  little  more 
than  half  of  the  whole  number  of  inmates.  The  reason  is  the  compara- 
tive shortness  of  their  sentences.  These  vary  from  a  month  to  two 
years,  but  the  average  is  only  four  months. 

The  penitentiary  treatment  here  has  for  its  aim,  as  already  stated,  the 
moral  reformation  of  the  prisoner.  This  treatment  is  progressive,  and 
the  classification  is  similar  in  principle  to  that  of  the  Crofton  system. 
On  their  entrance  the  prisoners  are  placed  in  the  lower  or  penal  class. 
In  this  class  cellular  separation,  day  and  night,  is  rigidly  enforced.  The 
prisoners  are  placed  in  cells  bare  of  all  ornament  and  having  few  articles 
of  furniture,  simply  such  as  a  due  regard  to  health  requires.  In  this 
class  the  prisoner  receives  only  5  per  cent,  of  his  earnings.  He  is  not 
permitted  to  wear  his  beard  nor  to  cultivate  plants  in  his  exercise-yard. 
He  can  have  only  such  books  as  are  selected  for  him  and  can  corre- 
spond with  his  friends  and  receive  their  visits  to  but  a  very  limited  ex- 
tent, and  only  in  cases  where  it  is  believed  that  these  influences  will  be 
decidedly  beneficial.  The  aim  is  to  lead  the  criminal  to  turn  the  mental 
eye  inward  and  to  reflect  upon  the  i^ast,  so  that  he  may  better  weigh 
the  present  and  take  care  for  the  future.  This  self-introspection  is  thought 
indispensable  to  secure  the  sincere  assent  of  the  prisoner  to  the  treatment 
of  w^hich  he  is  made  the  object.  Isolation  and  the  visits  of  the  officers 
are  found  to  greatly  facilitate  the  salutary  reflections  which  it  is  sought 
to  induce  in  the  prisoner's  mind.  These  reflections  have  also  a  deterrent 
effect,  for  ail  who  have  thus  gone  over  their  past  lives  have  declared 
tliatjif  they  could  at  that  moment  have  left  the  prison,  it  seemed  to  them 
that  they  would  ever  afterward  have  remembered  the  lesson  thus  re- 
ceived. Correctionals,  sentenced  to  only  a  short  imprisonment,  do  not 
get  beyond  this  penal  class,  in  which  the  discipline  is  intended  to  be  of 
a  deterrent  character.  Those  who  are  sentenced  to  longer  terms  i)ass 
successively  into  the  middle  class  and  then  into  the  superior. 

There  is  no  fixed  minimum  or  maximum  for  separate  imprisonment ; 
its  duration  is  in  the  discretion  of  the  director.  He  liolds,  however,  at 
the  end  of  each  month,  a  conference  with  the  chaplain,  school-master, 
steward,  and  chief  warder,  for  the  i)urpose  of  distributing  the  marks 
to  which  each  is  entitled  for  the  month,  for  good  conduct,  for  industry, 
and  for  attention  to  lessons:  0  signilics  bad;  1,  tolerable;  2,  good:  3, 
very  good.  Tliemiixinnim  of  marks  attainable  in  a  month,  it  is  thus  seen, 
is  0,  as  in  tli(^  (Jrolton  system.  These  marl^s,  as  well  as  the  amount  of 
earnings  ai)portioned  to  liim,  are  set  <low]i  in  the  moral  account  kept  with 
each  ))risoner.  Tliey  are  also  transcribed  into  the  memorandum-book  of 
the  ])risoner,  who  is  thus  ke])t  constantly  informed  of  the  judgment 
fomcd  by  llic,  j)rison  authorities  of  hisconduct.  The  proportion  of  earnings 
accorded  to  prisoners  in  the  middle  class  is  from  5  to  lli  per  cent. ;  in 
the  sup(;rioi-,  from  J  2  to  20.  In  these  two  classes  they  receive  a  larger 
percentage  of  earnings  in  ])ro])ortion  as  the  aggregate  is  greater ;  never- 
theless, tiie  eon<ln(tt  of  tlie  ]>rii«)ner  and  the  <legree  of  attention  given  to 
his  lessons  lia\(' their  effect,  in  diminishing  or  increasing  the  amount. 
Promotion  from  <»n(^  class  to  another  is  determined  by  the  prisoner's 
character,  his  ante(;<'dents,  and  the  lengtli  of  his  sentence. 

At  the  dat(!  of  my  visit. — not  counting  correctionals  sentenced  to  a 
short  imi)ris()nment — there  Mcrci  in  the  ])enal  class  '.M  ;  in  the  middle, 
1'J;  in    tiie   superior,  14.     Among  tliose;  in  the  superior  class  were  a 


PENITENTIARY    OF    NEUCHATEL.  219 

imniber  who  had  beeu  in  the  prison  ten,  twelve,  fifteen  years,  and  who 
wouUl  have  been  free,  if  the  i)rinciple  of  provisional  liberation  had  beeu 
introduced  into  Switzerland.  ]t  is  believed  that  this  principle  will  soon 
have  place  in  the  Swiss  legislation. 

With  a  view  to  gaining  the  will  of  the  prisoner  to  the  system  of  dis- 
cipline to  which  he  is  to  be  subjected,  this  system  is  explained  to  him 
as  soon  as  he  enters  the  penitentiary.  His  antecedents  are  made  the 
object  of  a  careful  but  kindly  examination.  He  is  aided  by  suitable 
suggestions  in  his  endeavor  to  search  into  the  causes  which  led  him 
into  crime.  Each  case  becomes  the  subject  of  a  serious  inquest,  and 
confidential  information  is  souglit  from  respectable  persons  by  means 
of  some  such  letter  as  this  : 

Siu: ,  of ,  aged ,  has  just  been  committed  to  the  peniten- 
tiary of  Neufchatcl,  to  undergo  there  an  imprisonment  of years.  For  the  purpose 

of  being  able  to  direct  his  penitentiary  education  with  some  chances  of  success,  we 
desire  to  obtain  exact  information  concerning  his  fiimily  and  the  associations  in  which 
he  has  lived:  concerning  his  education,  his  religions  and  scholastic  knowledge,  his  ap- 
prenticeship, his  occupation,  his  means  of  living,  his  character  and  moral  habits  ;  in  a 
word,  concerning  all  the  points  which  might  guide  us  in  our  task  and  enlighten  us  as 
to  the  causes  which  have  conducted  him  into  the  pathway  of  crime.  Knowing  the 
interest  you  take  in  the  unfortunate,  we  venture  to  send  you  the  accompanying 
formula,  which  we  ask  you  to  return  to  us  after  having  answered,  confidentially,  thu 
([uestions  contained  in  it.     Thanking  you  in  advance,  we  are,  &c., 

[Signed  by  the  director  and  chaplain  of  the  penitentiary.]" 


*  A  formula  is  iiiclosed  in  this  letter  headed,  "  Confidential  informations."  Each 
page  is  ruled  in  two  columns — the  left  containing  jninted  questions,  the  right  being- 
blank  to  receive  the  answers.  I  print  them  solid,  to  economize  space,  and  in  a  note, 
to  a.void  breaking  the  continuity  of  the  text:  1.  Name  and  surname  of  the  prisoner? 
2.  Date  of  birth  1  3.  Place  of  nativity  '/  4.  Legitimate  or  illegitimate?  .5.  An  orjihan? 
By  loss  of  both  p.areuts?  Of  father  ?  Of  mother?  G.  Since  what  age?  7.  What 
was  his  education  up  to  the  time  of  entering  the  primary  school?  8.  Did  ho  live 
at  home  ?  9.  Or  was  he  placed  at  board?  With  whom  and  where?  By  whom? 
10.  How  many  years  did  he  attend  school?  11.  In  what  place  ?  12.  Was  he  studious  ? 
Did  he  show  a  taste  for  study  or  was  he  idle,  indift'erent,  &c.'!  V-i.  At  what  age  did 
he  quit  school?  14.  W^hat  degree  of  learning  had  he  when  he  ceased  going  to  school? 
15.  Has  he  attended  night-schools  ?  16.  At  Avhat  age  did  he  pursue  the  course  of 
religious  instruction  and  ratify  the  vow  of  his  baptism  ?  17.  Have  you  noticed  any- 
thing special  in  the  character  of  this  catechumen  ?  18.  Has  he  undergone  an  appi'en- 
ticeship '?  19.  What  and  with  whom?  20.  Did. his  master  set  him  a  good  example? 
21.  What  was  the  duration  of  his  apprenticeship  1  22.  What  company  has  he  fre- 
quented ?  23.  After  his  first  communion  was  he  seen  in  the  wf/t's  making  himself 
merry  with  Wine?  24.  Was  he  fond  of  gaming?  25.  Has  he  traveled?  In  what 
countries?  For  how  many  years  ?  26.  Has  he  served  in  foreign  armies?  27.  What 
was  then  his  reputation  ?  Was  he  a  debauchee  ?  28.  Are  his  parents  still  living  ? 
29.  What  were  their  means  of  living  ?  30.  Have  they  beeu  convicted  of  crime?  31. 
Did  his  grandparents  live  in  the  family  ?  32.  How  manj'  brothers  has  he  ?  How 
many  sisters?  33.  By  a  first  marriage?  A  second?  A  third?  34.  How  old  are 
they?  35.  What  are  their  means  of  living?  36.  Have  any  of  them  been  in  prison  ? 
.37.  Have  they  a  guardian  ?  Does  he  do  his  duty  by  them  ?  38.  Do  you  know  of  the 
existence  of  mental  or  physical  maladies  (insanity,  e))ilepsy,  &c.)  in  his  family?  39. 
Is  he  married?  40.  At  what  age  did  he  marry  ?  41.  Did  he  have  the  means  of  sup- 
porting a  family  ?  42.  Wliat  is  the  moral  character  of  his  wife  ?  43.  Have  they  chil- 
dren ?  44.  How  many?  45.  Has  their  education  been  neglected?  46.  Has  it  Ijcen  a 
happy  marriage?  If  not,  to  whom  and  to  what  do  you  trace  the  pause?  47.  Have 
their  children  already  been  brought  before  the  courts  ?  48.  Was  the  prisoner  orderly 
in  his  habits?  49.  Was  he  industrious?  50.  How  much  did  he  earn  a  day?  51.  Is 
lie  a  drunkard  ?  A  gambler?  A  debauchee?  ,52.  Has  he  illegitimate  children?  53. 
To  what  cause  do  you  ascribe  his  misconduct  and  the  crime  he  has  connuitted? 
54.  Has  he  had  troubles  ?  Has  death  sundered  the  ties  of  family  '!  Has  he  expe- 
rienced reverses  ?  55.  Has  he  relatives?  Uncles?  Aunts?  What  are  their  moral 
character  and  their  social  position  ?  56.  Has  the  commune  aided  him,  his  relatives,  or 
his  family  ?  57.  Who  takes  care  of  his  family,  now  that  he  is  in  prison  ?  58.  Might 
the  prisoner,  on  his  liberation,  return  to  his  previous  aViode,  or  would  it  be  better  that 
he  chcange  his  associations  ? 


220  INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

Even  in  this  small  i>risoii,  vritli  an  averag'e  of  only  eighty  inmates^ 
from  fifteen  to  twenty  different  industries  are  carried  on,  including 
shoemakingf,  tailorinj^,  carpentery,  smithery,  coopering,  turning,  lithog- 
raphy, watch-making,  book-binding,  basket-making,  brush-making,  gar- 
dening, &c.  Every  prisoner,  not  already  master  of  a  trade  on  his  en- 
trance, is  allowed  free  choice  of  any  of  those  pursued  in  the  prison. 
The  foremen  work  with  the  prisoners  precisely  as  a  boss  mechanic  works 
with  his  apprentices.  There  are  never  more  than  four  workmen  in  a 
shop,  but  others  are  often  working  at  the  same  trade  in  cells,  who  are 
instructed  and  supervised  by  the  same  foreman.  While  he  is  attending 
to  them,  the  prisoners  in  the  common  shop  are  left  alone,  but  they  are 
as  diligent  in  his  absence  as  when  he  is  present.  In  a  great  work-shop, 
where  the  keeper  is  always  on  an  elevated  platform,  with  no  other  occu- 
pation than  that  of  overseeing  a  number  of  men  working  in  silence,  it 
is  impossible  for  him  to  give  the  good  example  of  industrious  labor 
himself.  Such  a  system  is  believed  by  Dr.  Guillaume  to  be  as  perni- 
cious for  the  prison  employe  as  it  is  for  the  prisoners.  For  this  reason 
he  gives  the  preference  to  the  system  which  approaches  nearest  to  that 
of  the  free  work-shop,  and  it  is  on  this  account  also  that  thf  law  of 
.silence  does  not  exist  in  the  penitentiary  of  Xeufchjitel.  The  same  usage  is 
found  in  the  penitentiary  of  Baleville,  the  rule  of  silence  not  being  en- 
forced there.  This  relaxation  is  upon  the  ground  (the  director  of  that 
prison  says)  that  the  liberty  of  talking  openly,  ^\ithin  fitting — that 
is  to  say,  moderate — limits,  makes  the  prisoners  more  frank  and  sin- 
cere, since  it  frees  them  from  the  necessity  of  resorting  to  devices 
for  the  purpose  of  communicating  with  each  other.  In  the  other 
Swiss  penitentiary  establishments  the  rule  of  silence  exists.  But  Dr. 
(Tuillaume  insists,  and,  indeed,  it  is  well  known  to  all  conversant  with 
the  subject,  that  prisoners  find  a  certain  charm  in  breaking  this  rule, 
and  that  they  succeed  in  doing  so  oidy  too  often.  It  is  for  that  reason 
that  he  does  not  attempt  its  enforcement  in  his  establishment.  He 
holds  that  it  is  artificial,  that  it  is  consequentl}'^  irrational,  and  fur- 
ther that  it  is  little  adai)ted  to  the  training  process  to  which  prisoners, 
if  they  are  to  be  reformed,  must  be  subjected  after  the  penal  stage.  In 
his  own  i)rison,  where  the  foreman  (who  is  a  prison  officer)  works  with 
the  convict  laborers,  and  every  one  is  bnsy,  there  is  very  little  conver- 
sation, and  what  is  said  relates  to  the  work.  At  the  ten-minute  recesses, 
at  10  and  -i  o'clock,  conv(n-sation,  directed  and  maintained  within  the 
limits  of  i)roi)riety  and  self-res[)ect  by  the  foreman,  is  found,  instead  of 
being  huilful,  to  liave  an  excellent  elfect.  Eor  the  most  |)art  it  turns 
upon  the  subject  of  the  last  school-lesson,  tlie  mathematical  problem 
given  out  to  be  solved,  or  the  conference  of  Sunday,  at  which  the,  em- 
ployc'is,  as  well  as  tlie  ])risoners,  are  re(piired  to  be  present.  The  pres- 
<^n(;e  of  the  foreman  is  considered  by  Dr.  (hiilhiume  necessary,  in  order 
that,  through  his  moral  ascendency,  the  conversation  may  not  degen- 
erati;  into  grossness  and  obscenity.  So  far,  on  a  three  years'  trial,  the 
authorities  have  only  had  ocjcasion  to  congratulate  themselves  on  the 
lesults  of  this  system,  which  seems  to  be  in  accordance  with  the  inward 
and  essential  nature  of  man. 

Labor  in  association  is  restricted  to  tlie  prisoners  in  the  middle  and 
snperior  classes,  and  is  atrcorded  to  llifin.  only  wIkmi  tiie  accommodations 
and  tlic  kind  of  indnsti'y  pf^rmit.  Many  icMnain  in  their  cellseven  after 
having  Ix'cn  pioiiioted  to  the.  higluM'  classes.  The  lack  of  suitable 
;u'(;omino(iations  prevents  their  introductif)n  into  the  workshop,  and  de- 
]irives  of  its  greater  freedom  and  ]>rivilege,  many  who  have  shown  them- 
selves wortiiv  of  sneh  indulgence.     Such  relative  libertv  Dr.  (iiuillaume 


PENITENTIARY    OF  NEUCHATEL.  221 

considers  ii  necessity  in  this  stage  of  penitentiary  discipline.  This  incon- 
venience woukl  disappear  if  there  were  three  prison  buiklings— one  for 
each  class — in  which  the  arrangements  were  adapted  to  the  end  in  view, 
and  to  the  necessities  of  each  of  these  successive  stages.  The  prisoners  in 
passing  from  one  establishment  to  another  would  seethe  progress  made 
toward  their  liberation.  Under  the  same  roof  it  is  diiiicult  to  establish 
and  to  make  sensible  the  distinction  between  the  two  higher  x)eniten- 
tentiary  classes.  For  this  reason  Dr.  Guillaume  is  a  partisan  of  the 
Crofton  system  in  its  strictness. 

As  regards  discipline,  no  corporal  punishments  are  allowed.  The 
punishment-cell  and  a  diet  of  bread  and  water  are  authorized  by  law, 
but  they  are  now  never  employed.  Deprivation  of  work  in  an  ordinary 
but  empty  cell  is  the  severest  disciplinary  punishment  at  present  in 
use.  Ennui  is  found  an  effective  means  for  conquering  the  most  obsti- 
nate, especially  if  they  have  been  treated  with  kindness  and  Justice. 
The  punishment-cell,  it  has  been  found,  often  makes  martyrs,  and  it  is  not 
well  to  make  martyrs  in  a  penitentiary  any  more  than  in  politics  and  re- 
ligion. For  an  officer  to  lose  his  temper  and  speak  with  anger  to  a  prisoner 
who  has  been  guilty  of  a  breach  of  discipline,  is  to  approach  the  lower 
moral  level  of  the  prisoner  himself,  and  to  give  him  reason  to  believe  that 
he  has  not  deserved  so  rigorous  a  treatment.  For  this  reason  Dr.  Guil- 
laume makes  it  a  rule  to  treat  prisoners  as  the  insane  are  treated, 
whose  ill-conduct  never  provokes  the  wrath  of  the  physician,  but  rather 
his  compassion.  He  makes  them  feel,  by  words  calm  and  self-restrained, 
that  he  is  pained  to  perceive  that  they  do  not  know  how  to  govern  them- 
selves, and  that  they  have  not  j'et  attained  that  self-control,  that  mas- 
tery of  their  thoughts  and  acts,  that  dignity,  in  a  word,  which  belong 
to  men  who  respect  themselves.  This  mode  of  treatment,  employed 
with  tact  and  a  skillful  adaptation  to  each  i)risoner's  special  character, 
has  shown  itself  effectual.  It  requires  more  patience,  greater  effort,  and 
a  longer  time,  than  the  expeditious  punishments  of  the  lash,  the  douche 
bath,  the  dungeon,  and  other  similar  inflictions;  but  the  most  recal- 
citrant yield  to  it  in  the  end;  and — -a  material  consideration — without 
any  waste  of  the  prisoner's  inward  moral  forces,  but  rather  a  toning  up 
and  strengthening  of  his  entire  moral  being. 

With  a  view  of  having  a  number  of  moral  punishments,  there  have  be\}n 
introduced  into  the  penitentiary  of  Neufchatel  a  number  of  moral  re- 
wards and  encouragements.  The  withdrawal  of  these  latter  constitutes 
a  punishment  far  more  sensibly  felt,  and  therefore  far  more  efficacious, 
than  the  rigors  of  the  old  regime.  It  would  be  difficult,  if  not  impos- 
sible, to  enumerate  all  the  rewards  held  out  to  win  back  the  prisoners  to 
virtue's  paths,  for  they  are  often  suggested  by  special  tastes  and  desires, 
which  take  on  an  endless  diversity  of  forms,  tiome  of  them,  however, 
may  be  named,  which  will  serve  to  giv^e  an  idea  of  their  variety.  They 
are :  1.  Promotion,  speedy  if  deserved,  from  class  to  class.  2. 
The  privilege  of  apprenticeship  to  an  interesting  trade,  such  as  lith- 
ography, book-binding,  or  any  other  that  may  be  preferred.  3.  Increase 
of  the  proportion  of  earnings.  4.  Permission  to  use  a  part  of  these  in 
the  purchase  of  books,  popular  illustrated  journals,  scientific  and  lit- 
'  erary,  engravings  to  adorn  their  cells,  and  tools  wherewith  to  occupy 
themselves  in  their  own  time.  5.  Permission  to  wear  a  watch,  or  have 
a  thermometer.  G.  Permission  to  wear  their  beard.  7.  Permission  to 
cultivate  flowers  and  vegetables  in  the  little  garden  of  their  exercise- 
yards,  and,  by  consequence,  to  have  flowers  in  their  cells,  and  oil  and 
vinegar  for  salad.  8.  Permission  to  receive  the  visits  of  their  relatives 
in  the  office  of  the  director,  and  not  in  the  prisoners"  conversation-room. 


222  INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

9.  More  frequeut  leave  to  write  letters  to  their  friends.  10.  Perinission 
to  purchase  articles  of  clothing,  for  example,  cravats,  to  wear  on  Sun- 
day. (Under  this  head  Dr.  Guillaume  expressed  a  hope  that  the  time 
might  come  when  the  superior  class  should  have,  on  Sunday,  a  special 
suit  of  clothes,  including  leather  shoes — clogs  only  being  now  i^ermitted 
by  the  rules — thereby  contributing  not  only  to  their  comfort,  but  to  their 
self-respect  and  personal  dignity.)  11.  Permission  to  learn  to  play  on 
the  zitliare,  a  small  musical  instrument,  of  thirty  cords,  making  so  little 
noise  that  it  is  scarcely  heard  in  the  adjoining  cells.  12.  The  privilege 
oi"  choosing  books  for  themselves  out  of  the  prison  library.  13.  To  draw, 
(especially  to  make  mathematical  drawings.)  14.  To  read  the  technical 
journals  taken  by  the  administration.  15.  Admission  to  positions  of 
trust ;  for  instance,  in  the  distribution  of  meals,  in  the  bureau,  and  in 
other  services  of  the  house,  as  temporary  aids.  IG.  Permission  to  super- 
intend the  apprenticeship  of  fellow-prisoners  in  the  middle  class. 

Long  and  noble  as  this  catalogue  is,  a  grave  omission  is  observable 
in  it. 

Abbreviation  of  the  term  of  imprisonment  is  nof  among  the  incen- 
tives held  out  to  the  prisoners  of  theNeufchatel  penitentiary  to  (piicken 
their  endeavors  toward  a  better  life.  Yet  nothing  is  so  sweet  to  the 
human  mind,  nothing  is  so  much  coveted  by  it,  as  liberty  ;  and  nothings 
therefore,  presents  so  i^owerfal  a  motive  to  exertion  as  .the  hope  of 
shortening  the  period  of  captivity,  if  only  for  a  few  days  ;  how  much 
more  when  the  term  is  months,  or  even  years.  Dr.  Guillaume  is  quite 
sensible  of  this,  and  hopes,  as  all  must,  that  Switzerland  will  not  have 
to  wait  long  for  this  great  step  in  prison  reform. 

Among  the  encouragements  there  is  also  one  (not  set  down  in  the 
above  enumeration)  which  I  cannot  approve,  and  which  will  not  be  ap- 
proved by  my  countrymen ;  but  it  is  in  accordance  with  European 
(continental)  sentiment  and  usage.  It  is  permission  to  occupy  Sunday 
afternoon  in  small  industries  on  their  own  account,  such  as  embroidery, 
(broderie,)  the  coloring  of  engravings,  the  manufacture  of  little  wooden 
baskets,  ^c.  This  is  contrary  to  American  and  English  ideas  of  the 
sanctity  of  the  Sabbath;  and  we  think  we  draw  our  ideas  from  the 
word  of  God,  which  we  regard  as  the  ultimate  standard  of  faith  and 
morals. 

The  withholding  of  the  rewards  and  favors  accorded  to  prisoners  are 
the  i)unishments  employed  when  the  private  exhortations  of  the  director 
pro<luce  no  result.  Admonition,  kindly  exhortation,  the  appeal  to  honor 
and  manhood,  are  the  first  jninishments,  if  that  is  not  in  this  case  a  mis- 
nomer, and  they  are  sufficient  in  a  great  number  of  cases.  If  there  is  a 
repetition  of  transgression,  the  withdrawal  of  a  reward  follows,  and  that 
is  chosen  whose  loss  will  be  most  sensibly  felt  by  the  prisoner.  Here  in- 
divi(hiali/ation,  as  a  matter  of  course,  comes  in.  If  the  prisoner  shows 
hlnisclf  submissive,  if  lie  ieels  that  he  is  justly  punished,  and  if  he  con- 
ducts himself  in  an  exemplary  manner  for  some  time,  the  punishment 
(biases,  and  lie  again  enters  into  the  possession  of  the  forfeited  privilege. 

Permission  to  wear  the  beard  is  a  privilege  greatly  prized.  Uence, 
the  jjunishnicnt  which  coiisists  in  a  removal  of  this  token  of  manhood  is 
])roj)ortioiially  (headed.  Tlie  simple  threat  to  cause  a  ])risoner  to  be 
shaved  for  an  ofli'tise  is,  in  inaiiy  cases,  enough  to  ])revent  a  repetition 
of  it.  ()th(!rs  arc  less  sensitiv(i  on  this  point.  It  is  necessary  to  indi- 
vidualize, and  not — such  is  the  opinion  of  Dr.  (luillaiime — humUiate^Uw 
])rison<'r.  Thepuiiislimcntslioiild  in  noease  wound  his si^If-respect, which 
he  never  wholly  loses,  though  at  limes  it  sinks  to  a  very  low  plane. 
This  sentiment  rises  in  the  prisoner  in  pro[)ortion  to  the  esteem  whieh'is. 


PENITENTIARY    OF    NEUCHATEL.     '  223 

shown  bim ;  and  it  is,  above  all,  when  called  npon  to  i)unisli  him,  that  we 
should  never  forget  that  lie  is  a  man,  our  brother.  In  making  him  feel 
this,  he  will  comprehend  his  own  responsibility,  and  a  feeling  of  shame 
will  be  awakened  in  his  breast.  This  sentiment  is  feeble  at  first,  but  it 
grows  and  strengthens  in  jiroportion  as  the  work  of  reformation  advances. 
It  is  this  vital  fact  which  explains  why,  in  the  penitentiary  of  Neufchatel, 
there  is  neither  corporal  punishment,  nor  chains,  nor  prison  garb,  nor 
gens  d'arms,  nor  armed  or  even  uniformed  oflicials.  The  constant  en- 
deavor is  to  place  the  prisoners  in  conditions  similar  to  those  which  are 
found  in  respectable  mechanics'  families,  where  labor,  order,  economy, 
and  intellectual  recreations  are  held  in  esteem. 

An  effective  school  is  maintained  in  the  prison,  on  one  of  whose  ses- 
sions it  was  my  pleasure  to  attend.  It  is  divided  into  three  classes,  and, 
so  far,  is  upon  the  model  of  the  ordinary  primary  schools  of  the  country. 
The  average  attendance  for  the  year  has  been,  in  the  lowest  class,  ten : 
in  the  middle,  thirteen  ;  in  the  highest,  lifteen.  All  the  other  prisoners 
receive  lessons  in  their  cells.  A  schoolmaster  devotes  his  whole  time 
to  the  work  of  instruction.  Admission  to  the  school  is  made  a  recom- 
pense of  good  conduct,  and  is  found  to  be  a  strong  stimulus  to  such  con- 
duct. To  all  such,  admission  is  an  occasion  of  rejoicing  and  a  source  of 
satisfaction.  A  withdrawal  of  its  privileges,  for  ever  so  short  a  time,  is 
felt  as  a  punishment.  On  entering  the  school,  a  written  examination 
takes  place,  and  this  is  repeated  at  the  end  of  each  month.  The  pupils 
are  classilied  by  its  results.  The  order  of  the  examination  is  as  follows  : 
1.  Date.  2.  Name  of  prisoner.  3.  An.  exercise  in  reading.  4.  Solution 
of  a  pi'oblem  in  arithmetic,  o.  Geography,  questions  and  answers.  6. 
History,  same.  7.  Composition,  on  a  subject  assigned  or  freely  selected. 
S.  Dictation  of  several  sentences. 

The  branches  taught  are  reading,  writing,  arithmetic,  geography,  his- 
tory, and  the  natural  sciences.  Each  lesson  begins  with  the  reading  of 
a  piece  selected  from  a  school-book  used  in  the  i)ublic  schools  of  the 
country.  The  piece  to  be  read  is  announced  at  a  previous  school  session, 
so  that  the  i)upils  may  prepare  themselves  to  ask  the  schoolmaster  ques- 
tions on  the  subject  to  which  it  relates.  He  solves  their  difflculties,  and 
adds  such  comments  as  he  deems  fit.  He  then  gives  oral  lessons  in  geogra- 
phy, history,  &c. — lessons  which  have  been  suggested  by  the  piece  read,  or 
the  questions  asked.  The  endeavor  is  alwa^^s,  as  much  as  possible,  to 
give  the*  practical  side  of  things,  so  as  the  better  to  awaken  the  interest 
of  the  learners.  The  problems  given  in  arithmetic  and  geometry  are 
invariably  such  as  admit  of  an  immediate  application. 

As  soon  as  they  have  arrived  at  the  point  where  they  are  able  to  do 
so,  the  pupils  are  expected  to  keep  a  journal,  in  which,  among  other 
records,  they  give  a  summary  of  the  leSson  of  each  day,  and  some  of 
these  abridged  statements  are  read  at  every  school  session.  I  was 
greatly  interested  in  the  compositions  of  this  kind  which  were  read  on 
the  day  of  my  visit,  all  of  which  were  on  the  subject  of  glass,  giving  an 
account  of  its  elements,  manufacture,  uses,  history-,  &c.,  &c.  They  gave 
token  both  of  the  thorough  manner  in  which  the  teacher  had  imparted 
his  instructions,  and  of  the  close  attention  with  which  they  had  been 
listened  to  by  his  convict  scholars. 

On  every  Sunday  morning,  the  hour  Immediately  preceding  divine 
service  is  devoted  to  a  lecture  by  the  director  on  whatever  subject  he 
may  choose  to  address  his  audience,  which  is  composed  of  all  the  em- 
ployes and  jirisoners  of  the  establishment.  His  range  of  topics  is  wide^ 
including  biographies  of  celebrated  men  sprung  from  the  ranks  of  the 
people,  (Benjamin  Franklin,  John  Bright,)  philanthropists,  (John  How- 


224  INTERIsATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONCxRESS. 

arcl,  Florence  Xiglitingale,)  striking  events  of  the  day,  (the  arbitration 
at  Geneva,)  new  inventions  and  discoveries,  (the  electric  telegraph,  the 
microscope,  the  mowing-machine,)  questions  of  a  literary  or  scientific 
character,  geography,  history,  astromomy;  everything,  in  short,  which 
constitutes  a  human  interest  or  contributes  to  human  progress.  Before 
the  lecture  commences.  Dr.  Guillaume  is  accustomed,  for  a  few  moments, 
to  pass  in  review  the  general  conduct  of  the  prisoners,  and  to  give  them 
his  thoughts  on  lying,  on  idleness,  on  want  of  cleanliness,  on  indifterence, 
on  levity  of  character,  ou  impoliteness,  on  thoughtlessness,  on  inatten- 
tion to  order,  or  some  other  of  the  numerous  points  embraced  under  the 
general  designation  of  minor  morals.  In  the  afternoon  of  Sunday  the 
prisoners  are  required  to  write  compositions,  either  on  the  subject  of 
the  morning's  lecture  or  on  some  other  topic  given  out  in  class.  As 
further  subjects  of  composition,  there  are  distributed  copies  of  some 
engraving-^"  Our  Father  w^hich  art  in  Heaven,"  or  some  other;  and 
they  may  then  exercise  themselves  in  a  description  of  the  engraving, 
and  in  expressing  their  sentiments  on  what  it  represents.  These  com- 
positions are  compared,  their  relative  merits  weighed,  and  the  best  of  them 
selected  for  insertion  in  a  little  autographic  journal,  of  which  some  account 
must  now  be  given.  This  is  a  paper  under  the  title  of  Travaux  d'Bcole, 
{School- Woric,)  edited  and  published  in  the  penitentiary  every  fortnight. 
Each  number  occupies  four  pages  of  square  letter-paper,  (large  size,) 
and  is  illustrated  by  one  or  several  pictures,  the  whole  lithographed  by 
the  prisoners.  It  contains  compositions,  puzzles,  arithmetical  i^roblems 
and  their  solutions,  &c.,  mostly  by  the  convicts,  moral  and  instructive 
sentences,  selected  from  eminent  authors,  and  a  variety  of  other  matters. 
One  needs  but  to  glance  at  a  few  numbers  of  this  unique  journal  to  sat- 
isfy himself  that  the  educative  and  reformatory  power  embodied  in  it 
must  be  great  indeed. 

As  a  still  further  encouragement  to  diligence  in  learning,  there  are 
distributed  at  the  end  of  every  month,  after  the  customary  ex.amination, 
engravings,  books,  crayons,  &c.,  to  those  who  have  distinguished  them-, 
selves. 

Each  class  has  an  hour  in  school  daily,  and  those  who  are  in  cellular 
confinement  receive  also  the  daily  visit  of  the  teacher.  This  is  especially 
the  case  with  the  new-comers  and  the  abecedarians.  These  last  are  not 
admitted  into  class  till  they  are  able  to  follow  readily  the  reading  which 
takes  place  there. 

Tiie  i)enitentiary  has  a  library  of  nearly  500  volumes.  The  school- 
master has  charge  of  it  and  superintends  the  exchange  of  books.  But 
it  is  his  duty  not  to  i)ormit  an  exchange  till  he  has  satisfied  himself  that 
the  applicant  has  really  read  the  book  he  is  returning,  and  has  profited 
by  it.  The  prisoner  who  wishes-  to  be  sure  of  receiving  a  new  book 
writes  in  his  journal  a  resume  of  hifi  reading,  and  copies  the  passages 
which  have  most  interested  him  by  their  sentiments  or  their  style.  In 
this  manner  the  mon;  zealous  come  at  liMigth  lo  find  themselves  in  posses- 
sion of  a  collcclioii  of  maxims,  sentences,  i)ithy  sayings,  proverbs,  and  the 
like,  drawn  from  Hie  authois  wlioin  they  have  read. 

In  the  visits  which  J)r.  (iiiillaume  is  accustomed  frequently  to  make 
to  the  school  room,  he  takes  occasion  to  ask  one  and  another  what  book 
he  is  reading  at  tin;  time,  and  he  requin's  the  prisoner  so  interrogated  to 
give  him  some  account  of  it.  This  suggests  reilections  on  the  manner  of 
reading  books  so  as  to  derive  the  greatest  advantage  from  them  ;  and 
the  observations  addressed  to  one  become  i)iolitable  to  all. 

The  journal  is  not,  strictly  speaking,  obligatory  ;  but  all  know  that  to 
have  one  is  to  conform  lo  Hie  director's  desire.     It  is  simply  a  copy-book. 


THE    PENITENTIARY    OF    NEUCHAtEL.  225 

in  wliicli  the  prisoner  sets  clown  each  day  what  be  has  done,  and  the  re- 
flections suggested  by  his  reading,  his  lessons,  &c.;  also  his  observations 
on  the  weather  and  the  periodic  phenomena  of  the  plants  in  his  garden, 
on  the  trees  of  the  neighboring  forest,  the  birds  which  he  hears  sing,  the 
visits  made  to  him,  the  letters  received  or  sent,  the  sermon  of  Sunday, 
the  visitors  seen  in  the  chapel,  &c.,  &c. 

The  schoolmaster  is  reqnired  to  submit  to  the  director  a  monthly  re- 
port of  the  condition  of  the  school  and  the  progress  of  the  scholars. 
One  of  these,  in  manuscript,  was  placed  in  my  hands,  and  now  lies  be- 
fore me.  It  is  a  curious  and  instructive  record.  Eleven  prisoners  had 
been  admitted  to  the  school  during  the  month.  The  result  of  their  in- 
itial examination  showed  that  one  only  had  a  tolerable  primary  educa- 
tion ;  the  other  ten,  bad,  reading  and  writing  with  difficulty.  Nine  had 
left  the  school,  their  term  of  sentence  having  expired.  Of  these,  the 
'primary  education  of  two  -was  good  ;  of  two,  tolerable  ;  of  five,  bad.  The 
two  noted  as  good  had  been  four  months  in  attendance  ;  the  others  were 
short-term  prisoners,  correctionals.  The  distribution  of  the  school  into 
classes  was  :  In  the  inferior,  18;  in  the  middle,  18  ;  in  the  superior,  11; 
total,  47.  The  number  of  weekly  lessons  given  to  each  class  was  6 ;  total, 
18.  The  course  of  study  for  the  month  liad  included,  in  geography,  the 
principal  mountains,  valleys,  rivers,  and  lakes  of  Switzerland,  its  differ- 
ent cantons  and  capitals,  the  products  of  its  soil  and  industry ;  in 
Swiss  history,  the  leading  events  of  the  fourteenth  and  sixteenth  centu- 
ries; in  inventions,  the  telegraph;  in  arithmetic,  numerous  practical 
problems,  with  the  bearing  of  eacli,  and  exercises  in  class.  The  master 
further  reports  that  he  has  examined  the  summaries  made  by  the  pris- 
oners of  the  contents  of  the  books  read  by  them  during  each  week,  and 
that  the  result  of  the  usual  monthly  examination  had  been,  upon  the 
whole,  satisfactory.  The  subjects  of  .the  pieces  read  in  class,  and  of  the 
compositions  written  on  them,  are  reported  as  glass,  porcelain,  clothing, 
mountain  birds,  the  cork-tree,  consumption  of  alcoholic  drinks  in  Eng- 
land and  the  canton  of  Berne,  statistics  of  intemperance  and  consider- 
ations upon  it ;  petroleum,  and  the  quantity  exported  from  America ; 
different  systems  of  lighting,  &c.,  &c.  Thirty  hours  are  reported  as 
having  been  devoted  to  giving  lessons  in  the  cells.  He  puts  down  as 
the  subjects  of  Dr.  Guillaume's  Sunday  lectures  for  the  month :  August 
4,  An  account  of  his  voyage  from  NeufchTitel  to  England  in  a  geograph- 
ical point  of  view,  means  of  communication  by  railway  and  steamer ; 
August  11,  Interesting  fragments  from  Macaulay's  History ;  August 
18,  Miss  Mary  Carpenter  and  her  labors ;  August  25,  Climates,  with  a 
picture  showing  the  plants  and  animals  of  the  different  zones.  The  re- 
jiort  embraces  other  points  which  I  omit,  and  closes  with  a  hearty 
tribute  to  the  diligence,  zeal,  interest,  and  good  conduct  of  his  convict 
pupils. 

I  was  anxious  to  ascertain  whether  the  public  opinion  of  the  prison 
could  be  so  developed  and  directed  that  it  might  be  made  to  react  ef- 
fectively upon  the  prisoners  as  one  of  the  governing  forces  of  the  estab- 
lishment. On  this  point  I  interrogated  Dr.  Guillaume  closely,  and  his 
account  of  the  matter  was  substantially  as  follows  :  He  conceives  that 
such  as  are  the  employes,  such  will  be  the  prisoners ;  that  if  the  former 
comprehend  their  mission,  possess  the  necessary  tact,  and  make  them- 
selves respected  by  their  conduct  and  their  conscientious  industry,  (for 
they  are  required  to  work  no  less  than  the  prisoners,)  the  latter  will  imi- 
tate them  in  well-doing,  and  all  will  contribute  and  unite  their  influence 
in  maintaining  the  order  and  discipline  of  the  establishment.  Conse- 
quently, his  first  care  is  directed  to  the  officers.  To  develop  their  inter- 
H.  Ex.  185 15 


226  INTEKNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

est  in  the  work,  he  holds  frequent  reunions  of  the  foremen  and  other 
employes,  and  gives  them  familiar  lectures,  or,  as  he  styles  them,  confer- 
ences^ on  the  history  of  penitentiary  reform,  on  the  various  systems  em- 
ployed to  effect  the  reformation  of  criminals,  and  on  the  duties  of  per- 
sons charged  with  so  high  and  responsible  a  function.  These  conferences 
have  for  object  the  familiarizing  of  the  employes  with  the  service,  and 
especially  with  the  spirit  which  has  dictated  its  rules  and  regulations. 
In  making  apparent  to  their  apprehension  how  great  and  noble  is  the 
mission  of  laboring  for  the  reformation  and  future  well-being  of  their 
fallen  brethren,  the  employes,  if  they  have  the  necessary  aptitudes,  be- 
gin to  comprehend  how  important  is  the  part  which  they  are  called  to 
play,  and  by  degrees  they  come  to  realize  the  dignity  of  being  respon- 
sible agents,  and  to  feel  a  pride  in  their  work.  They  no  longer  look 
upon  themselves  as  mere  turnkeys  and  jailers,  but  rather  as  guides, 
teachers,  trainers,  who  must,  above  all,  preach  by  their  example.  They* 
have,  severally,  at  heart  the  good  order  and  discipline  of  their  ward — 
that  is,  of  the  prisoners  who  are  placed  under  their  special  care.  Emu- 
lation develops  itself  among  them,  and  they  seek  to  rival  each  other  in 
zeal  for  order,  decorum,  good  manners,  politeness,  industry,  &c.  Each 
one  is  anxious  to  have  the  cleanest  and  most  orderly  ward,  and  the  best 
arranged,  best  kept,  most  industrious,  and  most  successful  workshop. 

As  regards  the  penitentiary  public,  this  esprit  de  corps  makes  itself 
equally  felt,  insomuch  that  it  produces  in  all  the  employes  a  desire  to 
maintain  the  good  repute  of  the  establishment.  The  penitentiary  is  for 
them  their  family. 

At  the  last  industrial  exhibition  in  the  canton  the  penitentiary  coopers 
obtained  a  medal,  and  the  gardeners  a  prize,  since  which  time  there  haa 
been  established  a  traditional  reputation,  which  will  doubtless  be  main- 
tained, for  the  prisoners  have  become  imitators  of  the  keepers  in  their 
esprit  de  corps.  On  the  occasion  of  the  exhibition,  the  prisoners  were 
anxious  to  prove  to  the  public  that  they  knew  how  to  work,  and  that  in 
due  time  they  would  be  worthy  to  re-enter  society.  The  press,  on  tins  oc- 
casion, indulged  in  a  variety  of  criticisms,  but  the  public  showed  itself 
favorable  to  the  introduction  of  industrial  occupations  into  the  prison, 
and  the  admission  of  the  products  of  prison  labor  to  this  general  expo- 
sition of  agricultural  and  mechanical  industry. 

Owing  to  the  sagacious  and  comprehensive  combinations  of  Dr.  Guil- 
laume,  as  explained  above,  the  public  oi)inion  of  the  prisoners  is  such  that 
it  exercises  a  strong  power  of  control  over  them.  Often,  by  their  remon- 
strances and  tlicir  inlluence,  they  repress  the  evil  thoughts  whicli  occa- 
sionally show  tliiMiiselves  in  one  or  another  of  their  comrades.  Among 
the  motives  impelling  them  to  act  in  so  i)raiseworthy  a  manner  is  the 
fear  of  forfeiting  or  lessening  the  fair  reputation  which  may  have  been 
Avon  by  their  shoj).  ]Jr.  Ouillanme  exi)lained,  and  seemed  very  desirous 
that  1  should  comi)rehend,  that,  in  speaking  of  evil  purposes  formed  by 
individual  jirisoners  an<l  suppressed  by  the  force  of  i)ublic  opinion,  he 
alluded  to  trivial  oiTeiises — nu^i-e  breaches  of  discipline — for  they  never 
had  had  cases  of  gioss  insubordination,  revolt,  aiul  the  like — cases  which, 
indeed,  they  had  eoiiKi  to  regard  as  of  almost  imi»ossible  occurrence. 

Various  hooks  of  record,  in  addition  to  ac^c.ouiits-curn'nt,  are  kept  by 
the  author  ties,  iu  which  an',  noted  different  classes  of  facts  relating  to 
the  ]»ris!;n«  rs.  1  propose  to  make;  but  l)rief  reference  to  oidy  a,  portion 
of  tin  III.  One  contains  the  most  complete  statement  attainable.  Whether 
fiom  the  prisoner  himself  or  from  tiiisrwortiiy  jiersous  in  the  locality 
from  which  lie  came,  of  his  antecedents,  chara<*ter,  haltits,  occupation, 
relations,  \:\\\\v  of  the  ]iif»per1y  stolen,  if  his  crime  was  theft,  c^c,  «S:c^ 


THE    PENITENTIARY    OF    NEUCHATEL. 


227 


Another  opens  a  moral  account  with  him,  in  which  a  contiDuous  record 
is  kept,  month  by  mouth,  of  his  conduct,  industry,  and  habits  of  study, 
according  to  the  following  form  : 


Names. 

Month  of . 

Conduct.    Industry. 

School. 

Total  of  marks. 

9 
6 

Earnin<i;s. 

A 

3 

2 

3 
2 

3 
2 

3/.  60c. 

2/.  80c. 

B 

A  column  is  added  for  general  remarks.  The  marks  are  settled,  as 
already  explained,  in  the  general  conference  of  officers  at  the  end  of 
each  month. 

In  addition  to  this  there  is  for  every  prisoner  a  file  or  bundle  of  papers, 
(dossier,)  in  which  are  found  :  1.  The  charge,  sentence,  «S:c.,  of  the  court. 
2.  Official  and  confidential  information  obtained  relative  to  the  prison- 
er's antecedents.  3.  A  short  account  of  his  life,  written  by  himself  or 
at  his  dictation.  4.  The  result  of  his  scholastic  examination  on  entrance. 
5.  A  monthly  transcript  from  the  moral-account  book  and  the  punish- 
ment record.  6.  His  photographic  likeness  when  committed.  7.  Good 
or  bad  facts  relating  to  his  conduct.  8.  His  photograph  on  leaving  the 
prison.  9.  Facts  relating  to  the  aid  given  him  at  his  discharge,  [son 
;patyonage,)  and  his  conduct  after  liberation. 

The  cantine*  does  not  exist  in  the  penitentiary  of  Neufchatel,  nor  is  it 
in  contemplation  to  introduce  it.  It  is  believed  there  that  such  an  in- 
stitution must  end  in  demoralizing  both  officers  and  prisoners,  and  that 
therefore  the  fixed  dietary  of  the  prison  ought  to  be  made  sufficient  to 
satisfy  all  fit  and  reasonable  wants. 

During  the  few  days  I  passed  at  jSTeufchatel  I  mingled  freely  with  the 
prisoners,  conversing  with  them  ad  libitum  without  the  presence  of  an 
officer.  I  found  the  best  spirit  and  the  best  state  of  feeling  existing 
among  them.  Of  not  a  few  the  love  to  Dr.  Guillaume  seemed  like 
that  of  children  to  a  father.  I  verily  believe  that  tbere  are  pris- 
oners in  that  penitentiary  whom  this  feelingVould  hold  tbere  as  with 
chains  of  steel,  if  every  bolt  were  removed,  and  every  door  set  wide 
open,  thus  proving  again  the  truth  of  Dr.  Wicheru's  paradox,  that  "  the 
strongest  wall  is  no  wall." 

It  will  be  asked.  What  about  the  earnings  in  a  prison  which  seems  so 
much  like  a  university,  and  where  every  thought,  contrivance,  and 
eflbrt  appear  to  be  given  to  the  reformation  of  the  convicts  "?  I  am 
happy  to  reply  that  they  are  nearly  enough  to  meet  all  the  current  ex- 
penses of  the  establishment,  and,  in  all  probability,  will  reach  that 
point  in  time.  They  are  greater  to-day,  man  for  man,  than  in  any  other 
l)enitentiary  establishment  in  Switzerland. 

Another  and  still  more  important  question  is:  What  reformatory 
results  are  shown  f  To  this  question  I  make  answer :  The  experiment 
is  yet  in  its  early  infancy.  At  the  time  of  my  visit,  scarcely  two  years 
had  elapsed  since  the  accession  of  Dr.  Guillaume.     In  the  most  remark- 


*Thi8  is  found  in  all  French  and  perhaps  most  other  continental  prisons.  It  raay  he 
described,  in  the  most  general  terms,  as  a  privilege  of  purchasing  additional  comforts, 
not  included  in  the  legal  rations,  with  the  prisoner's  disposable  pccuUutn — that  Is,  such 
part  of  his  earnings  as  he  may  spend  while  still  in  prison. 


228  INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

able  and  most  successful  experiment  in  prison  discipline  that  perhaps 
the  world  has  ever  seen — that  of  Colonel  Montesinos  in  Spain — which 
finally  brought  down  the  recommittals  from  40  per  cent,  to  zero,  no  visi- 
ble results,  as  far  as  statistics  are  concerned,  were  shown  till  after  the 
completion  of  the  third  year.  As  regards  Dr.  Guillaume's  experiment, 
if  he  does  not  in  the  end  bring  down  the  percentages  of  relapses  glori- 
ously, reformatory  prison  discipline  must  be  a  delusion  ;  those  who  seek 
to  inaugurate  it  are  chasing  a  bubble ;  and  the  best  thing  society  can 
do  will  be  to  hang,  shoot,  or  decapitate  every  man  whom  it  can  catch 
and  prove  to  have  committed  a  crime. 

§  2.  Beformatorles  in  Switzerland. — Most  of  the  Swiss  cantons  seem 
well  provided  with  juvenile  reformatory  institutions,  of  which,  however, 
the  time  at  my  command  permitted  me  to  see  but  one,  and  of  that  to 
take  but  a  cursory  glance.  It  is  an  agricultural  colony  or  reform  school, 
two  miles  from  Berne,  conducted  on  the  family  plan,  with  twelve  boys 
in  each  household,  under  a  house-father.  The  establishment  appeared 
to  me  well  kept  in  every  respect,  and  the  appearance  and  tone  of  the 
inmates  excellent.     Eesults  good,  few  of  the' boys  returning  to  crime. 


Cn  A  PTEE   XXXIII. 

PERSONAL   INSPECTION   OF   PRISONS   IN   GERMANY. 

§  1.  German  convict-prisons. — Of  these  my  limited  time  and  the  press- 
ure of  duties  belonging  to  the  leading  department  of  my  mission  allowed 
of  an  inspection  of  but  three — the  Moabeit  prison,  at  Berlin,  Prussia; 
the  prison  of  Briichsal,  Baden ;  and  the  prison  at  JMunich,  Bavaria, 
formerly  under  the  care  of  the  celebrated  Obermaier — all  of  them  among 
the  most  renowned  of  the  penal  establishments  of  the  empire. 

(a)  The  convict-prison  at  Berlin. — My  <listinguished  friend  Baron  von 
Holtzendorff'  and  the  illustrious  Dr.  Wicheru  being  both  absent  from 
Berlin  at  the  time  of  my  visit,  I  was  compelled  to  make  my  inspection  of 
this  prison  alone.  The  Moabeit  is  a  prison  constructed  on  the  panoptic 
or  radiating  cellular  plaii,  with  four  wings  and  five  hundred  and 
eight  cells,  besides  underground  workshops  sufficient  for  one  hundred 
and  fifty  men,  and  a  farm,  at  some  distance  from  the  prison,  to  give 
employment  to  those  prisoners  who,  on  account  of  bad  health,  age,  or 
length  of  sentence,  cannot  serve  out  their  entire  term  in  separation. 
The  i)rison  is  managed  by  a  Protestant  brotherhood,  called  the  Brethren 
of  the  Itauhe  Uaus,  and  trained,  therefore,  by  Dr.  Wichern  for  the 
work  of  the  Inner  Mission.  The  average  of  relapses  is  about  13  per  cent. 
Though  having  no  j)ermit  fi'om  an  oflicial  source,  I  was  received  with 
much  court(^sy  by  the  director,  a  gentleman  of  great  benevolence  of 
character,  l)ut  unfortunately  knowing  nothing  of  English,  French, 
Spanish,  or  Italian,  a  cataloging,  which  exhausted  my  own  powers  of 
speech.  Jle  began  by  showing  me  a  complete  set  of  drawings  which 
exhibited  tiie  ])ris()n  in  all  its  i)arts,  and,  being  in  a  universal  language, 
were  readily  comprehended.  Ho  then  conduct(ul  me  through  the  estab- 
lislitncint,  entering  at  least  fifteen  to  twenty  cells,  where  I  had  an  oppor- 
tunity of  seeing  the  i>risoners  at  their  dilferent  occui)ations.  These 
were  (piite  various,  and  embracc^d  lithograjthing,  engraving,  carving  in 
wood,  &c.  "J'lie  manner  of  Iiis  interc(»iirs(;  witli  the  prisoners  pleased 
me  exceedingly,  marked  ;is  it  was  l)y  a  gentle  and   kindly  si)irit,  with 


CONVICT    PRISONS    AT    BERLIN BRUCIISAL.  229 

notLin,2f  of  official  stiflfiiess.  The  visit  was  in  all  cases  coiuiiieiiced 
by  a  IViendly  greeting,  and  oa  leaving  the  director  bade  each  one 
adieu,  with  sometimes  au  added  handshake.  As  we  passed  along  he 
explained  everything  iu  German,  just  as  if  I  had  understood  a  word  of 
it!  The  prison  I  found  kept  in  the  neatest  manner;  the  prisoners  had 
a  cheerful  look ;  every  cell  (for  we  peeped  into  many  which  we  did  not 
enter)  seemed  a  little  home  of  solitary  industry;  material  wants  were 
well  provided  for;  and  the  director  was  evidently  a  favorite  with  the  in- 
mates. Beyond  this  I  cannot  go.  It  was  the  shell  only  that  I  saw. 
Visiting  prisons  with  no  power  of  intercommunication  is  but  a  sorry 
and  certainly  a  most  unsatisfactory  business. 

(&.)  The  convict-prison  at  Bruchsal. — This  is  the  model  cellular  peniten- 
tiary of  Germany,  and  the  oldest,  having  been  opened  in  1848.  Like 
the  Moabeit,  at  Berlin,  it  is  on  the  radiating  plan  with  four  wings.  The 
number  of  cells  is  four  hundred  and  eight.  A  model  prison  itself,  it  has 
a  model  director  in  Herr  Ekert,  whose  administration  combines,  in  ad- 
mirable proportions,  justice  with  mercy,  firmness  with  humanity,  and 
breadth  of  scope  with  a  minute  attention  to  details. 

Most  of  the  German  states  have  three,  many  of  them  four,  differ- 
ent kinds  of  public  punishment.  Punishment  of  the  highest  degree, 
awarded  of  course  to  the  highest  crimes,  is  condemnation  to  the  zucht- 
halts,  (house  of  correction.)  Prisoners  so  sentenced  lose  their  civil 
rights.  The  maximum  sentence  is  for  life;  the  minimum,  two  years. 
The  second  degree  is  termed  arbeitshaus,  (work-house.)  Condemnation 
to  this  punishment  varies  from  a  few  months  to  several  years,  but  it 
does  not  extinguish  municipal  rights.  As  its  names  implies,  it  involves 
compulsory  labor  the  same  as  the  zuclithaus.  The  third  degree  is  called 
gefcingness,  (jail.)  This  sentence  does  not  make  labor  obligatory,  but 
allows  "  occupation  in  accordance  with  the  social  position  and  ability  of 
the  prisoner."'  A  fourth  kind  of  punishment — it  can  hardly  be  named  a 
degree — is  termed  festung,  (imi)risonment  iu  a  fortress.)  It  is  a  punish- 
ment awarded  to  gentlemen  olienders ;  mostly  in  cases  of  political  crime 
or  dueling. 

But  I  seem  to  hear  the  inquiry,  What  has  all  this  to  do  with  the  peni- 
tentiary of  Bruchsal  ?  Not  much,  perhaps,  but  at  least  this  :  Formerly 
the  establishment  at  Bruchsal  united  in  itself  two  prisons,  the  zucht haus 
and  the  arheitshaus.  The  i)risoners  of  each  class  were  in  nearly  equal 
numbers,  and,  though  nominally  under  different  rules,  were  both  subjected 
to  the  same  system  of  absolute  isolation.  But  the  system  of  mixing 
the  two  classes  has  been  abolished.  None  but  the  higher  criminals  are 
received  at  present,  so  that  the  penitentiary  has  become  strictly  a  con- 
vict-prison. Although  the  system  is  intended  to  be  rigorously  cel- 
lular, there  is  a  department  of  the  prison,  called  the  "  auxiliary  estab- 
lishment," where  association  is  permitted  to  the  following  classes  of 
prisoners:  1.  Those  who  have  been  in  cellular  separation  six  years, 
unless  they  elect  to  remain  in  isolation.  2.  Old  men  who  have  passed 
the  age  of  seventy.  3.  Prisoners  adjudged  not  fit  for  cellular  sei)ara- 
tion  on  account  of  the  state  of  their  health,  bodily  or  mental.  There 
were  some  twenty  or  thirty  persons  in  the  auxiliary  establishment  when 
I  was  at  Bruchsal,  out  of  a  total  of  384.  In  point  of  fact,  not  more  than 
an  average  of  nine  per  cent,  are  detained  for  periods  exceediug  four 
years.  Though  a  zealous  supporter  of  the  separate  system,  Mr.  Ekert 
states,  in  one  of  his  reports,  that  after  three  years  of  cellular  confine- 
ment the  muscular  fiber  becomes  remarkably  Meakened,  and  that,  after 
that,  to  require  hard  work  would  be  tantamount  to  requiring  au  im- 
possibility. 


230  INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

Mr.  Ekert  conducted  me  through  every  part  of  his  admirably  arranged 
and  admirably  managed  establishment,  and  explained  the  multiplied 
details  of  its  organization  and  working.  I  cannot  stay  to  repeat  his 
statements  at  any  length.  The  different  occupations  of  the  prisoners 
run  up  to  eighteen  or  twenty.  Every  prisoner  learns  a  trade,  who  was 
not  master  of  one  before  his  committal.  To  some  extent  the  prisoner's 
own  preference  is  consulted,  but  the  great  study  is  to  give  him  a  trade 
that  will  enable  him  to  earn  an  honest  living  after  his  discharge.  It 
may  be  stated  here  that  while  only  three  or  four  per  cent,  of  the  con- 
victs are  wholly  illiterate  wbeu  received,  more  than  half  had  not  learned 
a  trade.  They  are  encouraged  and  incited  to  diligence  bj^  being  allowed 
to  share  in  the  product  of  their  toil.  Two  chaplains  are  employed,  one 
for  the  Catholic,  the  other  for  the  Protestant  prisoners,  who  severally  hold 
service  twice  on  Sunday  and  once  on  Wednesday,  besides  doing  abun- 
dant pastoral  work  in  the  cells.  Two  schoolmasters  also  devote  their 
whole  time  to  the  work  of  scholastic  instruction  in  the  cells.  An  annual 
examination  of  the  prison  pupils  takes  place,  (the  interval  is  certainly  too 
long,)  at  which  premiums  are  distributed  to  the  deserving,  consisting  of 
books,  copies  for  drawing,  tools,  &c.,  &c.  Upon  the  whole,  the  training, 
schooling,  industrial  employment,  and  religious  care  of  the  convicts  ap- 
peared to  me  to  be  in  a  satisfactory  condition. 

The  superior  officers  meet  every  day  in  the  office  of  the  director  for 
conference,  when  they  make  report  of  their  respective  observations  for 
the  last  twenty-four  hours,  and  take  counsel  together  for  the  future. 

(c.)  The  convict-prison  at  Munich. — This  penitentiary,  placed  a  little 
outside  of  the  city,  was  the  scene  of  Councilor  Obermaier's  labors,  who, 
however,  long  since — more  than  twenty  years,  I  think — retired  from  it; 
but  he  still  lives,  a  vigorous  and  honored  octogenarian.  I  called  at  his 
residence  in  Munich,  with  the  great  infelicitj'  of  finding  that  he  had 
gone  to  spend  a  month  in  the  Bavarian  Alps ;  and  so  I  missed  seeing 
the  man  whom,  of  all  others  living,  I  should  most  desire  to  converse 
with,  since  Maconochie  and  Montesinos  have  both  been  called  to  their 
reward. 

Mr.  Petersen,  who  was  a  delegate  from  the  Bavarian  government  to 
the  congress,  accompanied  me  to  the  prison.  We  found  (which  was 
another  disappointment)  that  Mr.  Mess,  also  a  Bavarian  government 
delegate  to  the  congress,  who  is  the  present  director,  had  departed  on 
leave  only  the  day  before.  We  were,  however,  courteously  received  by 
the  sub-director  and  chaplain,  the  former  of  whom  coiulucted  us  through 
the  establishment,  giving  all  needful  explanations. 

The  prison  was  originally'  a  monastery,  and  has  been  adapted  to  its 
])res(^nt  use.  It  is  of  great  extent,  but  extremely  irregular.  Every  part 
Avas  found  to  be  clean,  sweet,  and  in  good  order.  There  are  fifty-seven 
celis  for  s(q)arate  iminisonment,  all  but  two  having  occu])!ints  the  day  I 
was  there.  Jicyond  that  the  estal)lishment  is  on  the  congregate  plan. 
The  entire  ca|)acity  is  for  five  hundred  and  fifty;  there  were  four  hun- 
dred and  ninety-niiu}  at  the  time  of  my  visit.  It  is  a  convict-prison, 
{niaiHon  deforce,)  and  none  are  admitted  but  those  sentenced  to  hard 
labor,  {fravav.rj'orcea.)  In  Obermaier's  time,  and  since,  sentences  were 
jrom  five  years  to  life.  Now  the  shortest  are  for  one  year.  There  were 
fifty-two  life-])risoners.  Most  of  those  who  have  this  sentence  die  in 
])rison;  few  ever  icci-ivc  a  i)anlon. 

(Jontrabimd  traHH;,  <'S]KM;iaIly  in  tobacico,  is  tin;  offense  oI'Lenest  com- 
mitted. 'I'Ik;  puiiishnients  are  reprimands,  diminution  of  rations,  ])ri- 
vation  of  peciilinn),  eonlinenient  in  a  cell,  the  «bingiu)n,  and,  in  bad 
cases,  irons.     Cor[>oral  punislunent  has  be(Mi  abolished  since  18(11.     It 


CONVICT    AND    DETENTION    PRISONS    AT    MUNICH.  231 

ds  gratifying  to  know  tliat  since  its  abolishment  the  number  of  offenses 
;lias  greatly  diminished.  Prior  to  its  prohibition  the  prisoners — so  it 
was  reported  to  me — were  in  a  constant  state  of  irritation,  and  opea 
revolt  was  not  infrequent.  Since  then  nothing  of  the  kind  has  occurred. 
The  prisoners  are  tranquil  and  docile.  School  is  held  daily  for  two 
hours.  There  are  six  classes,  and  each  class  receives  two  hours'  school- 
ing per  week.  Better  would  it  be  to  double  the  dose.  The  branches 
taught  are  those  common  in  primary  schools,  with  a  little  chemistry  and 
natural  science  superadded.    The  progress  made  is  fair. 

As  in  Baden,  the  prisoners  nearly  all  know  how  to  read  when  com- 
mitted; but  the  greater  part  have  not  learned  a  trade.  The  industries 
liursued  in  the  prison  are  many,  including  lithography,  book-binding, 
shoemaking,  spinning,  weaving,  painting,  carpentry,  &c.,  besides  do- 
mestic labors  and  other  work  for  the  establishment,  in  which  thirty- 
eight  prisoners  find  employment.  The  net  earnings  in  1871  amounted 
to  $11,977,  which  was  considerably  more  than  sufficient  to  meet  a  fourth 
of  the  expenses. 

The  prisoners  sleep  as  well  as  work  in  association.  Obermaier  had  a 
strange  liking  for  this  system,  and  no  doubt  his  extraordinary  genius 
for  controlling  bad  men  and  molding  them  to  his  will  enabled  him  to 
overcome  many  of  the  evils  inseparable  from  it.  It  is,  however,  in- 
herently and  ineradicably  vicious,  and  is  now  condemned  by  the  com- 
mon judgment  of  the  world. 

The  prisoners  take  their  dinner  at  11  a.  m.,  after  which  they  are  per- 
mitted to  amuse  themselves  in  the  large  courts  or  yards  of  the  prison 
till  1  p.  m.  They  are  supervised  by  keepers  during  this  hour  and  a  half, 
but  otherwise  are  quite  unrestrained.  Passing  through  the  different 
courts,  I  observed  that  all  were  perfectly  well-behaved.  They  conversed 
freely  together  and  engaged  in  a  variety  of  amusements,  but  without 
tumult,  disorder,  or  anything  approaching  to  nnseemly  or  excessive 
noise. 

I  made  special  inquiry  as  to  the  influence  of  so  unusual  an  indulgence, 
and  the  answer  received  was  substantially  as  follows :  At  their  prom- 
enade in  the  coUrts,  the  prisoners  are  allowed  all  possible  liberty.  They 
choose  their  company  and  their  subjects  of  conversation  as  they  see  fit. 
This  system,  far  from  being  attended  with  evil  consequences,  is  found 
preferable  to  that  which  forbids  all  converse.  Down  to  1862,  this  prohi- 
bition had  effect.  But  obedience  to  such  a  rule  was  found  impossible  to 
be  enforced,  and  its  infraction  drew  after  it  a  multitude  of  punishments 
whose  only  effect  was  to  harden  even  the  better  prisoners,  and  to  paralyze 
the  softening  influences  of  the  school  and  the  church.  Nevertheless,  to 
guard  against  the  evil  which  might  be  done  by  the  worse  to  the  better 
prisoners,  the  former  are  excluded  from  these  collective  recreations,  and 
are  required  to  take  their  exercise  in  separate  yards,  which  is  a  quiet 
but  powerful  means  of  maintaining  order  and  preventing  excesses  in 
the  associated  courts. 

§  3.  Detention  prison  at  Munich. — After  inspecting  the  convict-prison, 
Mr.  Petersen  and  myself  made  a  short  visit  to  the  detention  prison,  in 
the  city,  for  the  confinement  of  persons  awaiting  trial  or  transfer  after 
conviction  and  sentence.  This  is  a  new  prison,  opened  two  years  ago. 
It  is  upon  the  cellular  plan,  as  all  prisons  of  this  kind  ought  to  be,  with 
accommodations  for  fifty  men  and  fifteen  to  twenty  women.  A  very  few 
receive  short  sentences  to  this  prison,  but  they  are  quite  exceptional 
cases.  It  is  not  intended  as  a  punishing  prison,  but  simply  a  prison  for 
safe  custody.  Labor  is  not  exacted,  but  such  as  have  a  trade  are  per- 
■mitted  to  work  at  it  as  far  as  there  is  opportunity,  and  are  entitled  to 


232  INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

-whatever  tliey  earn.  It  is  truly  a  model  prison  of  its  class.  I  was  pleased 
■with  the  director  and  particularly  with  his  wife,  whom  I  found  intelli- 
gent, cultivated,  amiable,  and  deeply  interested  in  the  future  of  the 
prisoners. 

§  3.  Patronage  of  discharged  prisoners  in  Bavaria. — The  work  of  aiding 
discharged  prisoners  is  admirably  organized  in  this  little  kingdom.  On 
leaving  the  detention  prison,  we  drove  to  an  asylum  or  refuge  for  lib- 
erated i^risouers,  who,  on  discharge,  have  been  recommended  for  aid  by 
directors  of  prisons  to  the  jiatronage  society  of  Munich.  It  is  a  house, 
with  gjirden  attached,  having  accommodations  for  fourteen  men  and  ten 
women,  the  two  sexes  occupying  distinct  jiarts  of  the  establishment  and 
being  wholly  separated  from  each  other.  A  porter  and  his  wife  are  in 
charge,  by  whom  everything  is  kept  in  perfect  cleanliness  and  order,  thus 
giving  the  place  an  attractive  and  home-like  air.  It  is  simply  a  transi- 
tional home  for  the  inmates,  bridging  over  the  chasm  between  the  prison 
and  steady  work.  While  waiting  for  this  latter,  the  ex-prisoners  either 
busy  themselves  with  odd  jobs  obtained  in  the  city,  or  in  working  for 
the  house — splitting  wood,  making  shoes,  cultivating  the  garden,  &c. 
There  were  but  three  in  the  refnge  when  visited  by  me,  and  they  were 
all  employed  on  city  jobs.  Their  average  stay  in  the  home  is  about  twa 
■weeks. 

I  had  the  pleasure  of  attending  one  of  the  sessions  of  the  committee 
of  the  patronage  or  aid  society  of  Munich,  and  was  greatly  interested  in 
the  proceedings.  The  business  was  conducted  with  much  animation, 
amid  a  generous  tiow  of  Bavarian  beer.  The  speeches  were  interpreted 
to  me  by  a  Dr.  Strauss,  and  interested  me  greatly,  particularly  those  on' 
a  rather  novel  application,  which  created  considerable  merriment,  asking'! 
for  money  to  enable  the  applicant  to  get  married. 

It  will,  I  think,  be  worth  while  to  go  a  little  into  detail  on  the  organi- 
zation and  work  of  the  Munich  society  and  the  general  question  of 
patronage  in  Bavaria.  The  aid  society  of  Munich  was  formed  in  1860, 
having  for  its  object  the  moral  improvement  and  material  well-being  of 
liberated  prisoners  who  are  citizens  of  Munich.  It  makes  no  distinction 
in  respect  of  ag^,  sex,  or  religion,  but  gives  special  attention  to  young 
persons  of  both  sexes.  It  has  a  capital,  including  the  refnge  before  de- 
scribed, of  10,000  florins.  Its  receipts  in  1871  were:  subscribed  and 
paid  by  members,  1,580  florins  ;  api)ropriation  by  the  state,  750  florins; 
interest  on  cai)ital,  balance  from  1870,  &c.,  940  florins ;  total,  3,270  florins. 
It  has  a  membership  of  1,550,  composed  of  ladies  as  well  as  gentlemen. 
Each  member  must  pay  30  kreutzers  a  year.  Larger  contributions  are 
received  from  many,  bnt  they  are  free-gifts.  The  society  holds  only 
an  annual  meeting,  but  a  committee  consisting  of  forty-two  members 
meets  every  Mon«lay  night.  The  following  is  the  order  of  business  :  1. 
It  de]i))erates  on  the  reports  sent  from  directors  of  prisons,  giving  infor- 
mation tliat  such  and  such  i)risoners  are  to  be  discharged,  and  also  in  re- 
lation to  tiuiir  character.  2.  It  considers  and  decides  on  the  admission 
of  thes<'.  ])risoiier8  to  ]iatronage.  3.  It  chooses  from  among  the  mem- 
bers of  the  society  gnardians  to  take  charge  of  sncii  i)ris()iM'rs  as  are  ac- 
cepted. 4.  It  (!on.si<l<'rs  commnnications  sent  in  by  guardians,  relating 
to  the  condnct  of  their  wards,  and  decides  ujion  the  assistance  to  be 
given  to  theses  latlei-,  5.  It  acts  on  any  financial  ((iiestions  that  may 
arise, 

I'lie  special  dnties  of  a  guardian  ai(^ :  1.  To  maintain  a  constant  and 
j»atern:il  v.-iitcli('iihiess  over  his  ward.  2,  To  procure  for  him  remuner- 
ative work,  and   lo  Ix-  his  prot<'ctor.     3.  To  ])i'ovi(ie  for   him   clothing, 


AID    SOCIETIES    IN    BAVARIA.  233' 

tools,  money  needed  to  travel  in  looking  for  work,  and  even,  wlien  occa- 
sion requires,  to  furnish  him  with  lodgings. 

Each  ward  has  his  special  guardian  who  watches  over  him,  counsels 
him,  supplies  his  most  pressing  wants,  takes  charge  of  any  money  ap- 
]>ropriated  by  the  society  for  his  use,  and,  if  there  be  a  necessity,  en- 
deavors to  effect  a  reconciliation  between  him  and  his  family. 

The  results  are  scarcely  such  as  would  have  been  expected  from  so 
much  labor  and  care.  Of  the  1,182  persons  who  have  been  received  as 
wards  of  the  society  since  18G0,  377  have  relapsed  ;  1G2  have  withdrawn 
themselves  from  all  supervision ;  201  are  doubtful ;  27  have  died,  and 
352  have  undergone  a  radical  change,  and  become  completely  reformed 
iu  principle  and  life. 

In  the  province  of  which  Munich  is  the  capital  city  there  are  twenty- 
five  districts.  Societies  similar  to  that  of  Munich  are  found  in  the 
chief  cities  of  thirteen  of  them,  and  steps  have  been  taken  to  organize  like 
associations  in  the  other  twelve.  These  local  societies  are  iu  all  respects 
formed  upon  the  model  furnished  by  the  society  of  Munich.  Each  is  in- 
dependent, yet  all  have  iu  the  committee  at  Munich,  as  it  were,  a  cen- 
tral organ,  which  forms  a  bond  of  union  between  them,  awakens  mutual 
sympathies,  makes  them  feel  that  they  have  common  interests,  and  oc- 
casionally even  advances  funds,  which  are  sometimes  deficient  iu  country 
organizations. 

Bavaria  embraces  eight  provinces — seven  besides  that  of  whicli 
Munich  is  the  capital.  The  greater  part  of  the  chief  cities  of  these  have 
also  their  patronage  societies,  and  very  many  of  the  small  towns  as 
well — some  sixty  in  all ;  so  that,  including  those  in  the  metropolitan: 
province,  Bavaria,  with  a  population  scarcely,  if  at  all,  exceeding  that 
of  New  York,  has  at  least  eighty  prisoners'  aid  societies,  all  of  them 
organized  on  the  plan  of  that  at  Munich,  even  to  the  holding  of  weekly 
meetings  on  Monday  night.  The  state  encourages  these  associations 
with  small  grants  of  money  for  their  work;  but  the  most  effective  aid 
they  have  consists  iu  this,  that,  six  weeks  in  advance  of  the  liberation 
of  a  convict,  every  prison  gives  information  of  this  fact  and  of  his 
character  to  the  association  which  takes  charge  of  its  prisoners.  The 
chief  obstacle  encountered  by  these  associations  is  the  distrust  of  the 
public  and  the  prejudices  which  it  feels  and  shows  against  contact  with 
liberated  prisoners ;  above  all,  when  they  have  been  thieves.  To  over- 
come these  i>rejudices  is  one  of  the  great  duties  which  the  aid  societies 
impose  upon  themselves ;  and  they  have  been  to  a  great  degree  suc- 
cessful, particularly  in  Munich. 

A  month  or  six  weeks  before  their  liberation  it  is  quite  common  for 
prisoners  to  write  to  the  director  of  the  prison  a  letter  asking  him  to 
address  in  their  favor  a  communication  to  the  committee  of  such  or  such 
an  aid  society.  In  communicating  such  a  request  to  a  society,  the 
director  at  the  same  time  gives  it  all  desirable  information  touching  the 
conduct  of  the  prisoner  during  the  whole  term  of  his  imprisonment;  on 
his  occupation  in  prison ;  on  the  change  which  his  treatment  has  effected 
in  him,  if  any ;  or  whether  he  has  remained  incorrigible.  This  petition 
is  submitted  to  the  decision  of  the  committee  at  the  first  session  after 
its  reception.  But,  as  the  committee  is  composed  of  the  most  respect- 
able citizens  of  the  locality,  men  thoughtful  and  prudent,  they  are  un- 
able, ordinarily,  to  come  to  a  definitive  decision  at  their  first  meeting, 
especially  as  they  are  often  ignorant  of  the  social  status  of  the  prisoner 
and  of  his  family.  In  cases  where  the  committee  desire  to  have  more 
ample  information,  it  charges  one  of  its  members  with  the  special  duty 


234  INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

of  procnriug  it.  Eacli  petitiou  is  registered,  with  a  summary  of  all  the 
information  aftbrded  iu  it. 

That  feature  iu  the  constitution  of  the  Bavarian  aid  societies  by 
■which  a  special  guardian  or  protector  is  assigned  to  each  liberated  pris- 
oner who  becomes  their  ward,  with  the  duties  already  described,  is  par- 
ticularly worthy  of  notice.    It  is  beyond  all  praise. 

I  have  already  mentioned  my  presence  at  one  of  the  sessions  of  the 
patronage  society  of  jMunicb.  A  copy  of  the  minutes  of  that  session  was 
kindly  furnished  me  through  my  friend  Mr.  Petersen.  As  it  can  hardly 
fail  to  have  interest  for  those  who  occupy  themselves  with  penitentiary 
questions,  and  especially  for  the  members  of  prison  societies,  I  append 
a  translation,  despite  a  complimentary  sentence  or  two  of  a  personal 
character. 

Minutes  of  the  session  of  12ih  August,  1872. 

President,  Superior  Commissioner  Peekert. 

Mr.  Petersen,  prefect,  presents  Dr.  Wines,  of  New  York,  president  of  the  luteruatioual 
Penitentiary  Congress  of  London. 

The  president  thinks  it  an  occasion  of  congratulation  to  be  favored  Tpith  the  presence 
of  a  gentleman  who  has  displayed  an  activity  so  great  and  so  fruitful  in  useful  results 
in  respect  of  prison  reform,  and  through  whose  agency  the  time  cannot  be  far  distant 
when  the  friends  of  our  work,  on  both  sides  of  the  ocean,  will  lend  to  each  other  a  mu- 
tual support  by  the  intercommunication  of  their  respective  experiences. 

Dr.  Wines  returns  thanks  for  the  honor  done  him,  and  says  that  his  visit  to  Bavaria 
is  mainly  for  the  purpose  of  studying  the  organization  of  patronage  in  this  kingdom, 
and  making  personal  observation  of  its  workings. 

After  tha  reading  of  the  minutes  of  the  session  of  the  5th  August,  the  president  re- 
marks that  Joseph  Tamper,  who  is  mentioned  in  them,  is,  in  the  opinion  of  medical 
men,  too  sick  to  remain  under  the  care  of  the  society.  Thereupon,  he  is  remitted  to  the 
charge  of  the  philanthropic  society. 

Several  directors  of  prisons  announce,  l)y  letter,  tbe  approaching  liberation  of :  1. 
John  Miinch,  potter,  a  workman  in  the  manufactory  of  Rebdorf.  After  having  been 
admitted,  Mr.  Auracher,  member  of  the  committee,  is  designated  as  his  guardian.  2. 
Catherine  Miiller,  single  woman  and  laundress,  aged  twenty-four  years,  a  prisoner  at 
Wasserbourg  and  a  native  of  An,  has  the  best  of  certificates.  Accordingly  she  is  ad- 
mitted, and  Mr.  Fr.  Barthelmes,  hor  future  guardian,  promises  to  procure  her  work.  3. 
Mary  Huber,  aged  twenty  years,  a  prisoner  at  St.  Georges,  is  admitted;  and  Mr.  Ka- 
vizza  is  named  as  her  guardian,  in  case  she  should  need  the  aid  of  the  association.  4,  5, 
and  6.  Anna  Mantel,  petty  thief;  John  Kaj)poller,  an  unmitigated  gambler  ;  and  John 
Frey,  an  incorrigible  vagrant,  are  not  admitted  because  of  their  antecedents. 

Louis  Felser,  printer,  a  ward  of  the  society,  asks  sufficient  money  to  defray  the  ex- 
pense of  his  registry,  made  necessary  by  his  approaching  marriage.  Several  members 
favored  the  granting  of  this  request ;  others  ojjposed  it.  After  a  number  of  speeches, 
it  is  resolved  that,  before  coming  to  a  definitive  decision,  iuformatiou  be  obtained  re- 
garding the  character  and  antecedents  of  tiie  betrothed. 

Mr.  JJrucktraw,  a  resigned  member  of  the  society,  is  again  received  as  an  active  mem- 
ber, and  pays  4  florins  '.iO  krcutzors  as  a  subscription. 

Riciiiand,  a  ward  of  tlie  society,  having  conducted  himself  in  an  exemplary  manner 
aa  miller's  hoy  at  J{aml)erg,  is  voted  IS  fi(;riiis  traveling-money. 

Ward  Dclinoro,  to  (;iiable  Jiim  to  take  a  situation  otfered,  receives  two  shirts,  three 
aprons,  two  rol>cs,  and  one  l)l()iiso  from  the  wardrol>e  of  the  society. 

The  'IVcasurcr  Kinliier  will  have  for  substitute,  during  the  time  of  his  vacation,  Mr. 
•Comptroihir  l{aiirhu;h(!r. 

After  till!  reading  of  the  present  minutes  the  president  invites  our  honored  visitor  to 
kindly  nflix  liis  signature  as  a  souvenir  of  his  presence  among  us. 

E.  C.  Wi.M>,  Secretary  of  the  National  Prison  Association  of  the  United  States. 

PEEKERT,  Presideul. 
G A  M J  'E  RT,  Seorctary. 


PRISONS    OF    ITALY.  235 

CHAPTER   XXXIV. 

PELSONAL   INSPECTION   OF  PRISONS   IN   ITALY. 

§  1.  The  prison  Belle  Marate. — lu  company  with  my  friend  Mr.  Bel- 
trani-Scalia,  the  very  intelligent,  able,  earnest  (the  better  word  would 
be  enthusiatic)  inspector-general  of  prisons  in  the  kingdom  of  Italy, 
I  paid  a  flying  visit  to  the  only  prison  in  Florence,  named  as  above. 
It  was  only  a  glance  that  could  be  given  to  it,  and  it  is  but  the 
briefest  word  that  can  be  said  of  it.  It  is  not  a  convict  prison,  but  may  be 
described,  not  inaccurately  perhaps,  as  a  detention  prison  and  house  of 
correction  combined.  It  is  on  the  Auburn  system — association  in  com- 
mon workshops  by  day,  and  complete  separation  by  night.  It  has  five 
hundred  cells,  and  the  number  of  inmates,  September  22,  1871,  was 
376,  of  whom  thirty  were  women.  These  latter  are  really  in  a  distinct 
prison,  for  it  is  separated  from  the  men's  prison  by  a  public  street.. Two 
beautiful  little  girls  I  saw  in  this  part  of  the  establishment — bright  as 
new-coined  eagles — the  children  of  convict  women.  My  heart  was 
pained  and  oppressed  by  the  thought  of  how  much  that  is  vile  and  cor- 
rupting they  must  necessarily  see  and  hear  and  learn  there. 

The  prison  Delle  Marate,  though  not  a  model,  has  good  points. 
Labor  seemed  well  organized,  and  among  the  industries,  I  noticed,  was 
printing,  which  is  one  of  the  very  best  for  prison  inmates.  Here  was 
printed  Mr.  Beltrani-Scalia's  Review  of  Penitentiary  Science,  a 
monthly  journal  of  much  spirit  and  ability,  which  is  doing  admirable 
service  in  Italy,  and,  to  some  extent,  throughout  Europe,  in  the  work  of 
X)rison  reform.  But  this  is  a  digression.  The  department  of  the  prison 
that  most  gratified  me  was  the  school,  which  was  attended  by  a 
hundred  or  more  of  the  younger  prisoners  (in  whose  case,  up  to  thirty- 
five,  I  think,  attendance  is  obligatory)  and  as  many  of  the  older  ones  as 
chose.  It  is  taught  by  the  two  chaplains,  who  give  their  whole  time 
to  religious  and  scholastic  instruction.  A  very  remarkable  case  of 
progress  was  brought  to  my  notice,  that  of  a  lad  who  had  been  an  inmate 
of  the  prison  for  only  a  month.  At  the  time  of  entrance  he  did  not 
know  a  letter  of  the  alphabet;  yet  I  heard  him  read,  quite  fluently,  a 
page  in  a  book  as  difficult,  I  should  suppose,  as  what  we  call  the  Sec- 
ond Reader  usually  is.  It  is  the  most  remarkable  instance  of  rapid 
acquisition  that  ever  came  within  my  knowledge. 

§  2.  The  prisons  of  Rome. — There  are  four  prisons  in  this  city,  includ- 
ing one  for  juvenile  offenders.  Two  of  these  only  did  I  visit,  being  ac- 
companied on  my  inspection  by  Mr.  Cardon,  supreme  director,  and  by 
Mr.  Beltrani-Scalia,  inspector-general,  of  prisons. 

(a.)  The  prison  Delle  Terme. — This  establishment  is  accommodated  in  a 
vast  building,  which  was  formerly  a  public  granary,  but  has  been  altered 
to  adapt  it  to  the  uses  of  a  prison,  and  has  been  used  as  such  for  fifty 
years.  As  might  be  supposed,  it  is  but  ill-suited  to  the  purpose,  and  is, 
in  many  ways,  very  inconvenient.  There  were  four  hundred  prisoners, 
about  forty  of  whom  were  women.  Both  sexes  sleep  in  common  dor- 
mitories, no  doubt  to  their  further  contamination.  The  only  industry 
practised  by  the  men  is  weaving,  at  which  the  utmost  they  could  earn 
was  five  or  six  cents  a  day.  The  ^vomen  worked  at  lace-making,  by 
which  they  earned  four  or  five  times  as  much  as  the  men. 

(&.)  The  prison  of  San  Michele. — This  prison  is  historic.  Howard  vis- 
ited it  nearly  a  hundred  years  ago,  but  it  had  a  history  before,  most  in- 
teresting and  instructive.     Howard  found  over  the  door  of  San  Michele 


236  INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

this  iuscriptioii:  "Clemens  XI,  Pont.  Max.,  perditis  adolescentibus 
corrigendis  instituendisqne,  nt  qui  inertes  oberaut,  instruct!,  reipublicse 
serviant.  An.  Sal.  MDCCIV,  Pon.  IV."  In  English:  Clement  XI, 
Supreme  Pontiff',  [reared  this  prison]  for  the  reformation  and  education 
of  criminal  youths,  to  the  end  that  those  who,  when  idle,  were  hurtful 
to  the  state,  might,  when  better  taught  and  trained,  become  useful  to 
it.  Intheycarof  our  Lord,  1704;  ofthe  Pontiff,  the  Ith.  Within  the  prison, 
high  up  on  a  marble  slab,  inserted  in  the  wall  of  the  principal  apart- 
ment, he  found  this — as  he  rightly  says — "  admirable  sentence :" 
"  Parum  est  improbos  coercere  pojua,  nisi  bonos  efiflcias  disciplina."  In. 
English :  It  is  of  no  use  to  restrain  criminals  by  punishment,  unless 
you  reform  them  by  discipline.  In  this  sentence  Howard  found,  as  all 
right-thinking  men  must  find,  the  true  aim  of  all  just  prison  treatment. 
In  the  center  of  the  room  was  hung  up  the  inscription,  ''  Silentium." 
So  that,  as  would  appear,  the  silent  system  of  associated  labor,  com- 
bined with  a  reformatory  discipline,  was  inaugurated  at  Rome  in  the 
very- beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century,  that  is,  one  hundred  and  sixty- 
nine  years  ago.  One  of  the  main  agencies  relied  on  to  effect  the  de- 
sired reform  of  the  prisoners  was  industrial  labor  and  the  training  of 
them  to  the  knowledge  of  a  trade.  Various  handicrafts  were  taught 
and  practised  in  the  establishment,  such  as  printing,  book-binding, 
designing,  smithery,  carpentery,  tailoring,  shoemakiug,  weaving^ dyeing,, 
and  the  like.  Surely  Pope  Clement  XI  must  be  allowed  a  place  among 
the  most  enlightened  rulers  and  reformers  that  adorn  the  annals  of  our 
race.  On  some  points,  the  world  might  still  go  to  school  to  him  with 
advantage.  That  such  a  doctrine  should  have  been  taught  and  such  a 
practice  maintained  in  the  seat  of  the  Papacy  at  a  time  when  chains, 
dungeons,  and  toi:tures.  were  almost  the  only  forms  of  public  punish- 
ment in  the  rest  of  the  world,  is  a  marvel.  Let  honor  be  given  where 
it  is  due. 

At  the  present  time  the  prison  appears  to  be  of  rather  a  mongrel 
sort — half  cellular,  half  congregate.  I  found  some  four  hundred  pris- 
soners  there,  some  of  whom  were  working  in  cells,  and  others  in  common 
shops. 

§  3.  The  future  of  penitentiary  reform  in  Italy. — While  engaged,  in 
1871,  in  ray  mission  of  organizing  the  congress  of  London,  it  was  impos- 
sible to  devote  much  time  or  to  go  at  all  out  of  a  direct  line  from  one 
capital  to  another  (my  business  being  chiefly  with  governments)  to 
examine  prisons.  I  went  to  nearly  all  that  fell  in  my  way,  but  to 
scarcely  any  that  would  require  any  divergence  to  reach  them.  For 
this  reason  I  had  no  opportunity  of  seeing  any  of  the  more  recently- 
constructed  and  better-organized  prisons  oF  Italy,  of  which  the  number 
is  con.sideral)k>.  Still,  I  left  Italy,  after  a  very  brief  sojourn,  (for  the 
business  of  my  mission  was  comi)let(Ml  within  twelve  hours  after  my 
arrival,)  with  the  best  imi)ressions  and  tlie  best  hopes  for  her  future,  in. 
so  far  as  the  great  inlcrest  of  ])rison  reform  is  concerned.  Mr.  I^anza, 
j)riiiic  minister,  and  at  the  same  tinu^  minister  of  the  interior,  who,  in 
virtue  of  this  hitter  oHice,  is  head  of  the  prison  administration;  Mr. 
(Jardon,  director;  and  Jnsi)e('tor  Jleltrani,  (1  had  not  the  honor  of  be- 
coming personally  a(;<piainted  with  the  other  insi)ector,)  are  gentlemen 
of  great  ability,  large  views,  and  an  earnest  devotion  lo  this  work;  and 
tliey  are  nobly  seconded  in  it  by  a  royal  commission,  comjmsed  of  emi- 
nent citizens,  having  special  knowledge  of  the  subject,  and  appointed 
expressly  with  a  view  to  making  a  broad  study  of  the  penitentiary 
question,  ami  |)roposing  such  iclorms.in  the  criminal  code,  the  criminal 
laws,  and    the  (criminal    administration  of  the  coitntjy  as,  alter  such 


PRISONS    OF    BELGIUM.  237 

study,  fcliey  mijilit  judg-e  desirable  and  expedient.  On  tliese  grounds  it 
is  not  too  much  to  hope  that  at  no  distant  day  Italy  will  become  a 
leader  whom  it  will  be  safe  to  follow  in  whatever  relates  to  the  organi- 
zation and  conduct  of  prisons,  an  interest  which  is  beginning  to  claim 
its  just  place  in  human  esteem,  and  to  command  the  attention  which 
is  due  to  its  magnitude  and  its  importance. 


CHAPTER    XXX  y. 

PERSONAL   I^'SPECTION  OF  PRISONS  AND  REFORMATORIES  IN  BELGIUM. 

§  1.  Belgian  prisons. — Of  these  I  inspected  but  three — the  central 
prisons  of  Louvain  and  Ghent,  and  the  city  prison  at  the  latter  of  these 
places. 

(fl)  The  prison  of  Louvain. — This  is  the  model  cellular  prison  of  Enrope 
and  the  world.  I  paid  two  visits  to  it — one  in  1871  and  the  other  in 
1872,  with  an  admiration  which  no  words  could  exaggerate.  Its  design, 
construction,  and  administration,  for  a  prison  of  its  class  and  on  the 
cellular*  plan,  seemed  to  me  to  leave  absolutely  nothing  to  be  desired. 
More  than  a  year  ago,  at  a  public  meeting  in  Xew  York,  I  said,  of  this 
prison: 

I  cannot  close  without  a  word  of  reference  to  the  prisons  of  Belgiuui,  which  John 
Howard,  a  centuiy  ago,  found  worthy  of  praise.  At  present,  however,  I  can  only  call 
your  attention,  for  a  moment,  to  the  new  model  prison  of  Louvain,  planned  and  built 
under  the  superintendence  of  M.  Stevens,  its  director  for  ten  years,  but  now  inspector- 
general  of  prisons  for  Belgium,  and  a  worthy  successor  in  that  office  to  the  illustrious 
Ducpetiaux.  The  building  itself,  which  is  large  enough  to  accommodate  five  hundred 
inmates,  is  of  brick,  with  marble  facings.  It  is  simple,  solid,  and  severe  in  its  beauty, 
with  nothingof  that  palatial  look  which  is  so  common  in  our  great  prisons,  and  which  has 
always  seemed  to  me  wholly  out  of  place  in  buildings  devoted  to  the  treatment  of  crimi- 
nals. But  it  is  the  fn«er  "glory  that  excelleth."  Ihadnever  conceived  of  anythiug,  in  the 
form  of  a  penitentiary  establishment,  so  admirable  in  organization,  so  perfect  in  admin- 
istration. Nothing  seems  to  have  been  forgotten  in  its  construction,  nothing  overlooked 
in  its  rules,  nothing  omitted  in  the  details  of  its  arrangements.  The  system  of  im- 
prisonment is  that  known  as  cellular,  of  which,  per  se,  I  am  not  a  supporter;  but  the 
cellular  system  is  here  applied  in  a  manner  quite  different  from  what  I  have  seen  it 
elsewhere.  Each  prisoner  receives  not  less,  on  an  average,  than  five  or  six  visits  a  day, 
from  chaplain,  schoolmaster,  director,  trade  instructor,  or  other  officials,  by  whose 
presence  and  converse  the  burden  of  solitude  is  lightened  and  made  tolerable,  and  by 
whose  counsels,  motives  and  encouragements  to  a  better  life  are  suggested  and  pressed 
upon  the  prisoner.  The  whole  aim  appeared  to  me  to  be  the  I'eformation  of  the  criminal ; 
to  that  all  efforts  appeared  to  be  directed  ;  and  the  results  are  as  extraordinary  as  they 
ai'e  encouraging.  The  prison  has  been  in  operation  about  twelve  years.  The  recom- 
mittals to  the  old  prison  of  Louvain  averaged  70  per  cent.;  at  present  they  are  only  6 
per  cent.  This  proves  not  only  that  criminals  may  be  reformed,  but  that  their  reforma- 
tion depends  less  on  organization  and  system  than  on  the  spirit  of  the  administration 
and  the  men  who  conduct  it.  "  Where  thtre  is  a  will  there  is  a  way,"  is  a  maxim  which 
seems  as  true  of  the  intent  to  change  bad  men  iuco  good  ones,  as  of  any  other  human 
undertaking. 

Of  the  above  account,  written  after  my  first  visit,  I  do  not  retract  a 
word  since  the  second.  I  will  say  no  more  of  the  prison,  (though  much 
might  be  said  if  one  could  enter  into  details,)  but  must  add  a  word  in 
regard  to  its  founder  and  first  director,  Mr.  Stevens.  He  kindly  accom- 
panied me  on  my  visit  to  Louvain,  and  directed  that  every  possible  facility 
should  be  aiforded  me  for  observation  ;  an  order  which  was  obeyed  to 
the  fullest  extent,  though,  from  motives  of  delicacy,  he  abstained  from 
making  the  round  of  the  penitentiary  with  me.    His  heart  is  evidently 


238  INTEKNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

still  at  Louvain,  and  indeed  it  is  no  less  manifestly,  in  its  every  pulsa- 
tion, wholly  and  most  intelligently,  in  this  work  of  prison  reform.  I  am 
sure  he  pursues  it  in  his  dreams,  and  to  it  his  waking  hours,  "from 
morn  to  dewy  eve,"  and  even  till  night  is  far  advanced  iu  her  dusky 
course,  are  given  with  all  the  freshness  and  ardor  of  a  virgin  love. 

The  present  director  appeared  to  be  able  and  efficent,  not  unworthy 
to  have  succeeded  so  distinguished  a  man  as  Mr.  Stevens. 

(b)  Convict  prison  of  Ghent,  {maison  de  force.) — It  is  just  a  hundred 
years  since  this  prison  was  founded.  It  owes  its  existence  to  the  genius 
and  humanity  of  the  Viscount  de  Vilaiu,  a  truly  great  man,  who,  in  his 
conception  of  the  nature,  object,  and  processes  of  a  true  prison  disci- 
pline, was  fully  a  hundred  years  in  advance  of  his  cotemporaries.  His- 
prison  was  founded  upon  the  idea  of  preventing  crime  by  combating 
idleness,  and  of  maintaining  discipline  by  moral  power  instead  of  brute 
force  5  a  grand  conception,  to  whose  perfect  realization  the  world  is 
even  now  slowly  and  laboriously  working  its  way.  Early  in  his  vast 
anil  tireless  visitations  of  prisons,  Howard  came  to  Ghent,  where  he 
found  the  prison  fully  organized  under  the  guidance  of  its  illustrious 
founder,  with  its  numerous  industries  in  active  operation,  with  its  ad- 
mirable discipline  maintained  almost  wholly  by  moral  forces,  with 
its  incomparable  order  and  cleanliness,  the  whole  a  hive  of  busy  indus- 
try, by  which  nearly  all  its  expenses  were  paid,  and,  altogether,  the  very 
antipodes  of  the  English  prisons,  from  whose  inspection  he  had  just 
come  ;  it  may  well  be  supposed  that  his  eye  was  delighted  and  his  heart 
rejoiced.  But  more  than  this,  his  ideas  were  enlarged,  and  his  purpose 
and  courage  strengthened  ;  indeed,  his  wiiole  being  received  a  new  and 
mighty  impulse  toward  his  life-work.  Howard  was  a  different  man 
from  what  he  would  have  been  but  for  the  prison  of  Ghent,  and  it  is 
not  too  much  to  say  that  he  was,  in  some  sense  and  to  a  certain  degree, 
himself  the  creation  of  the  great  and  good  Viscount  de  Vilain. 

The  prison  of  Ghent  is  of  large  dimensions,  containing  accommoda- 
tions for  a  thousand  prisoners.  It  is  on  the  radiating  plan,  having 
eight  wings,  five  of  which  were  already  built  in  Howard's  time,  and 
they  remain  to  day  substantially  as  they  were  then.  It  is  conducted,  in 
the  main,  on  the  Auburn  system,  though  it  is  partly  also  cellular,  one 
wing  being  devoted  to  the  treatment  of  prisoners  on  that  principle.  It 
was  here,  indeed,  that  the  system  whicli  iias  become  so  widely  known 
as  the  Aubnrnian  had  its  origin  ;  or  rather,  as  I  conceive,  it  was  first 
practised  in  liome,  and  was  tlie  conce[)tion  of  Pope  Clement  XL 

The  director  struck  me  as  being  an  able,  energetic  man,  of  great  ad- 
ministrative ability ;  and,  withal,  he  is  certainly  a  warm  partisan  of 
the  Auburn  as  against  the  Penns.vlvia  system. 

(c)  Detention  pri^ion  and  honne  of  correction  at  Ghent,  {maison  de  surete.) 
— On  my  seconil  visit  to  Uelgium  1  made  a  hurried  inspection  of  the  es- 
tablishnu'nt  named  above  just  as  the, day  was  fading  into  night.  It  is 
a.  large,  commodious,  well-kept  cellular  i)rison,  designed  for  two  classes 
of  i)ris()n(!rs  of  l)<)th  sexes  :  1. 1'ersons  arrested  and  awaiting  trial.  2. 
I'ersons  sentenced  to  slioit  terms  of  ini])ris()nment. 

§  U.  ,/urenile  reform  a  lories. — I  visited  l)nt  one  of  these,  that  at  Kuys- 
selede,  near  Ostend,  wlii(;h,  however,  is  divided  into  three  diOerent  de- 
y>;iitnientN,  in  tliiee.  dillei-ent  localities,  and  forming,  in  ellect,  three 
distinct  s<-IiooIh  of  reCorm — two  male  and  one  female — though  all  under 
the  Hanie  head.  The  two  for  boys  are  at  JJu.vsse!e<le-  and  W^ynghene, 
within  sight  of  each  other  ;  that  for  girls  is  at  ])eern<Mii,  two  or  tlireo 
miles  distiuit.  I  could  wish  that  more  tiuiie  and  spa<-.e  were  at  my  com- 
iriaiHl  for  a  <lescription  of  this  establisliinent,  for  it  wt^U  deserves  the 


EEFOKMATORIES    OF    BELGIUM.  239- 

amplest  treatment.  With  the  solitary  exception  of  Mr.  Demetz's  agri- 
cultural colony  at  Mettray,  it  exceeds  all  others  visited  abroad,  both  in 
its  management  aud  its  results ;  and  in  one  particular,  (to  be  hereafter 
mentioned,)  it  has  the  pre-eminence  over  Mettray  and  all  other  juvenile 
reformatories  known  to  me  in  any  part  of  the  world. 

Kuysselede  is  the  work  of  Ducpetiaux,  perhaps  his  master  achieve- 
ment; but  he  was  ably  seconded  by  a  man  of  rare  powers  and  aptitudes 
for  the  task,  Mr.  Poll,  who  was  its  first  director,  presiding-  over  it  from 
the  day  of  his  appointment,  in  1849,  to  that  of  his  death,  in  18G7,  a 
period  of  eighteen  years. 

The  present  director,  Mr.  Eugene  Poll,  is  a  son  of  the  late  incumbent, 
whom  he  succeeded  immediately  on  the  decease  of  the  latter.  I  was 
accompanied  on  this  inspection  by  the  Rev.  Joshua  Coit,  secretary  of 
the  board  of  prison  commissioners  of  Massachusetts.  Though  we  had 
not  the  advantage  of  any  official  or  even  private  introduction,  the  di- 
rector received  us,  not  simply  courteously,  but  with  the  utmost  cordiality. 
He  conducted  us  through  every  department  of  the  establishment  at 
Euysselede,  giving  full  explanations  of  all  its  parts  and  arrangements, 
and  answering  all  questions  with  perfect  frankness. 

The  class  of  boys  treated  here  are  not  criminals,  properly  so  called  ; 
but  they  are  such  as  are  in  danger  of  becoming  so — vagrants,  truants, 
street  beggars,  and  the  like.  The  whole  number  received  from  the  be- 
ginning is  about  5,000.  The  day  we  were  there  the  number  was  522,  of 
whom  only  two  were  in  hospital,  and  one  of  them  from  a  broken  arm — 
a  clear  indication  of  the  sanitary  state  of  the  school,  and  of  the  good 
care  that  is  taken  of  the  inmates. 

The  institution  is  conducted  on  the  congregate  plan.  The  boys  sleep 
in  large  dormitories,  admirably  arranged — as,  indeed,  every  part  of  the 
establishment  is — and  kept  in  the  cleanest  possible  condition. 

The  labor  is  principally  farm-work.  The  farm  consists  of  two  hundred 
and  forty  acres,  nearly  all  under  tillage.  The  kitchen  garden  contains 
nineteen  acres ;  but,  indeed,  a  great  part  of  the  land  seemed  cultivated 
like  a  garden.  The  outbuildings  and  nearly  all  the  accessories  are  ar- 
ranged and  kept  in  the  best  manner.  In  short,  this  may  be  pronounced 
in  all  respects  a  model  farm.  The  stock  consisted  of  18  horses,  114 
cows,  7  bulls,  150  sheep,  70  large  hogs,  80  pigs — all  in  the  finest  order. 

While  the  work  is,  as  already  stated,  principally  expended  on  the 
farm,  there  is  also,  particularly  in  winter,  much  mechanical  labor,  which 
is  distributed  through  a  considerable  variety  of  trades,  such  as  carpen- 
try, smithery,  painting,  varnishing,  shoemaking,  knitting,  tailoring, 
spinning,  weaving,  straw-plaiting,  &c.  Very  few  purchases,  com- 
paratively, are  made  for  the  establishment  from  the  outer  world,  al- 
most everything  required  for  consumption,  outside  or  inside  the  body, 
even  to  the  manufacture  of  the  beer,  which  is  there  deemed  a  necessity, 
being  produced  aud  worked  up  on  the  premises.  Thus,  for  example, 
the  wool  and  flax  needed  for  clothing  is  grown  on  the  farm,  and  the 
boys  spin,  weave,  and  work  it  up  into  garments.  The  straw  (so  much 
as  ma^'  be  necessary)  is  plaited  and  made  into  hats.  The  hides  are  con- 
verted into  leather  and  manufactured  into  shoes.  Stockings  are  knit 
from  the  wool  clipped  from  their  own  sheep,  for  winter  use,  none  being 
required  for  the  summer.     Aud  so  on  to  the  end  of  the  catalogue. 

This  extraordinary  thrift,  as  our  New  England  people  would  call  it,  is 
the  cause  of  the  existence  of  a  fact  which,  so  far  as  known  to  me,  is 
wholly  uuparalleled  elsewhere  in  the  history  of  reformatory  institutions. 
Eeference  is  here  made  to  the  fact  that  the  reform  school  of  Ruysselede 
not  only  pays  all  expenses,  including  those  of  the  administratiouj  but 


240  INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

actually  realizes  a  net  profit  every  year  of  some  thousands  of  francs. 
In  1S71  the  gain  was  3,000  francs  ;  four  years  previously  it  was  10,000. 
This  result  is  the  more  remarkable  inasmuch  as  a  considerable  number 
of  the  boys  are  too  young  to  do  much  toward  earning  their  support,  and 
conscientious  attention  is  given  to  the  scholastic  instruction  of  all. 

The  ages  of  admission  are  from  seven  to  eighteen;  in  exceptional  cases, 
boys  younger  than  seven  are  received.  The  term  of  committal  is  during 
minority.  The  average  stay  in  the  institution  is  about  three  years. 
Some,  however,  remain  only  three  months,  others  from  eight  to  ten 
years. 

Mr.  Poll  claims  that,  substantially,  all  the  children  sent  to  Euysselede 
are  saved.  The  number  who  turn  out  badly  is  brought  down  to  within 
a  fraction  of  zero. 

The  school  at  Wynghene  has  some  fifty  boys  who  have  chosen  for 
their  calling  a  sea-faring  life.  Here,  in  a  little  lake,  is  a  full-rigged  ship, 
in  which  they  are  daily  drilled  in  all  nautical  maneuvers  and  terminology. 
There  are  also,  in  a  large  apartment  of  the  house  set  apart  for  the  pur- 
.pose,  numerous  models  of  vessels  and  craft  of  all  sorts,  with  complete 
rigging,  loaned  by  the  museum  at  Brussels,  to  be  used  for  the  profes- 
sional instruction  of  the  young  sailors. 

For  the  rest,  beyond  the  time  devoted  to  this  technical  training,  the 
boys  in  this  department  occupy  themselves  precisely  as  those  do  in  that 
of  Euysselede — working  on  the  same  farm,  but  in  shops  at  their  own 
place. 

Our  next  visit  was  to  the  girls'  reform  school  at  Beernem.  This  is 
conducted  by  a  religious  sisterhood,  with  a  lady  superior  at  its  head, 
though  it  is  under  the  general  superintendence  of  Mr.  Poll.  There  were 
two  hundred  and  fifty  inmates  at  the  date  of  our  inspection.  We  found 
it  in  no  respect  inferior  to  Euysselede.  The  sister-inchief  is  quick, 
sharp,  accomplished,  and  energetic  in  a  remarkable  degree.  I  said  to 
her  :  "  Sister,  I  was  surprised  to  learn  that  the  boys  at  Euysselede  earn 
their  full  supjiort.  1  presume  that  this  is  not  done  by  the  girls  f  Very 
promptly  she  replied,  and  in  a  tone  and  manner  indicating  some  little 
feeling  :  "  The  girls  gain  more  than  the  boys  ;  their  earnings  amount  to 
100,000  francs  a  year."  They  are  chiefly  employed  in  lace-making,  sew- 
ing, and  laundry  work. 

With  a  sufficient  number  of  such  establishments  as  those  at  Euys- 
selede, Wynghene,  and  Beernem  established  in  all  countries,  the  problem 
of  the  prevention  of  crime  will  be  far  on  its  way  toward  a  satisfactory 
solution.  IIow  nnich  cheaper,  as  well  as  better,  would  it  be  to  save  the 
vicious  children  than  to  punish  them  as  criminal  adults! 


C  IT  ATT  1:11    XXXVI. 

PERSONAL     INSPECTION     OF     PRISONS     AND    REFORMATORIES    IN    HOL- 
LAND. 

§  1.  MUitdnj  jn-'tson  of  Lri/dni. — This  ])risoM  is  not  for  soldiers  wlio 
have  c()mmilt«'<l  ollcnscs  mert^ly  against  militaiy  discipline,  but  for 
such  as  have  been  found  guilty  of  acts  wiiicli  brought  tlicin  within  the 
]»urvi('w  of  the  ('rimiii;il  laws  of  the  land.  Tiie  prison  is  a  substantial 
structure,  very  plain,  siirroniiding  an  open  quadrangle,  whi(;h  serves  as 
an  exercise-yard  for  llie  prisoners,  who,  in  companies  of  forty  to  fifty, 


CELLULAR  PRLSON  AT  AMSTERDAM.  .  241 

speud  au  hour  there  every  chiy.  On  one  side  of  tlie  hollow  square  is  a 
buildiug  containing  the  offices,  on  anotlier  is  the  large  dormitory  build- 
ing, and  on  the  two  others  are  the  shops,  storehouses,  school-rooms, 
&c.  There  are  eight  large  halls  f6r  dormitories,  with  very  lofty  ceil- 
ings, each  having  forty-eight  small  compartments  or  cells,  in  all  three 
hundred  and  eighty-four,  every  one  of  which  had  an  occupant  on  the 
day  of  my  inspection,  with  au  overplus  of  four  prisoners.  The  arrange- 
ment of  the  cells  is  unique,  and  it  struck  me  as  excellent.  They  form  a 
double  row  of  iron  boxes  extending  the  entire  length  of  the  hall,  with 
an  encircling  corridor  not  less  than  ten  feet  in  width.  The  ceiling  is  at 
least  twice  as  high  as  the  sleeping-rooms,  an  arrangement  facilitating 
the  supply  of  pure  air.  The  circulation  of  the  air  is  farther  aided 
by  the  perforation  of  the  iron  which  forms  the  front  and  top  of  the 
cells.  AKOund  the  entire  wall  runs  a  water-trough  for  purposes  of  ablu- 
tion, each  prisoner  being  furnished  with  a  wash-basin  of  his  own.  His 
towel  hangs  in  his  cell  at  the  head  of  his  bed,  which  latter  is  of  straw, 
on  an  iron  bedstead.  There  are  but  few  articles  of  furniture'  in  the 
cells,  as  the  prisoners  take  their  meals  in  the  workshops. 

Among  the  industries  pursued  are  shoemaking,  rope-making,  tailor- 
ing, carpentry,  smithery,  ])aiuting,  &c.  The  prisoners  are  allowed  half 
of  what  they  earn,  and  of  this  a  moiety  may  be  spent  in  the  purchase 
of  additional  food  and  other  comforts  during  their  captivity,  the  other 
moiety  being  kept  as  a  masse  de  reserve,  to  be  paid  to  them  on  their  dis- 
charge. The  proceeds  of  the  one-half  of  the  labor,  which  goes  into  the 
chest,  suffices  to  defray  all  current  expenses,  except  the  pay  of  the  staff, 
who,  being  all  officers  ot  the  army,  receive  their  salaries  in  the  same 
Avay  and  from  the  same  fund  as  other  military  officers. 

Every  prisoner,  if  he  did  not  know  oue  before,  is  taught  a  full  trade, 
whenever  his  sentence  is  long  enough  for  the  purpose,  which  is  by  no 
means  always  the  case,  as  the  sentences  run  from  two  mouths  to  twenty 
years. 

The  proportion  of  prisoners  wholly  illiterate  on  entrance  is  10  per 
cent.;  most  of  the  remaining  ninety  have  a  fair  common  education. 
Nevertheless,  the  whole  body  of  the  prisoners  are  required  to  attend 
school  two  hours  every  day.  Three  schoolmasters  are  employed,  who 
devote  each  six  hours  a  day  to  the  work  of  instruction,  and  in  this  they  are 
further  aided  by  twelve  convict  assistants.  All  the  branches  of  primary 
and  more  advanced  common-school  education  are  taught,  to  which  are 
added,  in  the  case  of  all  prisoners  desiring  it,  French,  English^  and 
drawing,  particularly  linear  or  mathematical  drawing.  A  large  room 
is  appropriated  to  this  last-named  department. 

Except  in  the  hospital,  which  was  exceedingly  neat  and  cosy,  the 
prison  presented  a  rather  slovenly  appearance,  and  could  not  be  com- 
mended as  particularly  clean.  Still,  it  has  merits,  and  in  some  points 
might  be  advantageously  copied  elsewhere. 

§  2.  The  cellular  prison  of  Amsterdam. — I  visited  this  prison  in  com- 
pany with  Mr.  Ploos  van  Amstel,  seretary  of  the  prison  board,  on  a 
Sunday  morning,  at  the  hour -of  divine  service,  and  heard,  in  low 
Dutch,  what  1  presume,  from  its  animated  and  graceful  delivery,  to 
have  been  a  very  eloquent  sermon  ;  I  say  from  the  manner  of  its  deliv- 
ery this  was  my  surmise,  for  I  could  not  judge  from  its  effect  on  the  au- 
dience, as  pvery  man  of  them  was  in  his  cell,  and,  to  all  appearance,  with 
the  exception  of  a  few  keepers,  Mr.  Ploos  van  Amstel,  and  myself,  the 
orator  appeared  to  be  addressing  himself  to  empty  space. 

After  the  service, .  we  inspected   the  cells  and  other  parts  of  the 
prison,  all  of  which  were  found  in  a  state  of  order  and  cleauline^js  that 
H.  Ex.  1.85 1(3 


242  INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

left  notbing  to  be  desired.  It  is  a  misdeineaiiauts'  prison,  where  sen- 
tences range  from  a  few  days  to  two  years.  It  has  but  two  hun- 
dred cells,  of  which,  at  the  date  of  my  visit,  one  hundred  and  sixty 
had  occupants ;  forty  of  these  were  women,  who  were  accommodated 
in  a  ward  entirely  separated  from  the  part  of  the  prison  in  which  the 
men  are  confined. 

The  industries  are  brush-making,  tailoring,  carpentry,  smithery^ 
&c.  The  state  only  recives  three-tenths  of  the  earnings ;  the  other 
seven-tenths  belong  to  the  prisoners.  Four  of  the  prisoners'  tenths  are 
kept  by  the  administration  as  a  masse  de  reserve  against  the  day  of  lib- 
eration ;  the  other  three  are  at  their  disposal  to  send  to  their  families, 
if  they  have  any,  or  to  spend  in  adding  to  the  comforts  of  their  jmson 
life.    '  '  '  . 

With  rare  exceptions,  the  inmates  can  read  and  write  ^vtien  com- 
mitted ;  still,  two  schoolmasters  are  employed  to  give  lessons  in  the 
cells,  and  thus  to  snpplement  by  added  acquisitions  the  education  pre- 
viously possessed. 

§  3.  Detention  prison  at  the  Hague. — Accompanied,  or  rather  con- 
ducted, by  Mr.  M.  S.  Pols,  who  had  been  a  government  delegate  to  the 
London  Congress,  I  paid  a  short  visit  to  the  congregate  prison,  in  which 
are  confined  prisoners  awaiting  trial  and  those  sentenced  to  short  im- 
prisonments. It  is  an  old  structure,  bnilt  more  than  three  hundred 
years  ago,  and  seems  chiefly  distinguished  for  two  qualities — mass- 
iveness  and  irregularity.  As  far  as  what  is  material  was  concerned,  the 
prison  is  well  kept,  and  everything  was  clean  as  soap,  water,  brush, 
and  muscle  could  make  it.  But  all  praise  must  stop  at  this  point. 
Prisoners  to  the  number  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  were  congregated 
there,  doing  almost  nothing  but  corrupt  each  other  by  day,  and  at  night 
sleeping  in  common  dormitories,  without  supervision,  to  continue  the 
same  business  with  increased  vigor.  Few  have  trades  when  they  come, 
and  fewer  still,  even  of  the  sentenced,  remain  long  enough  to  learn 
them.     There  is  here  an  ample  margin  for  reform. 

§  4.  Patronaffc. — The  work  of  aiding  liberated  prisoners  is  well  organ- 
ized in  Holland,  is  conducted  in  an  energetic  manner,  and  is  attended 
with  fair  success.  There  is  a  central  organization,  with  its  seat  at  Am- 
sterdam, called  the  Xetherlands  Society  for  Ameliorating  the  INIoral  Con- 
dition of  I'risoners,  which  has  forty  branches  scattered  throughout  all 
parts  of  the  country,  and  corresponding  members  in  thirty-seven  local- 
ities where  there  are  no  branches.  The  great  aim  of  all  these  associa- 
tions, here  as  elsewhere,  is  to  save  the  discharged  jirisoner  from  a  re- 
lapse; but  to  this  end  the  work  of  jiatronage  is  begun  in  the  prisons 
themselves.  In  Amsterdam,  and  wherever  branches  of  the  central  so- 
ciety exist,  the  members  are  i)ermitted  and  are  accustomed  to  often  visit 
the  ])risoiM'is  confined  in  the  Jails  of  tlie  kingdom,  M'ith  a  view  to  guide 
and  inlhience  them  to  good.  JMany  of  the  societies  have  committees  of 
hidies  attached,  who  are  active  in  this  Mork,  and  wliose  labors  are  most 
aecei)tal)h'  and  useful.  Wlien  1  had  the  honor  to  call  upon  the  president 
oi'  tliepan'Ut  society  at  Amsterdam,  the  venerable  William  H.  Suringar, 
then  over  eighty  years  old,  lie  showed  mo  a  thick  folio  volunn^,  filled 
with  closely-wiilten  mannscri|>t  fi'om  cover  to  cover,  and  containing  the 
record  of  his  jiersoMal  visits  to  prisoneis  or  their  visits  to  him,  in  which 
are  set  down  Hk;  main  facts  in  eaeli  case.  I  cannot  state  thcnumber  of 
cases  in  that  rare  book,  ])nt  am  sure  that  it  inns  up  into  the  thousands. 

§  5.  77/6'  Ncl/icrhiiid.s  M(tlr((i/. — This  is  oiu^  of  the  model  n^formatories 
of  ICurope,  and  is  situated  at  Arnheim,  near  Zutiihen,  distant  five  hours 
by  rail  from  Amsfeidjim.     It  is  on  an  estate/  nanu'd  Itijsselt,  formerly 


NETHEELANDS    METTRAY.  243 

the  seat  of  a  uoblemau;  now  an  agricultural  reformatory  colony,  founded 
twenty  years  ago  by  Mr.  Suringar,  mentioned  in  the  preceding  section, 
and  designed  for  vagrant  and  vicious  boys,  not  j'et  criminal,  but  in  im- 
minent peril  of  falling.  It  is  a  close  imitation  of  the  French  Mettray, 
and  is  conducted  on  the  strict  family  principle.  There  are  ten  houses 
for  boys,  each  capable  of  accommodating  fifteen.  They  are  arranged  on 
the  two  sides  of  a  parallelogram,  (five  each  side,)  with  the  residence  of 
the  director  at  one  end  of  the  quadrangle,  and  the  beautiful  little  church  of 
the  colouy  at  the  other.  In  the  rear  of  the  director's  resideuce  are  the 
workshops,  school-house,  &g.  On  either  side  of  the  quadrangle,  but  at  con- 
siderable distance  from  the  other  buildings,  are  the  picturesque  res- 
idences of  the  sub-director  and  schoolmaster.  A  large  and  substantial 
farm-house,  with  all  needful  out-buildings,  near  but  outside  the  main  en- 
trance, completes  the  tout-ensemhle  of  edifices  belonging  to  the  estab- 
lishment. The  spacious  square  itself,  around  which  all  these  structures 
cluster,  has  the  appearance  of  an  elegant  garden,  in  the  center  of  which 
is  a  charming  flower-plot.  The  effect,  to  an  observer  on  passing  the  iron 
gate  which  forms  the  chief  entrance  to  the  colony,  is  very  pleasing,  the 
coup  (V ceil' offering  to  his  view  what  at  first  strikes  him  as  a  miniature 
paradise. 

1  was  the  bearer  of  a  letter  of  introduction  from  Mr.  Suringar  to 
Mr.  Schlimmer,  the  director  of  the  colouy,  who  has  served  in  that  ca- 
pacity from  its  origin,  and  has  developed  rare  gifts  and  aptitudes  for 
the  place.  The  sub-director  is  a  Mr.  van  Veen,  who  has  occupied  the 
post  for  only  two  years,  during  which  time  he  has  given  indubitable 
proofs  of  special  fitness  for  its  duties.  Mr.  Schlimmer,  knowing  only 
German,  committed  me  to  the  sub-director,  who  could  speak  French, 
and  who  conducted  me  through  the  establishment,  explaining  every 
part  in  the  most  satisfactory  manner. 

i  It  has  already  been  stated  that  the  ten  family  houses  are  for  fifteen 
boys  each,  and  they  were  full,  or  nearly  so,  on  the  7th  of  August,  1872. 
At  the  head  of  each  household  is  placed  a  monitor,  selected  from  among 
the  larger  boys,  who  acts  as  an  nnder-officer  during  the  day,  and  has 
sole  charge  of  them  at  night.  This  system  has  been  substituted  for 
that  of  house-fathers — first,  on  economic  grounds,  and,  second,  because 
of  the  difhculty  of  finding  suitable  persons  willing  to  serve  the  colony 
in  that  capacity.  The  interior  of  the  family^houses  is  simple  and  com- 
modious, but  they  were  not  remarkable  for  cleanliness,  and  the  estab- 
lishment seemed  .to  me  to  suffer  sensibly  from  the  lack  of  female  care  and 
influence.  Each  house  has  a  dwelling-room,  wash-room,  and  closet  on 
the  ground  floor,  and  a  dormitory  above.  The  meals  are  prepared  in  a 
general  kitchen,  from  which  they  are  taken  to  the  several  houses,  and 
each  family  breakfasts,  dines,  and  sups  by  itself. 

The  labor  is  chiefly  farm  and  garden  work,  sixty-four  acres  constituting 
the  farm.  There  is  a  kitchen  garden  of  eight  acres,  and  a  smaller  gar- 
den for  fruits  and  flowers,  with  nursery,  hot-beds,  and  conservatory, 
where  the  boys  are  taught  and  trained  in  all  the  mysteries  of  both  the 
ruder  and  finer  kinds  of  gardening.  A  considerable  income  is  derived 
from  the  sale  of  flowers,  as  well  in  iiots  as  bouquets,  and  also  from  that 
of  fruits,  large  and  small.  The  occupations  of  the  colony,  additional 
to  farming  and  gardening,  are  shoe-making,  tailoring,  carpentry,  cabi- 
net-making, smithery,  painting,  varnishing,  baking,  and,  I  think,  a  few 
others.  As  far  as  possible — and  it  is  found  possible  in  most  cases — the 
boys  are  permitted  to  choose  the  calling  they  will  follow.  There  is  even 
a  normal  school  and  a  military  school  in  the  establishment,  where  those 
whose  tastes  incline  them  to  teaching  or  military  life  acquire  the  techni 


244  INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

cal  knowledge  aud  training'  required  for  those  professions.  I  was 
curious  to  know  how  many  schoolmasters  had  been  graduated  from  this 
seminary.  The  sub-director  was  unable  to  give  the  aggregate,  but  said 
that  eight  had  gone  out  to  be  teachers  during  his  two  years'  incumbency. 
One  of  these  was  on  a  visit  to  his  former  home  when  I  was  at  Rijsselt. 
He  was  a  stout,  manly-looking  youtb,  and  seemed  greatly  to  enjoy  this 
renewal  of  intercourse  with  his  late  comrades.  He  reported  himself  as 
"  doing  well,"  and  as  satisfied  with  his  place  and  prospects. 

Only  boys  over  nine  and  under  fourteen  are  received ;  on  an  average, 
they  remain  two  years  at  the  colony  ;  and  their  services,  on  discharge, 
are  much  sought  after,  -ll^ot  more  than  two  per  cent.,  according  to  the 
best  evidence — so  Mr.  van  Yeen  stated — ever  become  criminals.  Most 
of  them  would  no  doubt  have  followed  a  life  of  crime  but  for  their 
training  here.  How  noble  and — let  us  not  forget  to  say  to  people  who 
do  not  love  taxes — how  cheap  a  charity  this  is,  cleiirly  appears  from  the 
fact  that  seven  hundred  and  twenty  boys  have  been  admitted  to  its 
benefits,  and  five  hundred  and  seventy-one  have  gone  forth  from  it,  to 
add  to  the  productive  industry  of  the  state,  instead  of  being  spoliators 
and  destroyers  of  its  wealth,  and  no  less  so  of  its  virtue. 

The  appearance  and  demeanor  of  these  lads  impressed  me  most  ftivor- 
ably.  One  never  would  have  guessed  that  they  had  been  little  Arabs  of 
the  street.  Except  a  few  low  and  repulsive  iaces,  the  whole  company 
ai)peared  well-mannered,  cheerful,  respectable  youths.  Their  manly  bear- 
ing and  quiet,  orderly  movements  showed  the  care  bestowed  on  their 
bodily  training,  and,  by  what  I  was  told,  their  moral  training  bears  a 
fair  proportion  to  the  physical.  A  profane  or  vulgar  word  (so  I  was 
assured)  is  seldom  heard,  even  when  the  boys  are  by  themselves.  The 
officers  have  succeeded  in  forming  a  right  public  opinion  among  their 
elevcs,  which  acts  with  great  force,  and,  as  a  consequence,  have  created 
an  cs2)rit  de  corps  which  finds  expression  in  such  phrases  as  "We  are 
the  boys  of  Netherlands  Mettray!  We  respect  ourselves,  and  mean 
that  others  shall  respect  us." 

All  the  boys  are  well  instructed  in  the  several  branches  of  a  common- 
school  education,  and  special  attention  is  given  to  music.  An  hour  is 
devoted  daily  to  this  branch  by  the  whole  school,  not  all  at  the  same 
time,  but  in  groups,  according  to  their  advancement.  1  was  present  at 
a  class-exercise  of  this  kind  and  observed  how  thorough  and  even  scien- 
tific was  the  instruction  given,  and  how  intense  the  interest  and  delight 
of  the  boys  in  their  work. 

Every  Hunday,  in  the  morning,  the  boys  attend  service  in  the  parish 
<^hurch  of  the  neighboring  village;  in  the  afternoon  at  the  church  in  the 
colony.  Other  parts  of  the  day,  deducting  what  is  given  to  suitable 
recreations  and  rest,  are  devoted  to  sacred  song  and  various  religious 
exercises.  From  7  to  7.30  on  each  morning  of  the  week-days  a  service 
of  prayer  is  held  in  the  church,  which  is  conducted  in  turn  by  the 
director,  sub-director,  and  schoolmaster,  wlio  reads  a  chapter  and  ac- 
<'omi)ani('s  tlie  reading  with  such  comments  as  he  sees  fit,  and  all  unite 
in  singing  a  hymn,  while  on«>,  of  (lie  boys  i)lays  the  organ. 

Asa  means  ol'  moral  education  mucli  stress  is  laid  on  what  is  called 
tlu!  "sentence  system."  It  has  long  since  been  observed  that  a  pithy 
saying,  a  i)i"()verb,  a^  fable,  even  a  single  word  that  infolds  a  ])regnant 
meaning,  often  ])i()dnces  a  hai>j)y  and  lasting  eflect  upon  the  young 
mind,  (.'harles  Dickens,  when  on  a  visit  to  a.  reibrmatory  in  Massacliu- 
SJ'tts,  being  called  iij)oii  for  an  address,  said  sim])ly:  "Jioys,  do  all  the 
good  you  can,  aiid  nialce  no  fuss  about  it."  That  curt,  crisp  sentence 
was  better  lur  flic  Itox  >  (liiiii  v.onid  li:i\e  been  an  hour  ol' sil  vcr-tongued 


PRISON    ADMINISTRATIONS    IN    FRANCE.  245' 

rhetoric.  !So  tlio  coiuluctovs  of  the  Netherlaiuls  mettray  have  thought 
it  good  and  helpful  to  make  much  use  of  such  sentences  as  these,  (some- 
times hanging  them  on  the  walls,  sometimes  giving  them  out  to  be 
learned  by  heart:)  ''lie  who  seeks  himself  will  not  liud  God."  ''A 
I)oor  nian'he,  who  has  notliing  but  money."  "He  is  a  fool  who  lives 
poor  to  die  rich."  "Labor  has  a  golden  bottoai."  "Care  for  the  mo- 
ments, and  these  will  care  for  the  years." 

Whenever  anything  extraordinary  takes  place  in  a  family,  or  when  a 
boy  makes  himself  notorious  by  his  bad  behavior,  a  sentence  is  applied. 
Thus,  on  the  occasion  of  the  death  of  one  of  the  parents  of  a  boy,  a  con- 
soling text  or  sentence  is  suspended  on  the  wall  of  his  dormitory.  One 
day  Ji  boy  was  overheard  using  foul  speech  to  a  comrade.  The  seu- 
.tence,  "It  is  better  to  be  dumb  than  to  use  the  tongue  for  filthy  talk," 
was  given  to  him,  which  he  had  to  read  to  the  company  every  morning 
for  eight  days.     It  had  the  desired  effect. 

In  a  corner  of  the  colony  farm  there  is  a  secluded  and  beautiful  little 
cemetery,  where  are  interred  the  remains  of  tweuty-three  (^olons.  At 
the  head  of  each  grave  is  ])laced  a  little  painted  board,  with  the  name, 
age,  &c.,  of  the  lad  wiio  sleeps  beneath,  and  the  mound  surmounting 
the  grave  is  planted  with  flowers.  Near  the  center  of  the  cemetery 
stands  a  large,  spreading  tree,  with  its  thick  branches  drooping  to  the 
earth,  beneath  which  the  remains  of  Mr.  Suringar  were  to  be  interred. 
Already,  while  I  pen  these  sentences,  in  less  than  six  months  from  the 
time  of  my  visit,  the  good  man  who  founded  this  noble  institution  sleeps 
peacefnlly  in  his  last,  self-chosen  resting-place.  "The  memory  of  the 
just  is  blessed."  That  of  William  H.  Suringar  \y\\\  be  green  and  fresh 
in  mau3^  a  heart  as  long  as  the  Xetherlauds  Mettray  continues  its 
benign  and  beautii'ui  work. 


CHAPTER    X  X  X  V  II  . 

PERSONAL  INSPECTION  OP  PRISONS   AND   REFORMATORIES   IN  FRANCE. 

§  1.  There  are  two  distinct  prison  administrations  in  France — the  pre  - 
fecture  of  police  and  the  ministry  of  the  interior.  The  former  has 
charge  of  the  prisons  of  the  department  of  the  Seine,  the  latter  of  all 
the  other  penal  establishments  of  France.  Their  jurisdictions  and  all 
their  movements  are  as  independent  of  each  other  as  if  they  were  on  the 
two  opposite  sides  of  the  English  Chamiel.  Mr.  Lacourt  is  chief  of  the 
division  of  prisons  for  the  department  of  the  Seine,  Paris;  and  Mr.  Jail- 
lant,  under  the  minister,  of  the  division  of  prisons  for  the  rest  of  France. 
1  called  upon  both  these  gentlemen,  and  had  a  long  interview  with  each, 
with  a  twofold  aim — first,  to  gain  information,  and,  secondly,  to  obtain 
the  necessary  authorizations  to  inspect  the  prisons  within  their  respective 
jurisdictions.  Tout  le  monde  had  spoken  to  me  of  Mr.  Jaillant  as  a  per- 
son of  rare  qualities  and  worth,  and  I  found  tout  le  momle  quite  right  in 
its  estimate.  I  was  profoundly  impressed  with  the  breadth  of  his  intel- 
lect, the  largeness  of  his  heart,  and  his  thorough  devotion  to  the  cause 
of  prison  reform ;  and  the  same  impression  was  made  upon  me  by  his 
chief  of  bureau,  Mr.  Jules  de  Lamarque.  Mr.  Lacourt  is  also  a  noble 
specimen  of  humanity,  a  man  of  large  intelligence  and  broad  sympa- 
thies, and,  like  Mr.  Jaillant,  "well  reported  of"  by  his  fellow-citizens. 
Mr.  Jaillant  kindly  furnished  me  with  a  permit  to  visit  prisons  out  of 
Paris,  and  Mr.  Lacourt  to  inspect  those  within  that  city.     His  author- 


246  INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

ization,  wliicli  I  give  as  a  matter  of  curiosity,  is  in  these  words:  "The 
directors  of  prisons  in  the  department  of  the  Seine  are  authorized  to 
admit  into  those  establishments  Mr.  Wines,  who  has  been  delegated  by 
the  American  Government  to  organize  an  international  prison  reform 
congress,  together  with  any  friends  who  may  accompany  him,  and  to 
afford  him  all  the  information  he  may  desire.  Mr.  Wines  is  recom- 
mended in  a  very  i^articular  manner  to  the  courtesies  of  the  directors.'" 

I  inspected  all  the  jirisons  of  Paris;  two  central  prisons,  one  male,  the 
other  female  ;  and  two  (outside  of  the  capital)  for  the  detention  of  per- 
sons awaiting  trial,  and  for  j)risoners  convicted  and  sentenced  for  minor 
offenses. 

There  are  eight  prisons  in  the  city,  viz  :  1.  The  Grand-Depot  of  the 
Prefecture  of  Police ;  the*Conciergerie ;  IVfazasj  Sainte-Pelagie;  Saint- 
Lazare  ;  La  Sante ;  the  Grande-Eoquette ;  and  the  Petite-Eoquette. 

§  2.  Before  proceeding  to  any  description  of  these  establishments,  how- 
ever brief,  it  seems  proper,  if  not  necessary,  to  give  explanations  of  a 
few  terms  employed  in  the  French  criminal  nomenclature,  W'hich,  before 
going  abroad,  had  troubled  me  not  a  little  for  the  reason  that  I  was  un- 
able to  comprehend  exactly  what  they  meant.  I  refer  to  the  words 
incuJjJcs,  prt'venus^  and  accuses.  The  equivalents  of  these  words  in 
English  all  designate  persons  charged  with  some  offense  ;  but  the  exact 
distinction  is  difficult  for  us  to  grasp.  Indeed,  they  convey  to  us  no  distinct 
meanings,  because  there  is  nothing  in  our  judicial  processes  to  corre- 
spond to  them.  The  incMlpcs,  then,  are  persons  who,  having  been 
arrested  either  on  a  warrant  or  jiagranie  deUcfo,  (in  the  act  of  commit- 
ting a  crime,)  are  conveyed,  prior  to  a  hearing,  to  some  prison  for  safe- 
keeping until  their  examination  takes  place.  The  prcvenus  and  the 
detenus  are  inculpes,  who  have  had  their  first  hearing,  and  have  been 
ordered  by  the  committing  magistrate  {juge  d' instruction)  to  be  held 
for  trial.  But  there  is  a  difference  between  them.  The  detenus  are  pris- 
oners held  for  trial  on  a  charge  of  misdemeanor,  {delit ;)  the  accuses  are 
I>risoners  held  for  trial  on  a  charge  of  felony,  (crime.)  The  two  classes 
are  taken  belbie  different  courts  for  trial — the  detcmis  before  the 
tribunal  of  correctional  justice,  where  the  trial  is  by  the  judges 
alone;  the  accuses  belbre  the  court  of  assizes,  where  they  are  tried  by  a 
jury.  The  account  to  be  given  of  the  prisons  of  Paris  will  be  more 
intelligible  ibr  these  slioi't  explanations. 

§  .'3.  The  Grand-Depot  of  the  Vrt'/ecture  of  J'oliee. — This  is  a  prison  for 
persons  who  have  been  arrested  by  the  police,  but  have  not  yet  had 
their  hearing  before  a  committing  magistrate,  {incuJpes.)  It  is  a  vast 
])ile  in  one  of  the  courts  of  the  prefecture,  with  a,  capacity  for  1,200  to 
1,500  prisoners;  but  into  it,  I  was  told,  are  sometimes  crowded  2,000.  1 
may  icniiuk,  just  jjcre,  that  the  commitlal  and  <lischarge  of  ])risoners, 
not  only  hei-e  but  <'verywh(u-(^  in  Prance,  are  made  with  perfect  regu- 
larity. In  every  piison  the  iliiector  or  keeper  mast  Inive  one  or  more 
r(!gisters,  signed  on  each  i)iig(.^  by  the  ]M-efe(;t  or  some,  magistrate.  Tliese 
I'egisteis  jccord  thci  act  of  delivery  of  each  jjrisoner,  and,  on  the  mar- 
gin, the  date  of  his  dischai'ge,  as  also  a  co])y  of  the  de(aee,  arrest,  or 
jndgment,  in  virlne  of  which  it  has  jdace.  It  is  thus  easy  to  Ix^  sure  of 
thir  legality  of  ev<'iy  inij)iis()nmenl. 

'J'he,  legal  time  of  detention  in  th«'  ( Irand  1  >e]>ot  is  twenty-ibnr  hours; 
l)Ut  Hudi  is  tlje,  a(;enniidati()n  of  business  and  such  the  pressure  ui)on 
tlie  time,  of  tin;  magistiates  <;liai'ged  with  the  ])i'eliniinary  examinations, 
that  piisoners  are  olten  detained  hero  a  week  or  more.  In  the  male 
de[)artment  tliereare  some  (ifty  sejfaratt?  cells  for  the  better  <;lass  of  pris- 
oners, and  Ji  somewhat  h'ss  number  in  the  females  waids,  whose  inmates,  I 


GRAND  DEPOT MAZAS.  247 

was  glad  to  observe,  were  altogether  under  the  care  of  womeu.  But 
the  mass — and  a  seething  mass  it  was  of  corrupt  and  corrupting 
humanity — were  thrown  i)ell  inell  together.  If  the  problem  had  been  to 
<5reate  a  sort  of  cosmo])olitan  exchange,  where  the  most  dangerous  vil- 
lains, drawn  to  Paris  from  all  quarters,  could  meet,  become  acquainted 
wath  each  other,  and  lay  plans  for  future  crimes,  the  intent  could 
not  have  been  better  carried  out.  A  hundred  desperadoes,  or  more, 
are  there  to  be  seen  in  a  single  vast  apartment — the  scum  of  all 
crafts,  the  shame  and  terror  of  the  city.  The  flow  inward  and  outward 
is  without  interruption.  The  coming  and  going  never  cease.  The  move- 
ment is  like  that  of  a  shuttle,  that  incessantly  shoots  from  side  to  side 
of  the  growing  texture.  Indolent,  suspicious,  cunning,  lovers  of  dark- 
ness because  of  the  villanies  that  are  sheltered  by  it,  they  are  little  to 
be  feared  when  sei^arated  from  each  other.  But  here  they  are  brought 
together  by  the  law  itself;  they  are  kept  in  absolute  idleness  for  days, 
or  even  weeks ;  they  become  acquainted ;  they  organize ;  they  plan ; 
they  know  where  to  meet  on  the  first  moment  of  libert}^  The  young 
thieves  learn  from  the  old  ones.  They  are  taught  the  good  stroTcen  to  be 
made.  They  are  instructed  in  the  best  modes  of  operating,  from  the 
picking  of  a  pocket  to  the  breaking  into  a  house.  They  learn  the  whole 
theory  of  crime.  They  are  told  where  to  find  the  safest  receivers  and 
the  worst  haunts-  And  so  the  army  of  crime  is  recruited  more  steadily, 
£iS  well  as  surely,  than  were  the  legions  of  Napoleon  by  the  most  relent- 
less conscriptions.  The  children  are,  it  is  true,  separated  from  the  adults ; 
but  uot  from  each  other.  On  the  contrary,  they  are  confined  in  associa- 
tion, without  supervision,  in  an  adjoining  apartment,  where,  it  may  readily 
be  believed,  the  precociously  wicked  will  exercise  the  greatest  influence. 
I  saw  there,  in  one  of  the  exercising-yards,  a  most  piteous  sight — some 
fifty  boys  or  more,  from  seven  years  old  to  fifteen,  all  huddled  together 
like  sheep  in  a  pen,  some  of  whom,  from  the  sobs  and  blood  and  angry 
tones  and  fresh-torn  garments,  had  been  engaged  in  a  fearful  fight.  In 
the  women's  ward,  also,  there  is  the  same  promiscuous  association  ;  and, 
of  course,  the  same  effect  of  mutual  contamination.  The  authorities 
aim  to  keep  the  lewd  from  the  rest,  but  those  most  affected  with  this 
spirit,  and  therefore  the  most  dangerous  corrupters,  are  uot  always 
known  to  the  police.  Of  what  evils  may  not  such  contact  be  the  cause  ? 
§  4.  Mazas. — This  i^rison  is  appropriated  to  the  prevenus — that  is  to 
say,  persons  who  have  been  placed  by  the  examining  and  committing 
magistrates  in  the  category  of  misdemeanants,  and  the  trial  of  whose 
cases  has  been  assigned  to  the  tribunal  of  correctional  justice.  It  is 
therefore  a  j^risou  of  preliminary  detention  mainly,  though  there  are 
some  prisoners  here  under  sentence.  It  is  a  strictly  cellular  establish- 
ment, and  may  be  said  to  be  the  gift  of  Pennsylvania  to  France.  It  is 
the  chief  fruit,  oi'  at  least  the  most  tangible,  of  the  visit  of  de  Beaumont 
and  de  Tocqueville  to  this  country  forty  years  ago.  It  belongs  to  the 
largest  class  of  prisons,  the  number  of  cells  being  twelve  hundred,  and 
the  mean  ijopulation  a  little  more  than  eleven  hundred.  I  cannot  un- 
dertake a  complete  description  of  this  immense  structure.  Its  exterior 
aspect  is  somber  and  gloomy  to  the  last  degree.  Stretching  its  lofty 
walls  of  immense  hewn  stones  on  the  side  of  the  street  opposite  to  the 
stiitiou  of  the  railway  of  Lyons,  it  offers  in  its  dismal  appearance  and 
its  intense  silence  a  striking  contrast  to  the  animation  and  bustle  which 
surround  it  on  all  sides.  The  moment  you  are  fairly  within,  the  arrange- 
ment of  the  entire  structure  is  apparent.  The  cellular  system  yields 
up  its  secret  on  the  instant.     A  single  glance  tells  the  whole  story. 


248  INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS, 

There  are  six  vast  galleries,  twelve  and  a  half  meters*  liigli,  tlireeand  a 
balf  wide,  and  eighty  long.  Six  enormous  passage  ways,  radiating  from 
the  rotunda,  separate  the  wings  from  each  other.  It  is  majestic,  cer- 
tainly, but  cold  and  saddening  as  well.  A  staff  of  seventy  officers,  under 
the  director,  consisting  of  a  deputy,  seven  sub-deputies,  and  sixty-two 
overseers,  here  accomplish,  day  and  night,  a  wearisome  service;  for  it  is 
unceasing.  Clothed  in  a  blue  tunic,  on  whose  collar  shines  a  silver  star, 
and  whose  buttons  have  in  the  center  an  open  eye,  (symbolic  of  eternal 
vigilance,)  surrounded  by  the  words  Prison  de  la  iSeine,  the  overseer 
passes  and  repasses  incessantly  from  end  to  end  of  the  gallery 
intrusted  to  his  custody.  He  looks  through  the  little  hole  in  the 
door  of  the  cells,  Htly  named  judas  ;  he  stops  if  he  hears  any  unusual 
sound;  he  sees  everything,  w\ithont  being  seen  himself;  turning  me- 
chanically between  his  fingers  the  heav3'  key  which  opens  all  the 
doors,  he  glides  rather  than  walks,  and  at  night  wears  list  slip- 
pers, that  he  may  pass  more  quietly.  For  the  most  part,  he 
is  au  old  soldier,  formed  to  habits  of  strict  discipline,  and  familiar 
with  all  the  severities  of  the  camp.  To  look  at  him,  one  w^ould 
say  that  he  forms  part  of  the  prison  itself.  He  is  silent,  like  it ;  he 
never  smiles,  and  if  he  speaks,  it  is  ever  in  a  low  tone.  In  passing 
through  a  vast  cellular  establishment  like  Mazas,  one  feels,  unavoidably, 
as  if  he  were  in  a  sick-chamber.  'Tis  au  instinctive  sensation,  and  not 
groundless,  for  moral,  like  bodily,  lesions  often  x)artake  of  the  character 
of  morbid  affections.  By  living  constantly  in  the  midst  of  prisoners, 
the  keeper  comes  to  look  upon  them  as  he  does  on  other  people ;  he  feels 
neither  horror  nor  pity.  He  is  polite  and  even  gentle  toward  them, 
partly,  i)erhaps,  from  a  kind  of  indifference,  but  also  because  he  i^  ad- 
vised to  such  a  conduct.  But  he  is  no  less  prudent  than  polite,  and  in 
retiring  from  a  cell  he  always  goes  backward.  He  sees  that  the  regula- 
tions relating  to  the  prisoners,  which  arc  simple  and  easy  to  follow,  are 
strictly  carried  out.  At  5  o'clock  in  summer,  and  6  in  winter,  the  pris- 
oners are  rung  up  by  a  bell  in  the  rotunda.  At  the  end  of  a  half  hour 
each  prisoner  must  have  his  hainmo<'.k  rolled  up  and  attached  to  hooks 
in  the  wall,  and  his  cell  swept  and  put  in  order;  the  doors  are  then 
opened  and  the  night-vessels  removed;  at  the  same  time  the  water  and 
bread  for  the  day's  consumi)tion  are  distributed.  At  8  the  morning 
soup  is  passed  into  each  cell  in  a  porringer;  at  3  the  evening  meal  is 
distributed  ;  at  8  the  bell  rings,  and  the  i)risoner  arranges  his  hammock, 
and  makes  his  bed.  This  is  the  locking  up.  At  10  every  light  is  put 
out,  uidess  a  sj)ecial  authorization  is  accorded  by  the  director,  who,  in- 
deed, rarely  r<^fuses  it  when  asked.  During  the  <lay  the  prisoner  works 
in  his  cell  at  soiru^  one  of  the  industries  carried  on  in  the  establishment 
— l)laiting  Jute-mats,  making  list  slii)i)ers,  sewing  coj)y-booUs  for  school- 
childr(;n,  making  buttons  arul  small  iron  chains,  tailoring,  shoemaking, 
w/)rking  at  his  own  trade,  «S:c.  The  number  of  days'  work  done 
at  Mazas  in  a  year  is  about  a  (piartcr  of  a  million  ;  the  aggregate  earn- 
ings not  far  liotu  ]()(),0()()  trancs;  and  the  average  earnings  i>er  man  for 
eacii  day  ol'  work  10  ccntiiiu's,  e<iual  to  S  cents.  The  contractor  is  rej)- 
resented  in  the  juison  by  a  foreman  from  outside,  who  chooses,  by  desig- 
nation of  the  (lircctor,  a  numbei-  ol  prisoners  who,  being  more  intelligent 
and  attentive  than  the  rest,  are  made  <;hiefs  of  shops,  wear  on  the  sleeve 
a  pi<'ce  of  r«'<l  lace,  communicate  with  their  comrades  in  distributing 
work  and  giving  directions  rtoncerning  it,  and  thus  (Mijoy  a  relative  lib- 
erty, much  desired  and  much  envied.     The  least  inliiK^tion  of  the  rules 

'  A  meter  is  39  in  dies. 


CONCIERGERIE GRAND  EOQUETTE.  249 

costs  the  man  tlius  promoted  his  strip  of  lace,  sends  bini  back  to  the 
ranks  of  the  prisoners,  and  ag'ain  locks  the  door  of  his  cell,  which  the 
necessities  of  his  service  had  required  to  be  left  open  tiie  whole  day. 

Mazas  is  w-ell  guarded.  The  gratings  are  solid  ;  every  door  and  gate 
is  kept  firmly  locked  5  the  walls,  of  which,  as  in  all  French  prisons,  there 
are  two,  with  a  wide  space  between  them,  are  thick  and  high ;  the  over- 
seers have  their  eyes  wide  open,  and  during  the  night  sentinels  are 
posted  in  the  circling  space  between  the  two  inclosures  just  mentioned. 
The  element  of  power  is  ever  in  view  here,  and  material  force  seems  the 
chief  reliance.  And  in  one  respect  the  success  has  been  complete.  Not 
a  solitary  escape  has  been  effected  in  twenty-five  years,  and  only  one 
attempt  to  escape  has  ever  been  made. 

§  5.  The  Conclergerie. — This  prison  is  destined  to  the  reception  of 
men  and  women  to  be  tried  by  the  court  of  assizes,  {Ics  accuses,)  and  of 
sentenced  prisoners  who  have  appealed  to  that  court  against  the  judg- 
ment of  a  tribunal  of  correctional  justice.  It  is  an  old  prison,  dating 
back  hundreds  of  years,  which,  if  its  walls  could  speak,  might  reveal 
deeds  of  oppression,  cruelty,  and  torture,  which  would  make  the  blood 
curdle.  The  Conciergerie  is  an  irregular  pile,  inclosed  within  the  old 
structures  of  the  halls  of  justice,  {palais  de  justice,)  with  walls  of  ter- 
rific thickness  and  solidityj  with  gates  and  bars  of  massive  iron,  and 
interpenetrated  through  and  through  with  startling  and  horrible  memo- 
ries. As  I  was  passing  into  the  apartment  where  Maria  Antoinette  was 
confined  as  a  prisoner  of  state,  I  was  warned  to  be  careful ;  but  as  the 
special  point  for  caution  was  not  indicated,  and  I  was  looking  only  to 
my  feet,  my  head  came  into  very  unpleasant  contact  with  the  iron 
lintel  over  the  door,  which  almost  made  me  stagger.  A  gentleman  at 
my  side  instantly  remarked :  "  Maria  Antoinette  bumped  her  head  on 
that  same  lintel  when  she  was  brought  in  here."  The  Conciergerie  is 
deep  below  the  present  level  of  the  adjoining  streets.  Its  interior  has 
a  sinister  aspect — dark,  gloomy,  repellant.  In  certain  of  its  passages, 
lamps,  kept  burning  at  all  times,  give  but  a  lurid  light.  Its  yard  re- 
sembles a  well,  whose  sides  bristle  with  points  of  iron,  which  prevent  all 
scaling.  There,  until  within  a  few  years,  were  seen,  sitting  or  walking 
along  the  wall,  groups  of  prisoners  awaiting  trial  in  the  court  of  assizes. 
But  a  cellular  ward  has  now  been  provided  for  these,  which  surrounds  a 
long  rectangular  court.  In  their  placehave  been  sent  police  prisoners,  sen- 
tenced to  a  single  day's  imprisonment.  Their  day  is  passed  in  this  yard. 
They  pass  the  night  on  mattresses  spread  on  the  floor  of  the  room,  and 
the  crowd  is  said  to  be  often  so  great  that  even  thus  space  is  wanting. 
What  of  evil  may  not  a  single  day  and  night  spent  under  such  circum- 
stances accomplish  !  Is  not  the  influence  of  depraved  men,  eyen  for 
so  short  a  period,  enough  to  draw  into  the  paths  of  crime  an  irresolute 
and  feeble  spirit ! 

§  6.  The  Grand-Roquette. — This  is  a  depot  for  sentenced  prisoners,  whether 
their  sentence  is  imprisonment  in  a  central  prison,  in  the  bagnio  at 
'  Toulon,  or  in  a  penal  colony,  in  which  case  they  are  confined  here  after 
condemnation  till  their  removal  to  their  final  destination;  or  to  death^ 
in  which  case  they  remain  here  to  the  day  of  execution,  which  takes 
place  near  this  prison.  The  number  of  prisoners  varies  from  four  hun- 
dred to  five  hundred.  This  prison  has  a  certain  celebrity  among  crim- 
inals, for  it  is,  so  to  speak,  the  vestibule  of  the  guillotine.  The  system 
is  that  of  associated  labor  by  day,  and  cellular  separation  at  night. 
The  courts  are  large  and  airy  ;  and  the  discipline  is  more  severe  than  in 
the  other  prisons  of  Paris.  Every  morning,  as  soon  as  it  is  fairly  light, 
the  scene  becomes  animated.     The  heavy  iron  gate,  which  bars  the 


250  INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

eutrauce,  is  oi)eiied  to  admit  a  huge  fourboise  omnibus,  which  comes  to 
convey  to  the  railway  tlie  prisoners  awaiting  transfer.  Before  their  de- 
parture barbers  cut  their  hair  in  such  manner  that  the  skin  of  the 
cranium,  appearing  between  the  successive  ridges,  gives  them  a  zebra- 
like appearance;  this  is  the  distinctive  toilet  of  the  galley-slave.  After 
this,  the  convict  is  stripped  and  a  thorough  examination  made  of  his 
whole  person.  When  this  scrutiny  is  completed  he  is  reclothed  in  a 
new  prison  garb,  and  his  legs  are  fastened  together  by  chains  long- 
enough  to  allow  him  to  walk,  but  too  short  to  admit  of  his  running. 
Bracelets  are  next  attached  to  the  wrists  with  a  key,  under  conditions 
which  make  it  impossible  for  him  to  bring  his  hands  to  his  head.  The 
roll  is  then  called;  each  convict,  in  replying  to  his  name,  must  state  the 
amount  of  peculium  to  his  credit,  which  is  placed  in  the  hands  of  the 
conductor,  and  not  given  to  him  till  his  arrival  at  the  prison  to  which 
he  is  sentenced.  Conveyed  to  the  railway  station  in  a  cellular  omnibus, 
the  convicts  are  placed  in  a  car  divided  into  eighteen  separate  compart- 
ments, which  they  may  not  leave  till  they  reach  their  point  of  destina- 
tion. 

A  sickening  tragedy  had  but  recently  been  enacted  within  the  walls 
of  the  Grand-Eoquette,  when  I  visited  it  in  1871.  It  was  the  execution, 
the  assassination  rather,  of  the  venerable  archbishop  of  Paris  and  the 
president  of  the  court  of  cassation,  by  those  incarnate  demons,  the 
communists  o*f  Paris — two  men  without  stain  of  any  kind,  and  whom 
all  the  good  revered  and  loved.  I  saw,  with  a  melancholy  interest,  the 
cells  in  which  they  had  been  confined,  and  the  spot  on  which  they  were 
murdered  ;  for,  surely,  it  was  nothing  less  or  other  than  murder.  With 
several  others — a  half  dozen,  or  more,  I  think,  of  inferior  rank  and 
name,  but  as  innocent  as  they  of  any  crime  against  the  state  or  against 
good  manners — they  were  shot  down  as  felons  for  whom  the  sun  ought 
no  longer  to  shine,  or  the  earth  to  yield  her  fruits.  Prom  their  solitary 
cells  they  were  conducted  in  silence  down  winding  stairs,  along  length- 
ened galleries,  through  open  courts,  (where  the  unaccustomed  sun- 
shine brought  with  it  a  gleam  of  joy  to  their  wasted  and  weary  hearts,) 
and  between  the  massive  double  wall,  to  a  remote  and  hidden  corner  of 
the  prison.  Here  they  were  ordered  to  stand  with  their  backs  toward 
a  platoon  of  sixty  soldiers,  only  a  few  paces  distant.  This  order  the* 
archbishop  i)ositively  refused  to  obey,  but  boldly  iaced  the  murderous 
iron  rain.  His  com])ani<)ns  fell  instantly,  on  the  discharge  of  the  mus- 
ketry, but  the  archbishop  did  not;  whereui)on,  at  the  Mord  of  command, 
two  soldiers  advanced  and,  with  the  muzzles  of  their  rilles  almost  in 
contact  with  his  ])erson,  discharged  their  death-dealing  contents  into 
his  heart.  1  counted  more  than  thirty  ])laces  in  the  prison-wall  Just 
behind  where  the  victims  I'ell,  on  which  tlie  bullets  had  left  their  mark. 
]>efoie  his  martyrdom  the  good  man  made  this  memorable  declaration  to 
his  assassins:  "You  may  take  my  life,  but,  in  so  doing,  you  will  but 
add  Jiew  force  to  the  princij)le  which  1  represent.'' 

§  7.  tStiinle-J'clafjie. — This  is  a  house  of  correction,  wliich  receives  men, 
sent(;nced  to  teiins  ol"  a  year  and  less.  'J\)  jjorsons  sentenced  lor  i)olitical 
offenses  a  sp('<-ial  \vai<l  is  assigned,  which  is  entiicly  se])ariite<l  from  the 
others.  TIm;  aveiage  ])()piilation  of  tlic  ])rison  is  IVom  live  hundred  and 
lifty  to  six  liundrcd.  .An  old  shucturc,  icarcd  more  than  two  hundred 
years  ago,  it  is  but  illsnilcd  to  its  jtrescnt,  ]»nrpose.  All  the  re])airs  put 
upon  it — and  they  are  plenlifiilly  rene\v«'d  year  by  yeai' — ha\ c  little  ellect. 
It  bends,  as  it  were,  under  the  weight  of  time,  and  a  Ibnl  and  repulsive 
anti(|uity  invests  it  with  an  air  an(l  an  otloi- that  are  anything  but  agree- 
nhUi.     The  prisoners  lia\e,  no  dining  hall ;  they  eat    in   the  o])en   court 


SANTE-PELAGIE SAINT-LAZARE.  251 

there,  also,  they  make  their  toilet,  at  a  fountain.  When  it  rains,  they 
take  their  meals  in  a  vast  liall  on  the  groundfloor,  composed  of  a  half- 
dozen  or  more  chambers,  whose  partitions  have  been  removed — with 
portions,  however,  of  the  thick  walls  left  still  standing,  and  ottering, 
everywhere,  obscure  angles,  into  which  the  eye  of  the  keeper  pene- 
trates with  difficulty.  It  is  in  the  terrible  associations  of  this  hall  that 
the  language  of  viliany  is  breathed  in  whispers.  It  is  there  that  they 
boast  of  their  high  achievements  in  the  past;  there  that  they  plot  new 
acts  of  crime ;  there  that  they  prepare,  in  advance,  the  good  strokes 
they  will  make  when  the  hour  of  their  release  is  come ;  and  there  that 
they  organize  those  combinations  which  keep  the  police  ever  on  the 
alert,  terrify  honest  people,  and  weary  the  tribunals  of  justice.  A  man 
enters  after  having  committed  a  peccadillo ;  he  goes  out  schooled  to 
crime  and  ripe  for  the  galleys. 

•  But  labor  is  well  organized  at  Sainte-Pelagie,  and  the  workshops  are 
hives  of  busy  industry.  You  see  there  a  ceaseless  activity  and  good 
work  done.  With  sleeves  rolled  up  and  hammer  in  hand,  workmen  are 
fabricating  velocipedes ;  tailors,  squat  and  cross-legged,  are  busily  sew- 
ing garments  for  establishments  of  ready-made  clothing;  they  make 
chains;  they  cut  lamp-shades  out  of  paper,  &c.  Until  recently, 
they  manufactured  chignons  at  Sainte-Pelagie.  That  industry  has  been 
given  up  there ;  but  I  afterwards  saw  it  practised  on  a  large  scale  in  the 
central  prison  of  Melun.  The  hair,  bought  from  doubtful  heads,  gath- 
ered little*  by  little,  from  all  quarters,  drawn  out  by  the  comb,  wound 
round  cards,  thrown  into  the  street  and  collected  by  the  hook  of  the 
rag-picker,  is  assorted  by  colors,  divided  according  to  the  length,  cleansed 
in  a  manner  that  scarcely  increases  its  attraction,  and  fastened  by  the 
hands  of  prisoners  on  silken  threads.  Thence,  when  massed  and  ar- 
ranged according  to  the  rules  of  art,  it  goes  to  the  Eue  de  Eivoli,  iu 
Paris ;  Regent's  street,  in  London  ;  Broadway,  in  New  York,  and  wher- 
ever else  ladies,  not  satished  with  the  covering  of  the  head  provided  by 
nature,  imagine  that  they  can  increase  their  charms  by  additions  of 
such  dubious  origin. 

Sainte-Pelagie  is  surrounded  by  high  and  thick  walls,  on  which  are 
stationed  at  night  a  number  of  sentinels;  but,  despite  this  auxiliary 
surveiUance,  escapes  can  and  do  take  place.  On  the  12th  July,  1835, 
twenty-eight  political  prisoners  managed  to  get  away.  When  the 
director,  in  measureless  fright,  went  himself  to  report  the  fact  to  his 
chief,  the  prefect  of  police,  the  latter  dryly  replied  with  a  smile,  "  So 
much  the  better  ;  the  republic  is  deserting." 

§  8.  8aint-Lazare.— This  is  an  exclusively  female  prison,  devoted  to 
the  reception  and  treatment  of  several  classes :  1.  Women  awaiting 
trial  or  sentenced  correctionally  for  terms  of  one  year  and  under.  2. 
Women  sentenced  to  a  central  prison  and  awaiting  removal,  or  to  death 
and  awaiting  execution.  3.  It  is  a  house  of  coriectional  education  for 
girls  under  age,  sentenced  according  to  the  terms  of  the  penal  code,  or 
placed  there  by  way  of  paternal  correction.  4.  Prostitutes  correction- 
ally  sentenced  as  a  measure  of  municipal  police.  For  each  of  the  above 
categories  there  is  provided  a  distinct  ward.  The  legal  capacity  of  the 
prison  is  1,150,  but  the  prisoners  are  often  iu  excess  of  that  number. 

The  prison  is  an  immense  pile,  very  ancient,  with  an  old  and  decrepid 
look.  Originally  a  convent,  it  has  been  turned  into  a  prison.  Good, 
doubtless,  for  tlie  first  of  these  uses,  it  is  exceedingly  ill-adapted  to  the 
last.  With  large  courts,  shaded  by  venerable  trees,  it  has  wooden 
stairways,  dormitories  under  the  roof,  workshops,  taken  apparently  at 
random,  huge  refectories,  lofty  walls,  a  chapel  large  enough,  but  plain 


252  INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

almost  to  nakedness,  and  a  neat  little  oratory,  oocupyini;-  the  site  of  the 
apartment  of  Saint  Vincent  de  Par.l,  wliicli  was  tlit  cradle  of  the  relig- 
ious order  of  the  Lazarites. 

For  more  than  thirty  years  the  jn^efecture  of  police  has  sought  to 
change  this  state  of  things.  It  has  protested,  argued,  pleaded  for  the 
construction  of  a  house  destined  to  receive  female  prisoners  under  six- 
teen years,  and  girls  in  their  mmority,  confined  by  way  of  paternal 
correction.  It  has  no  power,  no  budget;  it  can  only  supplicate.  But 
the  municipal  council  has  turned  a  deaf  ear;  it  had  no  money.  Mean- 
while, magnificent  barracks,  splendid  churches  have  been  reared  on 
all  sides,  but  no  house  of  refuge  lias  yet  lifted  its  walls  where  female 
children,  who  have  fallen  in  a  moment  of  forgetfulness,  and  whom  it  is 
necessary  to  save  at  any  cost,  and  to  give  to  marriage,  to  honor,  to  ma- 
ternity, may  find  a  retreat  for  repentance  and  amendment,  away  from 
the  purlieus  of  public  x>i'ostitutes  and  professional  thieves. 

What  has  been  the  result  of  this  economy,  which  wastes  souls  to  save 
dollars  ?  Just  such  as  might  have  been  expected.  Mr.  Maxime  du 
Camp,  to  whose  interesting  papers  on  the  prisons  of  Paris  in  the  Eevue 
des  Deux  Moudes  I  acknowledge  myself  indebted  for  valuable  facts  and 
suggestions,  and  whose  expressions  I  have  not  hesitated  sometimes  to 
translate,  says  that  every  young  girl  who  enters  Saint-Lazare  as  a  cor- 
rectional leaves  it  vicious  and  corrupted  to  the  very  core  of  the  heart.  And 
he  gives  convincing  proofs  of  this,  in  which,  however,  I  do  not  propose  to 
follow  him ;  but  the  conclusion  which  he  reaches  is,  that  whoever  becomes 
an  inmate  there  is  lost,  unless  saved  by  a  miracle.  These  young  female 
correctionals  work  in  association,  bat  sleep  in  separate  cells.  All  the 
other  inmates  are  together  day  and  night.  In  the  dormitories  the  beds 
are  pressed  one  against  the  other,  and  in  the  workshops  the  chairs 
touch.  It  is  enough  to  mention  this  fact;  its  corollary  is  but  too 
obvious. 

At  Saint-Lazare,  in  vast  structures  connected  with  the  i)riMcipal 
building,  are  found  the  general  magazines  and  the  bake-house  of  all  the 
I)risons  of  Paris.  Day  and  night  the  ovens  flame  and  the  kneading- 
troughs  are  in  use.  The  average  of  bakings  is  thirty-two  a  day  each, 
yielding  two  hundred  and  tliirty  loaves.  The  magazine  for  clotlung  is 
a  place  most  interesting  to  visit.  Under  the  direction  of  an  active  and 
intelligent  woman,  the  s!)irts,  sheets,  socks,  and  caps  are  ranged  in 
dittererit  compartments.  Farther  on  you  see  strait-jackets  of  sail-cloth, 
buckled  with  seven  straps,  intended  to  restrain  tlie  resistance  of  the 
furious,  or  paralyze  all  thought  of  suicide  in  prisoners  condemned  to 
death.  In  aiu)ther  place  are  seen  winding-sheets  of  heavy  brown  linen, 
in  which  jtrisoners  are  wrapped  for  burial,  who  have  at  length  dropi)ed 
the  chains  of  this  ]u-esent  lih;.  In  still  another  apartment  are  pile<i 
theblariki^ts,  waistcoats,  ))antaIoons,  and  other  Avoolen  garnuMits,  which 
have  to  bo.  jtrotectcd  against  the  injury  of  nu)tlis.  All  the  linen,  all  the 
clothing  worn  by  the  prisonei's  of  I'aris,  go<'s  from  this  wardrolx^  and 
corties  l)ack-  to  it  iigain,  when  it  be(;omes  unlit  I'or  further  usc^.  J^jvery 
year  there  is  a  general  sale  of  the  ;\rticles  which  are  no  longer  service- 
able. Who  would  believe  that  the  tiitteicd  garments  which  have  been 
used  in  prisons  liav*',  still  a  marketable  valiui'^  Hut  so  it  is.  The  old 
lirjcn  is  bought  by  the  hospitals,  whi(;h  make  from  it  an  excellent  lint. 
I'aper-makers,  finding  there  ^ennin<'  henipen  cloth,  iire  eager  to  obtain 
it  for  the  m!inuf';i('tui('or  certain  (inekimls  of  pai)er  best  made  from  that 
material.  It  is  sought  ;ilso  by  railway  (;()mpanies,  who  give  it  to  the 
stokers  to  burnish  thi^  briisses  of  their  locomotlv(;s.  The  woolen  rags 
are   bought,  cut   up,  carde(l   anew,   spun,  and   woven  into   those  light 


PRISON    OF    LA    SANTK.  253 

cloths  which  inauufacturers  know  how  to  juake  ui»  into  garments,  which 
are  sohl  at  low  prices  and  yet  yield  lair  returns. 

§  9.  La  iSante. — This  is  the  model  prison  of  Paris,  and  is,  without  doubt, 
oneof  the  best  and  most  beautiful  in  Europe.  It  has  been  recently  erected, 
at  a  cost  of  more  than  5,000,01)0  francs.  It  was  built  under  the  immediate 
direction  of  Mr.  Mettetal,  a  member  of  the  National  Assembly,  a  gentle- 
man of  great  ability  and  worth ,  and  profoundly  yersed,from  Ktudy,  not  from 
experience  as  a  prison  director,  in  penitentiary  science.  It  will  be  worth 
while  to  go  a  little  into  detail  in  describing  this  prison,  in  order  to  present, 
in  outline  at  least,  a  sort  of  tangible  embodiment  of  the  ideas  to  which  his 
studies  brought  him.  The  prison  covers  about  seven  and  a  half  acres 
of  ground,  is  built  in  the  form  of  a  trapezium,  and  is  entirely  separated 
from  all  other  buildings.  The  constructions  are  divided  into  two  dis- 
tinct prisons,  are  built  on  two  distinct  plans,  and  are  designed  for  two 
distinct  classes  of  prisoners.  One  part  of  the  prison  is  for  the  treatment 
of  prisoners  who  have  had  their  lirst  hearing,  and  are  awaiting  trial, 
{prevenus  ;)  this  is  constructed  on  tlie  cellular  plan,  like  Mazas,  and  can 
receive  five  hundred  inmates.  The  other  partis  for  the  treatment  of 
convicted  prisoners,  who  have  been  sentenced  to  correctional  imprison- 
ment for  terms  not  exceeding  a  year  ;  it  is  composed  of  halls,  workshops, 
common  eating-rooms,  and  separate  cells  for  sleeping ;  like  the  cellular 
portion,  it  has  accommodations  for  live  hundred. 

The  part  of  the  prison  designed  for  the  prevenus  (those  awaiting  trial) 
consists  of  four  wings,  each  pierced  by  a  large  nave  or  gallery,  flanked 
on  both  sides  by  three  tiers  of  cells. '  Each  nave  is  lighted,  partly  by 
glass  placed  in  the  roof,  and  partly  by  a  huge  bay-window  at  the  end, 
protected  by  iron  bars.  The  chapel,  placed  in  the  circular  building  in 
which  the  four  radiating  galleries  of  cells  terminate,  communicates  with 
the  prison  of  the  sentenced,  (coudcannes,)  by  means  of  an  intermediate  or 
connecting  gallery,  called  the  "  hospital  construction,"  {bdtiment  de  Vln- 
Jirmerie.)  The  rotunda  is  surmounted  by  a  cupola  covered  with  tiles, 
like  the  rest  of  the  edifice,  and  on  the  two  sides  rise  immense  draught 
chimneys,  which  serve  the  double  purpose  of  heat  and  ventilation.  The 
prison  for  the  sentenced,  which  occupies  the  narrower  portion  of  the 
trapezium,  is  to  the  west  of  the  cellular  prison  for  those  awaiting  trial. 
The  exterior  walls  of  all  these  constructions  are  of  immense  square 
stones,  cemented,  the  partition  walls  being  in  brick.  The  buildings  de- 
signed for  the  accessory  services  are  in  the  irregular  courts  between  the 
wings,  and  are  of  hewn  stone.  Those  for  the  use  of  the  administration 
are  at  the  bottom  of  the  first  court,  or  court  of  entrance.  Here  all  the 
employes  are  lodged,  without  communication  with  the  interior.  Fifteen 
to  twenty  industries — the  making  of  mats,  umbrellas,  candle-boxes,  &c. — 
are  carried  on  in  this  great  establishment,  the  prisoners  in  separation  work- 
ing in  their  cells,  while  those  in  association  labor  in  silence  in  common 
work-shops.  Thus,  classification,  industrial  labor,  cellular  separation 
for  the prevemis,  association  in  work  and  separation  by  night  for  the  sen- 
tenced— such  are  the  elements  of  penal  treatment,  such  the  agencies  of 
reform,  employed  in  the  mixed  prison  of  La  Sante. 

Each  cell  in  this  prison  is  12  feet  long,  G  feet  wide,  and  0  feet  high, 
equal  therefore  to  C48  cubic  feet.  So  perfect  is  the  ventilation  that  not 
the  slightest  disagreeable  odor  is  perceptible  even  in  those  cells  where 
the  prisoners  are  confined  day  and  night. 

Ingenious  contrivances  for  overcoming  grave  difficulties  and  securing 
valuable  facilities  abound  in  this  prison.  To  give  an  example:  Ths 
altar  in  the  chapel,  which,  as  already  stated,  is  in  the  rotunda,  is  so 
placed  that  the  officiating  priest  can  be  seen  by  every  prisoner  confined 


254  INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

iu  the  four  wiugs  of  the  cellular  ward,  tlie  door  of  his  cell  being  set  a- 
few  inches  ajar  and  securely  locked.  At  the  same  time  the  foldiug- 
doors  of  the  congregate  part,  which  form  the  partition  between  the  two 
prisons  at  that  point,  being  thrown  open,  every  prisoner  in  association 
has  also  a  full  view  of  the  ministrant.  This  is  but  one  among  scores 
of  such  contrivances,  all  due  to  the  genius  of  Mr.  Mettetal. 

It  cannot  fail  to  have  struck  the  reader  that  the  two  penitentiary  sys- 
tems, so  different  in  themselves,  in  use  at  Mazas  and  Sainte-Pelagie,, 
are  united  in  the  prison  of  La  Saute ;  both  of  them,  however,  under 
greatly  improved  conditions.  Here  the  prisoner  sleeps  on  a  real  bed,, 
which  can  be  raised  aud  fastened  to  the  wall.  The  table  is  a  flap,  sup- 
ported on  an  iron  standard,  with  a  hinge  for  letting  it  down.  The  chair 
is  replaced  by  a  stool.  The  floor  of  the  cell  is  composed  of  oaken  boards 
inlaid.  A  special  chapel,  or  at  least  special  church,  accommodations  are 
provided  for  the  prisoners  of  each  faith,  under  each  penitentiary  system, 
viz :  Catholic-cellular,  Catholic-cougregate,  Protestant-cellular,  Pro- 
testant-congregate ;  and,  in  like  manner,  a  miniature  synagogue  is  con- 
secrated to  the  use  of  the  few  Israelites  occasionally  confined  here.  This 
prison  is  the  only  one  in  Paris  which  has  a  sheltered  wash-house,  built 
expressly  for  the  purpose,  where  the  prisoners,  on  rising  iu  the  morning, 
can  perform  their  ablutions  ;  a  fact  referred  to,  with  keen  sarcasm,  by  Mr.. 
Du  Camp,  as  showing  how  slowly  reforms  are  introdnced,  when  they  have 
to  make  their  way  against  the  good-will  of  the  budget.  Thecourts  here  are 
spacious-,  and  in  the  workshops  air  and  light  enter  without  obstruction^ 
and  therefore  in  quantities  to  meet  every  necessity  of  health  and  com- 
fort. On  this  prison  Mr.  Du  Camp  makes  the  following  remark:  '*Iu 
presence  of  these  two  opposite  systems,  which  are  here  placed  side  by 
side,  under  the  eye  of  the  same  director,  an  experiment  is  in  progress,, 
whose  results  it  will  be  easy  to  record,  and  which  will  afford  essential 
aid  to  those  who  are  in  search  of  a  solution  of  the  penitentiary  problem. 
From  records  thus  made  up  may  be  determined,  after  a  sufficient  lapse 
of  time,  which  system  sends  back  to  the  tribunals  the  largest  number  of 
recidivists."  I  must  respectfully  dissent  from  this  opinion,  and  for  the 
following  reasons  :  1.  The  prisoners  of  La  Saute,  subjected  to  the  two 
systems,  belong  to  essentially  different  classes,  and  their  treatment  has 
in  view  essentially  diff'erent  ends  ;  consequently,  there  is  a  diversity  in 
the  premises,  which  would  vitiate  the  conclusion.  2.  The  cellular  sys- 
tem is  api)li(!d,  at  La  Saute,  to  prisoners  awaiting  trial ;  prisoners,  there- 
fore, whose  guilt  or  innocence  has  not  yet  been  determined,  and  who,  "as 
a  further  consequence,  are  not  under  criminal  treatment  at  all.  3.  There 
is  no  difference  of  opinion  among  enlightened  penologists  as  to  the  ap- 
plication of  cellular  separation  to  this  class  of  prisoners  ;  all  favor  it  as 
a  matter  of  ])rime  iin])ortnnce.  4.  Even  the  correctionals  at  La  Sante 
liave,  as  their  maximum,  an  imj)risonment  of  only  one  year,  and  that  of 
the  great<!r  part  falls  far  below  that  limit.  (Cellular  imprisonment  for 
such  short  i)eriods  would  furnish  no  ((atd  for  conclusions  relating  to  that 
HI)ecies  of  im]^risonment  for  lengthened  terms,  o.  There  is  a  general, 
not  to  say  universal,  jigreement  among  students  of  penitentiary  science, 
that  to  give  a  sharp,  energetic  notice  to  (irst  offenders,  mainly  with  a 
view  to  (h^terrence,  the  best  dose  is  a  few  months  of  strictly  cellular 
confin<;menl.  (>.  I'i.\periments  like  that  at-  La  Sant*'',  embodying  the  two 
systems,  to  furnish  eonijjarative  results  of  real  vahu^,  must  beconducted 
uniler  two  (conditions:  a.  They  must  ('inbi'aec!  tinujs  of  such  lengths, 
and  sulijeets  of  such  a  class,  as  Ixclong  to  debatable  ground,  h.  They 
must  be  applied  by  o 111 cers  free  from  all  prejudice  in  favor  of  the  one 


PETITP:  ROQUETTE central  prison  at  CLERMONT.   255 

system  or  tbe  other,  so  that  their  observatious  and  Jiulginents  shall  be 
absolutely  impartial — a  condition  hard  to  be  realized. 

I  cannot  close  this  account  of  La  Santc  without  stating  the  strong- 
impression  made  upon  me  by  the  intelligence  and  courtesy  of  the  di- 
rector, as  well  as  by  the  politeness  of  his  staff,  who  vied  with  each 
other  in  tlie  alacrity  with  which  they  answered  questions,  and,  in  ev^ery 
way,  sought  to  promote  the  gratification  of  their  visitor.  The  same  re- 
mark will  apply  to  tlie  j^ersounel  of  the  other  prisons  of  Paris. 

§  10.  La  retiicRoqiiette. — This  is  a  prison,  or,  speaking  technically,  a 
house  of  correctional  education,  for  juvenile  delinquents  of  the  male  sex. 
There  are  received  into  it  prisoners  of  four  classes  :  1.  Children  under 
sixteen,  arrested  but  not  tried.  2.  Children  of  the  same  maximum  age, 
under  sentence.  3.  Children  in  transitu  to  agricultural  colonies.  4. 
Minor  children,  against  whom  their  parents  have  obtained  a  decree 
of  correctional  imprisonment.  It  is  on  the  cellular  system.  Think 
of  it!  Babes,  almost,  shut  up  for  weeks  and  months  in  a  cell! 
They  have  even  separate  exercise-yards.  They  have  hoops  there  vrhick 
they  trundle  in  the  few  square  yards  allowed  them.  But  the 
place  is  too  strait ;  the  hoop  strikes  the  wall  after  two  or  three  revo- 
lutions, and  the  children,  weary  of  this  mere  mockery  of  play,  sink 
down  upon  the  ground  to  dream  of  some  place  of  real  amusement. 
Separation  by  day,  separation  by  night,  separation  at  meals,  separation 
at  work,  separation  in  play-time,  separation  always  and  everywhere, 
and  that  in  the  case  of  children,  the  very  age  when  freedom,  play,  and 
motion  are  almost  an  essential  condition  of  existence — certainly  an 
absolute  condition  of  healthy  existence.  It  is  the  saddest  pVison 
I  ever  saw;  and  h  would  bo  intolerable  if  it  were  not  for  the  "Pat- 
ronage Society  for  liberated  juveniles  of  the  department  of  the  Seine," 
to  be  hereafter  noticed.  Mr.  Du  Camp  has  well  remarked  that 
La  Petite-Roquette  is  perhaps  the  most  important  prison  in  Paris,, 
because  its  inmates  are  children  whom  it  is  necessary  to  snatch  from 
crime,  and  to  lift  up  to  industry  and  virtue ;  and  that  therefore  it  ought 
to  be  managed  on  a  difterent  principle,  and  placed  near  Paris,  on  some 
large  farm,  where  the  children  could  feel  the  benign  influence  of  the 
sun  and  the  open  air. 

§  11  .The  central  prison  at  Clermont. — This  is  the  largest  female  central 
prison  of  France ;  it  is  also  the  best  conducted  and  the  most  successful. 
The  site  is  magnificent.  It  stands  on  an  eminence  just  outside  the  city, 
and  commands  a  prospect  as  extensive  as  it  is  charming.  The  germ  of 
the  prison  was  an  old  castle  of  the  middle  ages,  in  which  the  first  of  the 
Bourbon  kings  was  born.  I  was  shown  through  the  prison  by  the  di- 
rector himself,  Mr.  Bailie,  who  explained  everything  with  the  utmost 
patience.  The  discipline  I  found  equal  to  that  of  the  Albany  peniten- 
tiary. The  order  and  cleanliness  were  most  admirable.  The  floors  of 
all  the  apartments,  including  the  kitchen,  were  white  from  constant 
scrubbing.  The  tins,  coppers,  and  brasses  were  scoured  and  burnished 
to  the  last  degree  of  brightness.  The  prisoners'  beds  were  made  of  a 
mixture  of  wool  and  horse-hair.  The  sheets  were  like  snow,  and  the 
gray  blankets  had  an  unusually  tidy  appearance.  To  the  question  how 
often  the  sheets  were  washed,  the  director  replied,  "Just  as  often  as 
they  need  it;"  and  their  appearance  showed  that  the  answer  was  not  a 
cover  for  official  neglect,  but  the  literal  truth.  In  reply  to  another 
question,  he  said  that  the  underclothing  of  the  prisoners  would  be 
washed  three  times  a  day,  if  such  a  thing" should  be  necessary  to  clean- 
liness. 

The  women  sleep  in  common  dormitories  (a  ^plan  not  to  be  approved) 
—seventy-five  to  one  hundred   in  an  apartment — with  a  sister  in  an 


2o6  INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

adjoining  room,  and  a  raouitress,  herself  a  prisoner,  in  the  dormitory 
with  her  feHow  convicts.  There  are  fonr  dining  hialls.  Underneath 
each  table,  and  forming-  a  part  of  it,  is  a  box  of  the  same  length,  divided 
into  as  many  compartments  as  there  are  occnpauts  of  the  table — one  for 
each — in  which  they  keep  their  salt,  pepper,  and  vinegar,  together  with 
whatever  they  may  have  purchased  for  themselves.  But  how  do  pris- 
oners come  into  the  possession  of  money?  I  will  explain.  There  are 
three  kinds  of  sentence  to  the  central  prisons,  viz,  simple  imprisonment, 
reclnsion,  and  hard  labor.  The  last-named  of  these  sentences,  in  the 
case  of  men,  are,  with  a  few  exceptions  and  for  special  reasons,  served  out 
in  the  bagnio  at  Toulon  or  the  penal  colonies;  but  in  the  case  of  women, 
in  the  central  prisons.  Xow,  the  net  earnings  of  all  French  prisoners 
are  divided  into  tenths.  Of  these  tenths,  prisoners  sentenced,  for  the 
first  time,  to  simple  imprisonment  receive  five ;  those  sentenced  to  re- 
clnsion, four;  and  those  sentenced  to  hard  labor,  three:  but,  in  all  cases, 
prisoners  whose  conduct  and  industry  are  exemplary  in  the  highest  de- 
gree may,  in  the  discretion  of  the  director,  receive  au  additional  tenth. 
I*er  contra, on  each  recommittal  the  prisoner's  share  is  reduced  one-tenth: 
with  this  reserve,  however,  that  the  last*  tenth  can  never  be  taken  from 
him,  so  that  hope  may  never  be  wholly  lost.  On  this  point  it  may  be 
farther  stated  tlmt,  in  addition  to  the  portion  to  which  prisoners  are 
legally  entitled,  the  contractor  may  allow  to  particular  individuals  such 
quantities  as  he  pleases,  as  a  stimulus  to  diligence.  The  portion  of 
earnings  allotted  to  the  prisoners  is  called  jyeculinmj  and,  in  every  case, 
it  is  divided  into  two  parts — disposable  j^t'c^z/nn??  and  resevved  i)ecidium. 
The  latter,  called  masse  de  reserve,  is  kept  for  the  prisoner  to  the  day  of 
his  liberation ;  the  former  is  at  his  disposal  for  the  purchase,  during  his 
imprisonment,  of  little  comforts,  additional  to  the  fixed  prison  rations, 
such  as  tea,  milk,  butter,  cheese,  bread,  &q.  This  is  done  at  the  cantine. 
already  explained  in  my  account  of  the  prison  at  ]S'eufchatel. 

To  the  <iuestion,  put  to  quite  a  number  of  the  women,  as  we  passed 
through  the  prison,  whether  they  found  iha  pecidium  an  encouragement 
and  stimulus,  the  answer  was  uniform,  as  it  was  prompt  and  emphatic, 
that  they  did.  Some  of  the  convicts  at  Clermont,  who  are  engaged  in 
the  more  skilled  of  the  industries  practised  there,  such  as  corset  and 
dress  making,  earned  for  themselves  70  francs,  equal  to  Sl5  per  month. 
The  director  informed  me  that  he  had  paid  women,  on  their  discharge, 
as  high  as  4,000  francs.  But  these,  of  course,  are  exceptional  cases. 
After  the  above  statements,  it  will  not  seem  wonderful  that  the  con- 
tractor takes  these  women  and  agrees,  for  the  product  of  their  labor, 
to  defray  the  entire  current  expenses  of  the  prison,  save  the  cost  of  the 
administration,  food,  clothing,  bedding,  ordinary  repairs,  &c.  It  is  thus 
seen  that,  leaving  the  ailministration  oat  of  the  account,  this  prison  is 
self-sui)porting.  There  is  but  one  other  in  France — a  male  central 
prison — of  which  so  much  can  be  said  ;  and  which,  according  to  the 
oflicial  reports,  not  only  pays  its  way,  but  earns  a  small  suri)lus. 

There  is  a  department  of  this  prison  (and  it  exists  in  several  others  of 
the  same  chiss)  of  much  interest,  called  "  the  ward  of  preservation  and 
reform,"  {fjuarlicr  de  conservation  ct  d^onendemcnt.)  On  the  arrival  of  a 
convict,  an  in(iuiry  is  instituted  into  her  i)ast  character,  coiuluct,  and 
the  (;ircumstances  of  her  crime.  This  inijuiry  is  conducted  by  a  kind  of 
court,  consisting  of  tlie  director,  sub-director,  chaplain,  inspector,  and 
matron.  If  it  is  found  that  she  had  previously  borne  a  good  character; 
that  she  liad  never  l»efore  committed  a  crime;  that  her  i)resent  offense 
is  one  not  in)i)lying  grave  moral  degrad;Uion,  and  that  she  has  been 
reared  in  an  honest  and  respectable  family,  she  is  jdaced  in  the  ward  of 


CENTRAL    PRISON    AT    MELUN.  257 

preservation  and  reform.  This  ward,  at  the  time  of  my  visit,  had  fifty 
inmates.  It  had  then  had  an  existence  and  a  history  of  six  years,  (if 
one  hundred  prisoners  who  had  been  discharged  from  it,  not  one  had 
come  back.  Its  inmates  are  as  much  separated  from  the  rest  of  the 
convicts  as  if  they  were  confined  in  different  prisons. 

On  our  round  we  visited,  as  a  matter  of  course,  the  prison  school, 
where  were  a  hundred  women  engaged  in  the  several  exercises  of  read- 
ing, writing,  and  calculating.  A  more  quiet,  well-behaved,  industrious 
set  of  pupils  I  never  saw.  A  sister  told  me  that  they  were  very  quick 
in  mastering  the  difficulties  of  arithmetic,  and  of  their  progress  in  pen- 
manship I  had  ocular  proof.  A  girl  who  could  scarcely  scrawl  a  few 
letters  when  committed,  wrote  an  excellent  engrossing  hand,  and  there 
were  others  not  much  behind  her.  The  conditions  entitling  i^risoners  to 
the  advantages  of  the  school  are  :  good  conduct,  sufficient  intelligence, 
and  an  age  not  exceeding  thirty-five  years. 

There  is  a  library  at  Clermont  of  700  volumes,  not  large  considering 
the  size  of  the  prison  ;  but,  owing  to  constant  occupation,  the  prisoners 
did  not  appear  to  have  any  great  amount  of  time  for  reading  at  their 
disposal.  However,  seats  are  provided  in  the  exercise-yards,  and  it  is 
permitted  to  either  walk  or  sit  during  the  daily  half  hour  passed  there. 
Such  as  choose  may  devote  this  time  to  reading.  The  prisoners  are 
often  read  to  by  the  chaplain  or  a  sister  during  meal-time.  They  have 
also  a  good  deal  of  time  on  Sunday,  during  which  they  either  read  or 
listen  to  reading  in  the  workshops. 

Some  interesting  statistics  were  furnished  me  for  1SG9,  as  that  had  been 
a  normal  year,  which  1870,  the  year  of  the  Franco-German  war,  was  not. 
The  average  prison  population  for  that  year  was  73G.  There  remaine'd 
in  prison  at  the  end  of  they  ear  604,  of  whom  were  sentenced  to  simple 
imprisonment  379;  to  reclusion,  70;  to  hard  labor,  215.  The  net  product 
of  the  prisoners'  labor  was  -J23,221  francs  ;  gratuities  paid  prisoners  by 
contractor,  0,031  francs  ;  total,  229,855  francs.  Peculium  of  prisoners, 
including  contractor's  gratuities,  93,975  francs  ;  contractor's  share  of  net 
earnings,  137,880  francs ;  total,  same  as  before.  Judged  by  the  num- 
ber of  punishments  inflicted,  the  conduct  of  the  prisoners  must  have 
been  remarkably  good,  the  average  being  but  a  small  fraction  over  one 
a  day.  They  were  distributed  thus :  To  prisoners  sentenced  to  simple 
imprisonment,  050 ;  to  reclusionaries,  52.;  to  hard-labor  convicts,  107; 
the  number  of  prisoners  in  the  first  class  being  379  ;  in  the  second,  70 ; 
and  in  the  third,  215.  A  remarkable  feature  of  this  exhibit  is  that  the 
prisoners  who  are  sentenced  for  the  lowest  grade  of  oft'enses  commit 
twice  as  mafiy  breaches  of  discipline,  in  proportion  to  their  number,  as 
those  convicted  of  the  next  grade,  and  four  times  as  many  as  those  sen- 
tenced for  the  highest  grades,  and  that  a  similar  disproportion  exists  be- 
tween the  number  of  disciplinary  offenses  committed  by  the  two  last 
named  of  these  classes.  The  conclusion  from  which  would  seem  to  be 
that  the  worst  criminals  make  the  best  prisoners,  on  the  principle,  per- 
haps, that  "  practice  makes  perfect." 

Although,  as  already  explained,  there  are  three  kinds  of  sentences  to 
the  central  prisons  ;  yet,  as  far  as  treatment  is  concerned,  these  distinc- 
tions are  nominal.  All  prisoners  work  together  in  the  same  shops,  sleep 
in  the  same  dormitories,  and  are  in  all  respects  subjected  to  the  same 
regime. 

§  10.  Male  central  prison  at  Melnn. — This  is  one  of  the  best  and  most 

successful,  both   economically  and   morally,  of    the  French    j)risous. 

It  had  seven  hundred  inmates  at  the  date  of  my  visit.     In  cleanliness, 

order,  discipline,  and  material  effectiveness,  it  seemed  almost  perfect. 

H.  Ex.  185 17 


258  INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

It  lias  fourteen  large  workshops,  arranged  on  the  two  sides  of  an  im- 
mense building',  with  a  wide  hall  running  through  the  middle  from  end 
to  end,  from  which  yon  enter  the  several  shops,  in  each  one  of  which  a 
different  trade  is  carried  on.  I  ne\er  saw  workshops  more  conveniently 
arranged  or  better  ventilated.  The  industries  appeared  well  organized 
and  effectively  conducted.  The  moral  appliances  are  evidently  better 
here  than  in  most  other  prisons  of  its  class,  for  while  the  average  re- 
lapses in  the  central  prisons  exceed  40  per  cent.,  at  Melun  it  is  less  than 
20.  Every  morning  there  is  held,  in  a  room  called  the  pretorium,  a 
l)rison  court,  composed  of  the  director,  sub-director,  inspector,  chaplain, 
and  perhaps  some  other  officers,  where  all  offenders  against  prison  regu- 
lations are  arraigned,  heard,  and  judged  with  the  same  strict  regard  to 
justice  as  offenders  against  the  laws  of  the  land  are  in  courts  of  crimi- 
nal jurisdiction.  This  court  is  found,  I  think,  in  the  central  prisons 
generally,  perhaps  universally ;  it  certainly  is  at  Clermont.  It  is  the 
feature  most  to  be  commended  in  the  French  peniteutiar}^  administration. 

The  ward  of  preservation  and  reform  I  found  at  Melun  as  at  Clermont, 
and  with  the  same  good  results.  There  are  also  in  this  prison  certain 
cells,  called  cells  of  repression,  designed  for  the  separate  confinement  of 
dangerous  and  incorrigible  prisoners,  as  the  others  are  for  that  of  pris- 
oners of  whose  return  to  virtue  good  hope  may  be  entertained. 

The  director  at  Melun  impressed  me  as  being  a  man  of  extraordinary 
intelligence,  ability,  and  force  of  character. 

§  11.  Departmcnial  prisons  at  St.  Omcr. — I  had  a  young  friend  at  this 
ancient  city,  Mr.  A.  Corne,  with  whom  I  had  corresponded  for  a  number 
of  years,  who  met  me  at  Calais,  where  we  first  saw  and  embraced  each 
other,  and  whom  I  accompanied  to  his  official  residence  at  St.  Omer, 
where  he  held  the  position  of  sub-prefect  of  the  department  of  Arras. 
He  was  a  young  man  of  rare  ability  and  large  attainments,  evidently 
one  of  the  coming  men  of  France ;  but  he  has  since  passed  aw^iy  from 
earth,  when  only  the  first  fruits  had  been  gathered  of  Avhat  must  have 
been,  If  his  life  liad  been  si)ared,  a  full  harvest  of  nsefuluess  and  honor. 

At  St.  Omer  I  inspected  two  departmental  prisons,  viz,  a  house  of 
arrest  and  a  house  of  justice.  The  first  was  a  prison  for  persons  arrested 
and  held  for  trial  before  a  correctional  tribunal  or  a  court  of  assizes,  {Ics 
prevenus  et  Ics  accuses.)  The  building  is  old,  ill-arranged,  badly  venti- 
lated, and,  in  the  basement-story,  damp  and  unhealthy;  though  we  have 
worse  i)risons  in  America.  The  prisoners  are  in  common  rooms  by 
day  and  common  dormitories  by  night,  being  thus  in  association  the 
whole  time,  with  every  opportunity  for  mutual  contamination.  The  sec- 
ond was  a  larger  as  well  as  less  ancient  structure,  designed  for  i)ersons 
sentenced  to  an  imprisonment  not  exceeding  three  months.  It  was  un- 
dergoing extensive  rei)airs,  and  promised  to  be,  when  these  were  com- 
]>let<'d,  a  fair  prison  of  its  class,  but  still  highly  objectionable  on  the 
ground  of  its  common  dormitories.  Tlie  labor,  as  in  the  Fren(;h  prisons 
generally,  is  let  to  a  (tontrai.-tor,  {cntrvprcncur.)  The  contractor  assumes 
the  oldigation  to  furnish  the  supplies  of  food,  clothing,  and  other  neces- 
sary articU's,  at  such  a  i»rice,  for  a  term  of  three,  six,  or  nine  years,  and, 
in  i»art  pavnient,  lie  has  a  light  to  the  labor  of  the  prisoners,  but  no 
light  or(M)ntr()l  oNcr  them,  or  of  inteifei'eiiee  with  the  discipline,  lie  can- 
not even  introduce  an  instiiuitor  or  loreinan,  <listinct  from  the  personnel 
of  the  administrat  ion  ;  1m^  gets  simpl.\  I  lie  jtrodnet  of  their  labor,  having 
the  right  to  inti'oduce  such  juopi'r  industri(\s  as  he  ])U^ases  and  the  obli- 
gation to  fujnish  occupation  to  \\n\  }»risoners  at  all  times. 

Tlierc  is  another  and  higher  class  of  dei)artniental  i)risons,  called  the 
house  of  correction,  to  wiiich  prisoners  are  sentenced  for  a  term   not 


GENERAL    REMARKS    ON    FRENCH    PRISONS.  259 

xcei^.Aiiig"  0118  year  ;  but  this  is  always  at  the  cliief  city  of  the  depart- 
ment, and,  as  St.  Oiuer  does  not  bold  that  rank,  I  did  not  see  it. 

§  12.  A  quasi  prison. — There  is  an  establishment  at  St.  Omer  of  a 
somewhat  miscellaneous  character,  half  prison  and  half  something  else. 
It  is  for  the  treatment  of  women  and  girls,  and  is  under  the  care  of  the 
Sisters  of  the  Good  Shepherd,  who  are  specially  devoted  to  labors  of 
this  kind.  It  numbered,  when  I  visited  it,  four  hundred  and  fifty  in- 
mates, made  up  of  four  difterent  classes,  or  categories^  as  they  are 
named  by  the  sisters.  The  first  category  was  of  prostitutes,  one  hun- 
dred and  eighty  in  number.  Most  of  them  were  young,  though  none 
are  excluded  on  account  of  age.  They  remain  many  years  in  the  insti- 
tution, and  it  is  claimed  that  the  greater  part  become  thoroughly 
reformed.  For  the  support  of  this  class  the  state  allows  40  centimes 
(equal  to  8  cents)  each  a  day.  The  second  category  is  much  smaller, 
consisting  of  a  select  few  from  the  first,  Avho^  because  of  the  thorough 
confidence  re^^osed  in  them,  are  in  training  to  become  sisters  themselves. 
The  third  category  is  of  girls,  mostlj"  from  very  bad  families,  who,  hav- 
ing been  convicted  of  some  petty  offense,  are  placed  here  for  safe- 
keeping and  reformation.  For  their  maintenance  the  state  also  pays  40 
centimes  each  i)er  day.  The  fourth  category  consists  of  younger  girls, 
orphans  for  the  most  pait,  either  in  fact  or  because  of  the  desertion  or 
vices  of  their  parents.  This  is  simply  an  industrial  school,  toward 
whose  support  the  state  pays  nothing.  It  is  a  charitable  institution, 
sustained  by  the  gifts  of  the  benevolent  and  the  labor  of  the  children. 
Each  of  these  four  categories  forms  a  community  by  itself,  entirely 
distinct  from  the  others,  having  difterent  buildings,  refectories,  schools, 
dormitories,  &c.  Their  only  industry  is  sewing — shirt-making  chiefly — 
and  their  average  earnings  are  about  35  centimes  a  day. 

This  institution,  so  novel  in  its  plan,  appeared  to  me  to  be  one  of 
great  merit  and  usefulness. 

§  13.  General  remarlcs  on  French  ^>r<,s'0»s. — a.  The  same  character- 
istic— the  same  defect,  I  may  say — struck  me  as  inhering  in  the  French 
as  in  the  English  i^rison  administration  ;  indeed,  it  is  not  peculiar  to 
those  countries,  but  belongs  to  all,  though  in  diflerent  degrees,  and,  I 
am  grieved  to  add,  to  far  too  great  an  extent  in  my  own.  I  refer  to  the 
greater  attention  given  in  them  to  material  than  to  moral  efhciency ; 
the  greater  effort  made  to  secure  the  former  than  the  latter.  The  cen- 
tral prisons  are  models  of  order,  regularity,  labor,  neatness,  and  discip- 
line ;  but  intimidation,  deterrence,  seems  to  be  their  chief  aim.  Material 
order  is  carried  to  its  highest  power  ;  moral  order  seems  rather  languid. 
Little  effort,  little  thought  even,  appeared  to  me  to  be  given  to  reforma- 
tion. The  system  punishes,  but  does  not  amend.  The  administration, 
the  legislature,  the  country  feels  this  profoundl}-.  Hence  the  warm  in- 
terest taken  by  France  in  the  congress  of  London.  Hence,  too,  the 
important  measure  recently  inaugurated  in  the  national  chamber  under 
the  lead  of  the  Viscount  D'Haussonville  ;  I  mean  the  creation  of  a  great 
commission  of  thirty  of  the  picked  men  of  France,  charged  with  the 
duty  of  studying  anew  the  whole  penitentiary  question,  and  suggesting 
the  reforms  needed  in  the  penitentiary  system.  I  had  the  pleasure  of 
witnessing  the  deliberations  of  that  body  during  an  entire  sitting  of 
three  hours;  and  I  feel  persuaded  that  results  of  the  highest  value  to 
France  and  the  world  may  be  anticipated  from  its  labors. 

b.  As  the  fruit  of  the  state  of  things  described  in  the  last  paragraph, 
relapses  increase,  and  the  number  of  recidivists  multiplies,  from  year 
to  year,  despite  the  many  ameliorations  introduced  within  the  last  half 
century  into  the  penitentiary  regime.    Such  a  result  shows  the  iuefii- 


260  INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

cacy  of  tlie  principle  of  intimidation,  when  exclusively  or  even  chiefly 
relied  upon,  and  the  necessity  of  introducing'  into  the  system,  as  a  liv- 
ing element,  the  principle  of  reformation.  To  justify  what  I  have  said 
as  to  the  increase  of  relapses,  1  cite  from  a  work  on  the  Prisons  of 
France,  by  Pastor  E.  Eobin,  an  eminent  French  penologist  and  philan- 
thropist, who  states  that  the  percentage  of  recidivists  in  the  central 
prisons  had  risen  in  four  years  (lS6tt-18GS)  from  34  to  42.  The  latest 
report  of  the  administration  seen  by  me,  that  for  1871,  if  my  memory 
serve,  (for  I  have  not  the  document  at  hand,)  makes  the  recommittals 
in  those  prisons  44  or  45  per  cent.  In  the  prisons  of  Paris  the  percent- 
age of  relapses  is  still  greater.  In  1868,  00  per  cent,  of  the  prisoners 
arraigned  before  the  tribunals  of  correctional  justice  had  been  convicted 
before,  and  of  those  arraigned  before  the  court  of  assizes,  45  per  cent. 
Mr.  Du  Camp  observes  that  this  large  number  of  relapses  proves  that 
repression,  intimidation,  deterrence,  is  not  enough;  that  it  is  neces- 
sary to  repudiate  the  old  lex  faUones,  (law  of  retaliation  ;)  that,  if  it  is 
just  to  jiunish,  it  is  essential  to  reform;  and  that  to  attain  this  end, 
offered  to  every  civilized  nation,  the  i^rison  must  be  made  a  moral  hos- 
pital. 

c.  The  wards  of  preservation  and  reformation,  found  at  Clermont  and 
Melun,  have  already  been  noticed.  Others  exist  in  the  lemale  central 
prison  of  Haguenau,  and  the  male  prisons  of  Fonteorault,  Poissy, 
Eysses,  and  Gaillon.  The  name  given  to  this  institution,  ward  of 
preservation^  as  noticeel  by  viscount  D'Haussonville  in  the  report  with 
which  he  introduced  into  the  chamber  of  deputies  his  proposition  for  a 
penitentiary  commission,  suggests  a  pregnant  reflection,  viz :  That,  in 
the  judgment  of  the  administration  itself,  the  simple  fact  of  an  impris- 
onment in  these  establishments  is  likely  to  add  to  the  depravity  of  their 
inmates.  This,  "continues  the  viscount,  is  a  sad  confession,  but  one 
which  it  is  necessary  to  weigh  carefully,  without  reproach  to  the  admin- 
istration, whose  good  faith  and  zeal  it  attests. 

d.  The  dietary  of  the  French  prisons  appears  to  have  been  brought 
down  to  the  lowest  standard,  and  is  scarcely  sufficient  to  meet  the  average 
necessities  of  the  prisoners ;  certainly  not  of  those  whose  appetite  is 
strongest.  This  fact  is  noticed  by  JMr.  Du  Camp,  who  says  that  the  food 
furnished  to  the  inmates  of  the  prisons  of  Paris  is  not  sufficient  for  all, 
and  that  some  would  suffer  from  hunger  if  the  pecuUum  did  not  enable 
them  to  make  some  purchases  at  the  cantlne,  which  is  found  in  every 
French  i)rison.  The  mnf/ne  is  an  establishment  belonging  to  the  con- 
tractor, there  being  but  one  contractor  allowed  in  any  of  the  central 
prisons.  The  average  ])rop()rtion  of  the  earnings  assigned  to  the  con- 
victs does  not  vary  much  from  four-tenths.  The  contractor  reserves 
the  right  to  sell  to  tlie  prisoners,  at  i)rices  fixed  by  the  administration, 
Knpi)lein('ntary  articles  of  food — such  as  bread,  meat,  vegetabhis,  S:\:. 
lie  tinis  pays  the  ])rison('r  his  pecitliidii,  and  re(;eives  nearly  one-half  of 
it  back  jigain  for  commodities  s(>hl  to  liiiii,in  this  manner  retaking  with 
one  hand  what  he  had  given  with  the  other.  Jiy  such  an  arrangement 
the  administration  seems  to  confess  that  the  rations  are  scarcely  sufli- 
cient;  and  what  makes  this  still  more  evident  is  the  fact  that  those 
j)risoners  who  are  einploye<l  in  the  service  of  the  house,  {service  econo- 
iniquc,)  and  therefore  get  no  pcctdium,  receive  some  sons  from  the  ad- 
ministration, with  which  to  ]»wrchase  articles  from  the  vaniinc. 

§  14.  Mcttray. —  La  colonie  affricate  el  penitentiaire  at  Mettray,  five 
miles  distant  from  Toms,  in  the  fertile  and  ciiarniing  valley  of  the 
Loir<^,  was  the  only  reformatory  institution  which  the  time  at  my  com- 
mand i)ermitted  me  to  visit  in  J^'rance;  antl  there  I  had  the  great  liappi- 


peinItentiaey  colony  of  mettray.  261 

ness  and  honor  of  passing  two  days  as  the  guest  of  the  good  man  who 
founded  it — M.  Anguste  Demetz.  To  describe  Mettray  in  detail,  in.  its 
organization,  workings,  and  results,  covering,  as  its  history  now  does,  a 
period  of  thirty-four  years,  would  require  a  volume  ;  whereas  a  glance 
is  all  that  my  limited  space  will  allow.  At  the  meeting  of  the  Universal 
Alliance  of  Order  and  Civilization,  held  at  Paris  in  the  month  of  June, 
1872,  Mr.  Demetz  presented  a  paper  under  the  title  of  "  An  Exposition 
of  the  System  of  Education  employed  at  the  Agricultural  and  Peniten- 
tiary Colony  of  Mettray,  and  of  the  House  of  Paternal  Correction," 
(maison  paterneUc.)  This  pa])er  is  in  the  nature  of  a  report,  which,  as  a 
matter  of  course,  gives  the  latest  as  well  as  the  most  authentic  infor- 
mation relating  to  this  world-renowned  establishment.  Not  only  shall 
I  not  hesitate,  but  rather  regard  it  as  a  duty,  to  supplement  my  own 
notes  and  recollections  by  the  information  afforded  in  this  report,  and 
in  some  other  recent  publications  on  the  subject,  notably  those  of  Mr. 
Charles  Sauvestre  and  Miss  Florence  Hill ;  and  that  without  feeling 
-obliged  always  to  employ  the  ipsissima  verba  of  those  authors,  or  to  in- 
cumber my  pages  with  formal  references  or  quotation  marks.  For  a 
number  of  years  the  average  population  of  Mettray  has  been  not  far 
from  700 ;  at  the  time  of  my  visit,  August,  1872,  it  was  792.  Of  the  4,287 
children  received  at  Mettray  since  its  foundation,  017  were  illegitimate ; 
1,657  were  ori:)hans  by  the  loss  of  one  or  both  parents  ;  291  w^ere  found- 
lings ;  595  had  step-fathers  or  step-mothers ;  of  381  the  parents  were 
living  in  illicit  union  ;  of  889  the  father,  mother,  brother,  or  sister  had 
been  in  prison ;  and  of  7  the  father  or  mother  had  been  sentenced  to  capital 
l)unishment.  What  a  multitude  of  young  immortals,  almost  without 
exception  the  children  of  poverty,  misery,  neglect,  and  crime  ;  of  evil 
surroundings  and  evil  influences,  whose  name  is  legion  !  What  a  fearful 
catalogue  of  exposures !  How  few  and  faint  the  chances  of  victory  in 
such  a  battle ;  how  almost  certain  the  issue  of  defeat  and  ruin,  unless 
some  helping  hand,  strong  to  deliver,  should  be  stretched  out  to  the  res- 
cue. It  was  the  sight  of  these  exposures,  and  the  certainty  of  a  dis- 
astrous issue  in  the  greater  number  of  cases,  which  caused  M.  Demetz 
to  abandon  a  career  that  was  opening  to  him  the  highest  judicial  honors 
of  his  country,  and  devote  himself  to  the  salvation  of  imperiled  child- 
hood and  youth.  He  traversed  Europe  to  And  a  model,  and  found  it  in  the 
Kauhe  Hans,  near  Hamburg,  established  six  years  before,  by  Mr.,  since 
Dr.  Henry  W^ichern.  It  was  the  separation  of  the  children  into  groups, 
called  families,  and  the  making  of  farm-work  their  princii>al  occupation, 
which  most  struck  his  imagination  and  won  his  judgment  in  the  Eough 
House.  He  chose  the  family  principle  asthebasis  of  his  proposed  establish- 
ment on  a  twofold  ground — one  having  reference  to  the  officers,  the  other 
to  the  children.  Division  into  families,  he  considers,  makes  superintend- 
ence more  easy,  direct,  and  kindly ;  more  easy,  because  it  extends  over 
only  a  small  number;  more  direct,  because  it  brings  responsibility  home 
to  one  person ;  more  kindly,  because  its  tendency  is  to  awaken  in  the 
head  of  the  family,  and  his  assistants,  the  sentiments  of  sympathy  and 
affection.  Upon  the  children  themselves  he  regards  its  influence  as  no 
less  beneticial.  The  authority  exercised  over  them  is  paternal ;  they 
become  attached  to  their  house-father:  and  this  mutual  affection  be- 
comes a  moral  force  of  incalculable  power.  Then,  again,  this  division 
into  families  (such  is  his  mode  of  reasoning)  facilitates  the  individual 
treatment  of  each  child.  Individualization  is  an  indispensable  eleaient 
in  reformatory  treatment,  which  renders  it,  in  the  opinion  of  Mr.  Demetz, 
a  grave  error  to  economize  in  the  number  of  agents  employed  in  the 
work.     He  holds  that  the  family  is  the  supreme  of  moral  forces  which 


262  INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

act  upon  the  human  race,  and  that  every  man  is  a  reflection  of  the  in- 
fluences in  the  midst  of  which  he  jiassed  his  earliest  years.  The  power 
of  example  upon  the  young  is  omnipotent.  Whence  can  the  child, 
reared  by  irreligious,  disorderly,  vicious  parents,  draw  those  moral 
principles  which  are  the  safeguard  of  all  ?  The  family  either  kills  virtue,  or 
breathes  into  it  the  breath  of  life.  The  task  proposed  tohiniself  by  the 
founder  of  Mettray  was  to  create  a  moral  constitution  in  the  criminals 
who  became  his  wards,  and  to  substitute  for  the  family  which  ruined,  a 
family  which  will  save  them.  He  acknowledges  that  it  is  a  fictitious 
family  which  he  gives  them,  but  claims  that  it  has  all  the  solicitude,  all 
the  tenderness  even,  of  a  real  family.  The  chief  takes  the  title  of 
father  of  the  family,  and  has  all  the  devotion  implied  in  that  designa- 
tion. 

The  advantages  of  this  division  into  families  show  themselves  more 
sensibly  from  day  to  day.  M.  Demetz  thinks  that  disciplinary"  action 
.and  moral  action  have  been,  hitherto,  too  much  confounded.  A  regi- 
ment may  move  at  the  word  of  command,  a  ship's  crew  at  the  sound  of 
the  boatswain's  whistle ;  but  recourse  must  be  had  to  other  agencies  if 
our  aim  is  to  affect  moral  character.  For  this  reason  too  many  children 
must  not  be  confided  to  the  same  person  ;  and  the  agents  must  be  mul- 
tiplied, under  penalty  of  simply  rearing  instead  of  educating. .  It  is,  so  to 
speak,  in  single  combat  that  we  must  w-restle  with  these  young  souls,  if 
we  would  conquer  their  evil  inclinations  and  kindle  in  them  the  senti- 
ments of  honor  and  virtue. 

M.  Demetz  avers  that  he  has  takeu  for  basis  of  the  reformatory  edu- 
cation of  Mettray,  the  religious  sentiment;  for  a  bond  of  union,  the 
family  spirit ;  for  order,  military  discipline — three  elements,  each  strong 
in  itself,  but  of  immense  power  to  hold  man  to  duly,  when  combined  and 
made  to  act  in  unisou  toward  the  same  end. 

The  chief  industry  at  Mettray  is  agriculture.  Tlie  device  adopted  for 
the  colony  is,  "To  improve  the  earth  by  man,  and  man  by  the  earth;" 
and  that  principle  is  carried  out  to  the  fullest  extent.  To  defend  the  soil, 
and  to  enrich  it,  is  the  mission  to  which  the  colons  of  Mettray  are  called. 

How  well  these  brave  youths  have  fulfilled  the  first  part  of  this  mis- 
sion the  following  facts  attest:  All  the  colons  who  were  from  seventeen 
years  of  age  to  twenty,  joined  the  army  the  moment  the  French  soil  was 
invaded  by  the  Germans  in  the  late  war,  to  the  number  of  one  hundred 
and  eighty,  and  Ibught  with  unsurpassed  bravery.  ]\rauy  died  on  the 
field  of  battle;  many  others  were  wounded;  numbers  distinguished 
then)selves  by  acts  of  special  valor;  four  were  decorated  with  the  rib- 
bon of  the  Je,iL;ion  of  honor,  and  nine  with  the  military  medal;  and  four 
received  commissions  as  oflicers.  Among  those  Avho  received  decora- 
tions, Mettray  naiiu's  with  honorable  pride  one  of  her  colons,  aged  nine- 
teen years,  an  uiid<'r-oflicer  of  engineers,  who,  during  the  siege  of  Metz, 
crossed  tlie  I'russian  lines  six  times  to  obtain  information,  and  report  it 
to  his  general. 

As  regards  the  second  part  of  their  mission,  as  named  above,  almost 
the  entire  j)opnlation  of  IVIettray  is  engaged  in  agricultural  labors  during 
the  months  of  spring,  summer,  and  autumn.  A  vast  domain,  composed 
of  a  nnmlMM-  of  farms,  is  cultivated  by  them.  To  save  time  and  fatigue 
in  going  to  and  from  work,  tln^  colons  ar(%  to  soiUe  extent,  distributed 
in  dillcicnt  localities.  The  main  body  is  at  ]\Iettray,  but  tliere  are  two 
outlying  cstablislimcnts,  t»  wliicli  the  (tider  boys  are  di'al'tcd,  as  their 
goocl  (conduct  and  tiiistworthin«'ss  incritsuch  a  distinction,  lor  here  they 
are  under  much  less  icstraint,  and  live,  in  all  resi>ects,  nu»re  like  ordi- 
nary liired  laborers  on  a  farm.     From  one  of  these  establishments  the 


PENITENTIARY    COLONY    OF    METTRAY.  2Q3 

boys  come  in  and  spend  Sunday  with  the  main  body  of  the  colons;  but 
from  the  other  only  on  extraordinary. occasions.  These  outlying  posts 
form  a  sort  of  intermediate  establishment,  similar  to  that  at  Lusk, 
under  the  Crofton  convict  system,  and  serve  as  a  stage  of  provisional  or 
preparatory  liberty. 

But  though  the  tilling  of  the  land  is  the  chief  employment  at  Met- 
tray,  and  is  undoubtedly  better  than  any  other  for  moral  training,  yet 
industrial  occupation,  at  a  variety  of  trades,  is  also  provided  ;  but  these 
trades  are  all  such  as  are  required  for  the  j)roduction  of  implements 
either  for  farm-work  or  for  articles  to  meet  other  needs  of  the  estab- 
lishment. Besides  the  shops  for  the  manufacture  of  carts,  plows,  har- 
rows, rakes,  &c.,  there  are  carpenters,  masons,  millers,  tailors,  sabot- 
makers,  painters,  glaziers,  tin-workers,  &c. ;  for  the  colony  is  almost 
wholly  self-supi)lied.  But  all  the  colons,  who  work  at  these  various 
handicrafts  in  the  winter  and  such  other  times  as  may  be  necessary,  also 
labor  in  the  fields  in  summer.  Thus  they  become  master  of  two  indus- 
tries, and  can  be  employed  alternately  as  wheelwrig^hts  and  farm-hands, 
a  fact  which  makes  them  extremely  serviceable,  and  causes  them  to  be 
much  sought  after  by  the  neighboring  farmers. 

As  I  have  already  said,  there  were  seven  hundred  and  ninety-two 
boys  at  Mettray  at  the  date  of  my  visit.  They  are  divided  into  house- 
holds of  fifty,  each  under  the  care  of  a  superintendent,  called  the  chief 
or  head  of  the  family,  {chef  de  faniiUe,)  and  an  assistant  who  has  the 
title  of  the  eldest  son,  {Jils  aine.)  Thus  are  the  ties  of  social  affection 
re-established  by  a  kind  of  adoption  with  a  moral  force  that  nothing 
ever  destroys.  These  ties  are  so  powerful,  the  attachment  felt  by  the 
former  colons  of  Mettray  is  so  strong,  that  they  return  with  joy  to  recount 
their  successes  in  life.  Every  Sunday  those  who  have  found  employ- 
ment on  the  neighboring  farms,  come  to  pass  the  day  of  rest  at  the  old 
home,  and  to  take  part  in  the  exercises  of  their  comrades.  I  found 
things  at  Mettray  precisely  as  described  by  Mr.  Sauvestre,  and  there- 
fore gladly  avail  myself  of  some  sentences  taken  from  his  account  of 
the  "  System  of  Education."    He  remarks : 

I  will  now  try  to  give  an  idea  of  tbe  mode  of  edncatiou  adopted  at  Mettray,  and  show 
the  ingenious  means  aud  delicate  precautious  by  which  the  hearts  of  its  youthful  inhabit- 
ants are  touched  aud  softened,  and  their  ill-feeling,  craft,  aud  perverse  instincts,  which 
before  menaced  society,  are  converted  into  salutary  and  friendly  forces.  I  have  spoken 
of  my  arrival  at  the  colony,  across  parks  and  gardens,  aud  how  I  found  myself  in  the 
middle  of  the  square  without  having  encountered  a  siugle-  barrier.  I  came  again  the 
next  day,  about  the  same  time;  it  was  during  the  play-hour,  and  the  children  were 
amusing  themselves  before  dispersing  to  the  workshops.  There  were  no  walls,  nor 
ditches,  nor  iuclosures  of  any  sort,  nor  even  any  guards.  The  games  were  all  in  full 
swing,  when  suddenly  a  bugle  sounded ;  at  once  play  was  stopped,  and  at  another 
bugle-call  the  children  divided  themselves  into  companies,  according  to  their  work. 
Then  the  band  began  a  joyoiis  strain,  and  the  dili'erent  groups  in  military  style  marched 
past  the  heads  of  families,  led  by  their  foremen.  Here  are  agricultural  laborers,  gar- 
deners, wheelwrights,  millers,  shoemakers ;  aud  others  on  their  way  to  the  school.  When 
all  had  hied  past,  the  musicians  hastened  to  put  away  their  instruments  aud  join  their 
several  gangs.  They  go  to  their  work  as  to  a  fete,  with  music  to  begin  the  day  and 
enliven  their  departure ;  and  come  rain  or  sunshine,  they  bear  it  cheerfully  and  joj-- 
fully.  Everything  is  done  that  can  make  duty  attractive  and  induce  a  constant  habit 
of  performing  it.  The  children  are  not  pushed  forward  with  rudeness ;  great  care  is  taken 
not  to  bruise  these  poor  young  hearts,  already  frozen  by  neglect  or  withered  by  vice 
before  they  knew  anything  of  life  ;  they  are  carefully  tended,  and  led  on  by  degrees  to 
goodness  with  gentleness  and  trust.  It  is  considered  a  great  privilege  to  be  in  the 
band,  and  one  only  earned  by  hard  work  and  good  conduct. 

• 

The  heart  first,  the  physical  i^owers  next,  and  then  the  intellect ;  this 
is  the  order  at  Mettray. 

K  the  colons  of  Mettray  are  the  object  of  a  constant  solicitude  while 


264  INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

tliey  remaiu  at  the  colony,  they  are  scarcely  less  so  after  they  have  left 
it.  M.  IJemetz  holds  that  there  is.no  good  penitentiary  system  without 
j)atrouag'e,  since  the  good  moral  iirinciples  yrhich  may  have  been  im- 
planted by  the  discipline  of  the  prison,  still  weak  and  wavering,  need 
some  extraneous  support  to  guard  against  the  danger  of  a  fresh  fall.  He 
considers  that  it  is  the  same  with  the  sicknesses  of  the  soul  as  with  those 
of  the  body,  where  the  moment  of  convalescence  is  the  most  critical  of 
all,  and  requires  the  greatest  care.  On  this  principle,  the  patronage  of 
Mettray  is  kept  up  not  only  during  three  years,  as  is  the  custom  in  other 
similar  institutions  in  France,  biit  its  duration  has  no  limit ;  it  is,  in  effect, 
a  real  adoption.  Provision  is  made  against  whatever  might  be  of  a  nature 
to  compromise  the  future  of  the  youths  who  have  been  discharged  from 
the  colony.  Thus  they  need  have  no  fear  as  regards  want  of  employ- 
ment, in  consequence  of  which  the  workman  who  has  no  resource  but 
the  product  of  his  labor  is  too  often  exposed  to  all  the  suggestions  of 
want  and  misery.  Whenever  the  liberated  colons  are  without  work, 
they  return  to  3Xettray,  where  they  know  they  are  ever  welcome,  on 
the  sole  condition  that  they  work  with  energy;  for  M.  Demetz  regards 
it  as  of  the  last  importance  that  they  preserve  those  industrious  habits 
which  they  formed  at  the  colony.  They  are  not  permitted  to  leave  until 
a  new  place  has  been  found  for  them.  So,  also,  when  they  are  sick,  they 
are  received  into  the  infirmary  of  the  colony.  Nor  is  it  requisite  to  such 
admission  that  the  ex-colon  be  so  sick  as  to  make  it  necessary  that  he 
should  keep  his  bed ;  it  is  enough  that  he  be  unable  to  devote  himself 
steadily  to  work,  M.  Demetz  is  of  the  opinion  that  there  are  indis- 
positions which  compromise  the  future  of  the  workman  more  than  a  grave 
disease.  In  such  cases,  the  workshop  is  closed  against  him  because  he  is 
not  well  enough  to  labor,  and  the  hospital  refuses  him  admission  because 
he  is  not  sick  enough  to  be  nursed ;  but  Mettra}^  willingly  opens  its  gate 
and  extends  to  him  the  needed  relief. 

Upon  the  whole,  after  the  widest  and  most  careful  inspection  which 
two  days  would  ])ermit  me  to  make,  I  have  no  hesitation  in  saying  that 
Mettray  appeared  to  me  the  most  i)erfect,  the  most  complete,  the  most 
thoroughly  wrought  out,  and  the  most  effectively^  applied  system  of 
reformatory  discipline  that  had  ever  fallen  under  my  notice.  The 
late  eminent  recorder  of  Birmingham,  England — Matthew  Davenport 
Hill — whose  opportunities  of  observation  were  far  larger  than  mine, 
likened  Mettray  to  a  great  and  beautiful  work  of  nature,  rather  than  to 
any  })roduction  of  man.  Nor  to  one  who  has  been  there  and  seen  the 
wonderful  creation  will  this  comparison  seem  much,  if  at  all,  ex- 
aggerated. Th(!  resemblance  is  found  both  in  its  gradual  development 
and  in  tlie  discovery  of  iresh  perfections  the  more  closely  it  is  ex- 
amined. iMerything  about  tlie  establishment,  whether  in  the  labor, 
tlte  <lis(;i|)liii<*,  the  instruction,  or  the  rcc^reations — the  larm,  the  work- 
shop, the  school,  the  <;huicli,  the  playground,  the  <lornutory,  the  inlirm- 
ary — all,  all,  without  ex(;ei)tion,  seemed  ti>  <'onverge  to  one  ])oint,  and 
to  liave  Ix'cn  ma<le  to  yield  their  tribute  to  the  great  work  in  liand — 
the  rescue  and  salvation  of  these  young  criminals,  their  restoration  to 
society,  with  the  i>o\ver  and  the  will  to  ])ursuc  a  career  of  honorable, 
thougii,  percharu-e,  <piiet  and  unheralded  usefulness.  The  genius  of  M. 
J)emetz  has  shown  itself  ecpuil  to  every  exigency,  every  emergency  of 
liis  work;  and  in  its  power  of  originating  expedients  to  re-awaken, 
almost  to  create  virtue,  tjiough,  being  human,  it  must  liave  a  limit, 
it  certainly  has  not  yet  rea(;hed  that  limit;  for  it  is  still  teeming  with 
contrivances  to  tin*  same  benciliceut  and  godlike  euil.  F<t:'ile  princeps 
among  relbiinatory  men  is  the  i)osition  reatlily  yielded  to  him  by  ilie 


TRAINING  SCHOOL  FOR  OFFCERS  AT  METTRAY.       265 

whole  body  of  his  fellow- workers.    Let  the  laurel  be  worn  by  him.  whose 
merit  has  won  it. 

And  what  has-been  the  result  of  this  great  work*?  Mr.  B6rcngcr  de 
la  Drome,  in  his  day  the  highest  authority  in  Franco  on  penitentiary 
matters,  says  that,  prior  to  the  founding  of  Mettray,  the  proportion  of 
relapses  among  juvenile  criminals  was  75  per  cent.  What  is  it  among 
the  eleves  of  Mettray  ?  Not  more  than  5  per  cent,  at  the  outside.  Well 
does  Mr.  Sauvestre,  in  view  of  this  state  of  things,  exclaim,  "  Is  not 
Mettray  a  living  witness  against  the  old  doctrine  of  repression  ?  What 
would  these  children  have  become,  if  sent,  as  had  previously  been  the 
custom,  to  the  central  prisons,  those  educational  establishments  whence 
the  inmates  often  go  out  worse  than  they  came  inf  The  founder  of 
Mettray  has  substituted  education  for  punishment;  to  what  saving 
.effect  may  be  seen  even  in  the  very  imperfect  delineation  which  has  just 
been  given.  What  precious  fruits  of  the  same  kind  might  not  our 
prisons  for  adults  show,  if  education — meaning  by  that  term  not  simply 
scholastic  instruction,  but  a  complete  system  of  industrial,  mental,  and 
moral  training — were  combined  with  punishment,  and  reformation  every- 
where made,  as  at  Mettray,  the  real  and  supreme  aim  of  the  treatment! 

After  completing  my  observations  at  Mettray,  I  said  to  M.  Demetz, 
"  You  have  created  the  best  reformatory  in  the  world."  Promptly,  and 
with  a  beautiful  modesty,  he  replied,  "It  is  because  I  have  had  the 
best  assistants  in  the  world."  The  answer  was  no  doubt  true,  but  not 
the  whole  truth ;  for  the  helpers  of  M.  Demetz  have  been  his  own  crea- 
tion, as  well  as  every  other  part  of  the  establishment.  This  leads  me  to 
speak,  though  it  must  be  all  too  brielly;  of  a  most  interesting  depart- 
ment of  the  colouy,  its  preparatory  school,  {ecole  preparatoire^)  as  it  is 
called.  This  right  arm  of  Mettray  was  created  even  before  the  colony 
itself.  After  the  original  buildings  had  been  completed,  M.  Demetz, 
impressed  with  the  just  idea  that  the  task  of  changing  bad  boys  into 
good  ones*  was  not  one  to  be  committed  to  the  first  comers,  spent  an 
entire  year,  as  he  informed  me,  aided  by  his  devoted  colleague,  the 
Count  de  Conrteilles,  in  training  some  twenty  young  men  to  be  asso- 
ciated with  them  as  assistants  in  their  work.  This  school,  enlarged  in 
its  curriculum  and  its  number  of  pu]iils,  and  embracing  a  three  years' 
course  of  study  and  training,  has  l>een  kept  up  ever  since.  It  is  a  regular 
normal  school,  specially  designed  for  Mettray,  but  supplying  assistants 
to  other  similar  establishments.  So  essential  does  M.  Demetz  consider 
this  school  to  the  complete  success  of  his  work,  that  he  has  been  often 
heard  to  say  that  if  it  were  closed,  the  colony  would  be  destroyed.  It 
is  through  \t  that  he  obtains  those  devoted  and  eflicient  sub-oflicers,  for 
whom  Mettray  has  ever  been  distinguished  ,•  and  through  it,  esi)ecially, 
he  secures  that  unity  of  sentiment  and  of  action,  so  indispensable  in  his 
great  work  of  moral  transformation,  whereby  a  desolate  and  barren 
wilderness  is  made  to  rejoice  and  blossom  as  the  rose.  How  devoted 
his  helpers  are  to  his  person  and  his  work  will  appear  from  two  simple 
facts  which  may  be  told  in  few  words.  M.  Demetz  had  secured  for  one 
of  his  agents  a  place  where  the  work  was  lighter  and  the  pay  larger, 
and  was  Jiimself  accompanying  the  young  man  to  introduce  him  to  his 
new  employer.  While  on  the  way,  overcome  by  a  sentiment  of  longing- 
regret,  he  said  :  "M.  Demetz,  it  is  impossihle  for  me  to  leave  Mettray;" 
and  despite  all  persuasions,  back  he  went  to  his  smaller  remuneration 
and  his  harder,  rougher  work.  The  other  fact  is  this:  During  the  late 
Franco-German  war,  the  live  stock  of  Mettray — cattle,  pigs,  and  horses 

*And,  a  fortiori,  Lad  7iicn  into  good  ones.     E.  C.  W. 


266  INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

— bad  been  taken  by  the  enemy ;  the  revenues  of  tbe  colony  were  in 
great  measure  cut  off;  and  half  the  members  of  the  staff  had  felt  it  a 
duty  to  give  themselves  to  the  military  swvice  of  the  country.  The 
half  who  remained,  after  consulting  together,  went  in  a  body  to  M. 
Demetz,  and  said :  "  Sir,  we  know  your  embarrassments,  and  will  gladly 
do  double  work  and  accept  half  pay  till  the  state  of  things  shall  im- 
prove." M.  Demetz  thinks,  and  rightly  no  doubt,  that  such  devotion 
could  be  secured  only  through  the  ccole  preparatoire^  and  that  mere 
chance  employes  would  be  incapable  of  such  self-sacrifice.  Mr.  Hill, 
after  a  visit  to  Mettray  in  its  earlier  years,  gives  his  impression  of  the 
agents  in  this  strong  language:  "The  founders  have  breathed  their 
own  earnest  benevolence  into  the  hearts  of  their  coadjutors.  Seldom 
have  I  felt  so  deeply  interested  as  in  the  hours  I  spent  with  these 
amiable  and  intelligent  young  men.  Their  devotion  to  their  employ-, 
ment,  their  perfect  knowledge  of  all  the  principles  on  which  tlie  institu- 
tion is  founded  and  of  the  best  means  for  carrying  these  principles  into, 
effect,  their  enthusiastic  attachment  to  the  generous  men  to  whom 
France  and  the  world  owe  this  noble  establishment,  the  kindness  evinced 
in  their  demeanor  toward  their  wards,  and  the  grateful  spirit  in  which 
their  notice  of  these  poor  lads  w\^s  received,  left  me  no  room  to  doubt 
that  I  was  among  realities,  not  surrounded  by  mere  shows  and  forms." 
Every  recent  visitor  at  Mettray  wdl  agree  that  the  venerable  recorder 
of  Birmingham  has  as  truly  described  the  agents  of  to-day  as  he  doubt- 
less did  those  of  twenty-five  years  ago.  *  - 

I  am  unable  to  state  what  proportion  of  the  current  expenses  of  the 
colony  is  met  by  the  labor  of  the  colons;  certainly  not  the  whole,  as  at 
the  reform  school  at  Euysselede,  Belgium.  M.  Demetz  says  that  some 
persons  allege  that  3Iettray  in  too  dear.  To  this  he  replies,  first,  that 
Mettray  does  a  great  deal  of  good ;  and,  secondly,  that,  in  the  matter 
of  economy  in  charity,  there  are  cheap  purchases  that  ruin,  as  there  are 
costlj"  ones  which  enrich.  It  is  the  unusually  large  proportion  of  agents 
which  has  made  the  cost  at  Mettray  high,  as  compared  with  other 
French  reformatories;  but  it  is  to  that  also  that  the  large  percentage  of 
reformations  is  chietiy  due.  The  motto  of  Mr.  Demetz  on  this  subject 
is,  "Eeform  as  cheaply  as  you  can,  but  reform.'''' 

On  the  same  premises  as  the  colony,  but  in  no  way  connected  with  it, 
]\r.  Demetz  has  organized  an  institution  as  novel  in  its  plan  as  it  is 
beneficent  in  its  scoi)e  and  action.  This  he  calls  a  house  of  paternal 
correction,  {mainon  patcrncUe.)  An  unhappy  father,  who  foresaw  nothing 
but  ruin  Ibr  his  son,  one  day  said  U)  JM.  Demetz:  "You  have  created 
an  admirable  institntion  for  rescuing  from  vice  the  children  of  the  poor; 
can  you  do  nothing  to  save  those  of  the  rich  V  Instantly  his  fertile 
mind  con(;<'ived  the  idea  of  the  maimn  pafcrncUc.  This  is,  in  fact,  a  col- 
lege for  the  reception  and  treatment  of  those  sons  of  the  np])er  and 
wealthier  classes,  with  whom,  because  of  their  idleness  or  insubor- 
dination, tlie  ordinary  apidiances  of  college  discipline  can  a('comi)lish 
nothing.  I'.efoie  M.  Demetz  f<,unded  his  institution,  which  might  be 
named  a  college  for  insnbordinates,  expulsion  from  the  ordinary  college 
was  almost  the.  only  s(^vere  measure  that  could  be  employed.  But  so 
far  from  l)eing  a  tenor,  it  was  often  welcomed  by  the  idle  youth  as  a 
relief  from  what  was  felt  by  him  as  an  intolerable  burden.  When  one 
,of  these  youths  was  reminded  by  a  ))rofessor  that,  if  expelled  liom  one 
college,  Ihi  c«»ul(lbe  received  info  n()  oilier  in  l^'iaiice,  his  ]>rompt  r(^i)ly 
was,  "So  much  tlie.  better;  1  shall  then  Inive  a  vacation  without  end.'^ 
The  Hystein  employed  in  the  niaisoii  iKdcrnclle  is  that  of  absolute  isola- 
tion, each  student  [ia\ing  two  cells — one  for  study,  the  other  for  sleep — 


MAISON    PATERNELLE    OF    METTRAY.  267 

■with  a  small  exercise-yard  adjacent.  After  being  placed  in  this  estab- 
lishment, he  continues  his  lessons  the  same  as  at  the  college  from  which 
he  has  been  temporarily  removed,  under  competent  professors  obtained 
from  the  neighboring-  college  of  Tours.  He  sees  none  of  his  fellows,  and 
feels  no  evil  influence  from  their  presence.  Thus,  left  wholly  to  his  own 
reflections,  he  retires  within  l^imself,  and,  generally,  from  one  to  two 
months  is  found  a  sufficient  time  to  subdue  his  spirit,  to  change  his 
habits,  and  to  restore  him  to  the  institution  from  which  he  came,  the 
joy  and  -pride,  instead  of  being,  as  before,  the  grief  and  shame  of  his 
family.  Nothing  is  found  so  efficacious  in  conquering  idleness  as  the 
discipline  of  the  maison lyaternellc.  Labor,  which  has  been  an  object  of 
aversion,  becomes  there  a  necessity  and  a  consolation  to  such  a  degree 
'  that  books  are  taken  from  the  students  as  a  punishment  for  negligence, 
and  the  want  of  occupation  so  weighs  upon  thejn  that  they  soon  beg  to 
have  them  restored.  Th«ir  studies  are  thus  pursued  without  interrup- 
tion, and  with  greater  regularity,  because  free  from  all  distractions, 
than  under  the  ordinary  conditions  of  scholastic  life. 

On  the  arrival  of  a  pupil  M.  Demetz  exhorts  him  to  a  quiet  and  obe- 
dient behavior,  assuring  him*tbat  he  has  no  quarrel  with  his  persori, 
but  only  with  his  faults.  He  says  to  him:  "Your  god-father  has  an- 
swered "for  you  before  God;  I  answer  for  you  to  your  family;  show 
yourself  docile,  and  you  will  have  another  friend  to  love  you ;  resist, 
and  you  will  be  subdued." 

The  youth  knows  perfectly  that  his  family  has  given  all  its  authority 
into  the  hands  of  M.  Demetz,  and  that  if,  after  the  first  trial,  he  again 
fails  in  duty,  he  will  be  brought  back  io  il^QmaisonimternelleaviCi  subjected 
to  a  discipline  far  more  rigorous  than  before.  As  the  feebleness  of  the 
parent  is  too  often  the  cause  of  the  evil  to  be  cured  in  his  son,  M. 
Demetz  says  that  as  soon  as  the  latter  is  convinced  that  he  can  no 
longer  count  upon  impunity,  he  performs  with  promptness  and  alacrity 
every  duty  required  of  him.  It  is  at  the  moment  when  the  college 
vacation  begins  that  the  discipline  of  the  maison  j)aternelle  is  most  effi- 
cacious. When  a  pupil  has  been  idle  through  the  year,  M.  Demetz 
says  to  him  on  his  arrival,  "  You  have  rested  while  your  comrades 
worked ;  it  is  but  just  that  you  should  work  while  they  rest."  More 
logical  than  one  would  suppose,  the  youth  is  apt  to  be  strongly  im- 
pressed by  this  view,  and  generally  goes  to  work  at  once,  with  ardor,  to 
make  up  for  lost  time.  M.  Demetz  promises  him  that  if  he  applies 
himself  diligently  to  his  studies,  he  will  grant  him  some  days  with  his 
family  before  his  vacation  ends  and  he  is  sent  back  to  resume  his  place 
with  his  fellow-students  at  college.  Fear  on  the  one  side,  and  filial  love 
on  the  other,  cause  the  inmates  of  the  maison  imterneUe  to  return  to 
their  institutions  animated,  for  the  most  part,  with  better  sentiments 
and  higher  purposes. 

For  eighteen  years  the  maison  patemeUe  has  been  doing  the  special 
work  for  which  it  was  created.  During  that  time  more  than  nine  hun- 
dred youths  have  experienced  the  wholesome  pressure  of  its  discipline, 
and  perhaps— for  it  has  long  been  well  known  to  the  young  collegians 
of  France,  and  has  been  a  terror  to  the  lazy  and  the  vicious — a  still 
greater  number  have  felt  the  silent  influence  of  its  deterrent  power. 
Of  the  nine  hundred  who  have  actually  been  within  its  chastening 
grasp,  stern  it  may  be,  yet  wisely  loving,  a  number,  not  great  in  propor- 
tion to  the  whole,  have  been  returned  a  second  time;  a  very  few  have 
thrice  made  proof  of  its  friendly  severity.  But  the  mass  have  been 
restored  to  a  right  mind  and  a  right  conduct  by  a  few  weeks  or  a  few 


268  INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS 

months  of  its  paternal  discipline;  and  the  remainder,  with  here  and 
there  an  exception,  after  a  second  or  third  experience. 

Some  sentences  were  found  written  on  the  bottom  board  of  a  table- 
drawer  in  the  room  of  one  of  the  inmates  of  the  maison  paternelle,  ad- 
dressed to  the  person  who  should  succeed  him  in  the  occupancy  of  the 
room.  They  appear  to  have  been  penned  by  one  who  had  shown  him- 
self rebellious,  to  a  certain  extent  at  least;  but  they  so  clearly  reveal 
the  good  effect  of  the  discipline,  even  upon  a  stubborn  youth,  that  I 
begged  a  copy  of  M.  Demetz,  who  kindly  caused  one  to  be  made  for 
me.     I  append  a  translation,  which  cannot  fail  to  interest  the  reader. 

Reflections  found  inside  his  fahle-draiver  a/ta-  the  departure  of  student  No.  112. 

Courage,  my  friend,  courage  !  Expiate  your  fault,  but  do  not  abuse  tbe  pardon  of 
your  family.  Take  my  advice,  "svliicli  is  the  result  of  experience.  You  will  gain  noth- 
ing by  obstinacy,  except  to  be  reduced  to  the  necessity  of  enlisting  ;  it  is  what  I  have 
done.  I  have  enlisted  for  two  years,  whereas,  if  I  had  listened  to  my  parents,  I  should 
still  have  been  happy.  For  you,  at  least,  there  is  yet  time.  Euter  at  once  on  ttie 
good  way ;  bear  cheerfully  your  punishment,  and  you  may  still  be  hai)py.  Keep  ray 
words  ever  in  memory,  and  think  of  the  unhappy  friend  who  gives  you  these  few 
coimsels  before  leaving  the  rnaison  jjaiei'nelle.  ^York,  behave  well,  and  you  will  one 
day  be  happy.  It  is  au  old  companion  in  misfortune,  on  the  point  of  departure,  who 
gives  you  this  counsel.     Courage!  A  friend, 

D.  M., 
Fortner  2^t'pi^  of  the  College  of  Tours,  in  the  htUes-lettres  class  ; 

drummer  in  the  hand  of  said  college  ;  enlisted  volunteer. 

On  the  day  of  my  departure  M.  Demetz  had  all  the  colons  called 
in  at  noon  from  their  farm-work,  and  had  given  orders  that  they  should 
dress  themselves  in  their  Sunday  attire  and  i)repare  for  a  formal  review. 
]Sro  intiumtion  had  been  given  of  this,  and  as  we  were  lingering  at  the 
dinner-table,  after  the  repast  was  ended,  I  was  surprised  to  hear  the  en- 
livening strains  of  military  music.  Hastening,  as  we  all  did,  to  the  front 
porch,  my  surprise  was  increased  as  I  looli;ed  out  upon  the  scene  that 
presented  itself  to  the  eye.  From  the  rigging  of  the  large  ship  that 
graces  the  center  of  the  hollow  stpiare,  around  which  cluster  the  cottages 
of  the  colony,  a  hundred  Hags  Hoated  gaily  in  the  breeze ;  and  sur- 
mounting all,  the  colors  of  France  and  the  United  States,  lovingly  in- 
tertwined, waved  from  the  mast-head.  So  may  they  ever  wave,  the 
emblem  of  peace  and  good  M'ill,  the  ])ledge  of  a  generous  rivalry  in 
labors  directed  to  the  progress  of  man  in  knowledge,  virtue,  justice, 
haj)])iness,  civilization  !  Slowly  approacliing,  Avith  measured  step  and 
gallant  l)earing,  to  the  sound  of  martial  music — drum  and  bugle  and 
clarionet — were  seen  the  hundreds  of  boys  who  form  the  colony,  every 
liouschold  with  itsown  standaid,eachof  a  ditVerent color;  the  boysdressed 
in  check  trousers  and  blue  cotton  blouses,  witli  caps  and  sabots;  the 
musicians  Icatliug  the  colunm,  and  the  lire  brigade  bringing  up  the  rear, 
the  latl(!r  armed  with  helmets,  hooks,  hatcliets,  and  all  the  weapons  used 
in  coiiiliiiliiig  the  devouring  element.  Arrived  in  front  of  the  mansion, 
the  wholes  company  halted  and  remained  in  ])osition,  while  M.  Demetz, 
witli  a  i\'\v  others,  ])assed  in  front  of  the  entire  line.  The  review  com- 
l)h.'ted,  the  column  again  took  uj)  its  lin(Mif  march  and  made  the  circuit 
of  the  s(juare,  when  it  was  disbanded,  and  the  boys  separated  to  change 
their  (;lotIiing  and  leturn  to  their  accustomed  labors;  and  I,  rejoicing 
in  all  I  had  seen,  and  sorrowing  that  my  stuy  might  not  be  prolonged,  re- 
traced my  stejjs  lo  'J'onrs,  anil  thence  to  I'aris. 

§  15.  J'titroudf/r. — The  work  of  aiding  dis(;harged  prisoners  has  not 
taken  root  so  widely  in  I^'rance  as  in  lOngland,  llolhmd,  Bavaria,  and, 
])crhaps,  some  other  I'^uropean  countries;  but  as  far  as  it  goes  it  is  well 


PATRONAGE    IN    FRANCE.  269 

organized,  and  eminently  successful.  This  is  particularly  the  case  with 
the  oldest  association  of  the  kind  in  France,  and  possibly  in  the  world — 
the  "Patronage  Society  for  Yoniif^  Prisoners  and  Li1)erated  Juveniles  of 
the  Department  of  the  Seine."  The  conception  of  that  eminent  publicist 
and  i)hilauthropist,  M.  Ch.  Lucas,  it  was  organized  in  1833,  and  is, 
therefore,  just  forty  years  old;  and  it  is  as  vigorous  and  active  to-day  as 
at  any  period  of  its  long  and  useful  career.  A  single  fact  will  place  in  the 
clearest  light  its  extraordinary  success:  Prior  to  the  formation  of  the 
society,  sixty-five  out  of  every  hundred  of  the  juveniles  discharged  from 
the  Eoquette  relapsed  and  were  rearrested  within  a  fewunonths  alter  their 
release,  and  of  the  whereabouts  and  destiny  of  twenty-five  more  nothing- 
was  known ;  whereas  now  the  relapses  and  recommittals  have  been 
brought  down  to  between  five  and  seven  per  cent.,  a  result  mainly,  if 
not  solely,  due  to  the  wise  and  efficient  labors  of  the  association.  The 
aim  of  the  society,  as  stated  by  its  able  and  accomplished  secretary,  M. 
Victor  Bournat,  in  his  last  report,  is:  "To  save  the  child  who  has 
committed  one,  or,  perchance,  several  offenses,  ^tithout  knowing 
their  gravity,  and  who  sees  all  doors,  sometimes  even  that  of  the  pater- 
nal dwelling,  closed  against  him  ;  to  receive  him  into  a  house,  which 
thenceforth  becomes  his  family-home  ;  to  provide  for  him  a  little  outfit 
of  clothing;  to  find  for  him  a  pkce  in  some  workshop,  with  a  good  mas- 
ter, where  he  may  commence  or  continue  an  api^renticeship ;  to  watch 
over  him  till  the  moment  when  he  shall  become  able,  by  his  labor,  to 
provide  for  himself;  to  re-animate  and  support  his  courage  amid  the 
many  trials  of  his  new  position ;  to  teach  and  guide  him  in  the  dis- 
charge of  his  duties  to  God,  his  parents,  and  his  master;  to  aid  him, 
when  he  shall  have  become  a  workman,  in  starting  a  business  for  him- 
self; to  assist  him  at  the  moment  of  his  marriage;  and,  in  short,  to 
make  of  him  another  master,  who  shall  be  ready  to  receive  and  help 
those  who,  like  himself,  may  have  wandered  from  the  path  of  rectitude." 
A  noble  aim,  and  nobly  carried  into  effect !  As  intimated  in  this  ex- 
tract, the  society  has  a  house — a  home — into  which  it  temporarily  receives 
its  wards  on  their  liberation,  and  fits  them  out  for  their  career  as  ap- 
prentices. It  is  a  large  establishment,  well  appointed  and  well  kept  in 
all  respects,  with  offices,  chapel,  dormitories,  wardrobe,  gymnasium, 
&G.  Here  are  kept  the  clothes  of  all  the  wards  of  the  society  appren- 
ticed in  different  parts  of  Paris ;  here  all  their  washing  is  done ;  hither 
they  come  every  Sunday  to  replace  their  soiled  with  clean  garments,  and 
to  spend  the  day  in  receiving  religious  and  scholastic  instruction,  in 
singing,  in  gymnastic  exercises,  in  social  intercourse  with  each  other 
and  with  their  patrons,  and  returning  at  night  to  the  homes  of  their 
several  masters.  Here  also  they  find  a  home,  and  a  welcome,  and  all 
needed  care  when  they  are  sick  or  out  of  employment.  A  master  lately 
said  to  M.  Bournat :  "  I  take  care  that  the  apprentice  you  furnished  me 
never  fails  to  be  present  at  your  Sunday  re-unions ;  he  always  comes 
back  more  gentle,  more  civil,  more  industrious."  1  passed  an  hour  at 
this  establishment  one  Sunday  morning,  and  left  it  filled  with  admira- 
tion and  delight  at  the  precious  fruit  yielded  by  this  charity. 

The  Protestants  of  Paris  in  18G9  organized  an  association  under  the 
nameof  "Societe  de  Patronage  i^ourles  Prisonniers  Liberes  Protestants," 
of  which  Pastor  Robin  is  the  active  secretary,  a  man  of  large  views  and 
large  heart,  who  is  thoroughly  devoted  to  this  work.  He  has  just  issued 
his  first  report,  which  shows  good  and  effective  work.  So  far  not  more^ 
than  five  per  cent,  of  the  society's  wards  have  relapsed.  The  members  of 
the  society  begin  their  work  within  the  prison  walls,  w^here  they  labor 
assiduously  and  successfully  to  give  a  right  turn  to  the  thoughts  and 
purposes  of  the  prisoners. 


PART   FIFTH. 
LESSONS-SUGGESTIONS -EECOMMENDATIOIifS, 


CHAPTER   XXXVIII. 

CONCLUSION. 

The  congress  of  Loudon  was  fruitful  in  important  and  valuable  les- 
sons, i  do  not  propose  an  exhaustive  treatment  of  this  point,  but  sim- 
ply, in  a  single  concluding  chapter,  to  offer  a  few  hints  toward  the  in- 
auguration, in  the  severa,l  States  of  this  Union,  of  a  prison  discipline 
more  rational,  humane,  and  reformatory,  that  is  to  say,  more  Christian, 
than. has  heretofore  been,  or  is  now,  generally  applied  in  the  manage- 
m.ent  of  imprisoned  criminals. 

§  1.  The  lirst  thing  taught  by  the  congress,  and  that  which  lies  most 
upon  the  surface,  is,  that  principles  have  a  value  denied  to  systems. 
The  Qongress  developed  all  shades  of  opinion  on  the  question  of  sys- 
tems. It  was  unanimous,  or  nearly  so,  on  the  question  of  principles. 
Mr-.  Stevens,  of  Belgium,  one  of  the  ablest,  most  enlightened",  and 
most  zealous  of  the  partisans  of  cellnlar  separation  throughout  the 
whole  period  of  imprisonment,  and  Count  Sollohub,  of  Rnssia,  who 
holds  that  the  isolation  of  man,  or  even  the  imposition  of  an  obligation 
of  perpetual  silence,  is  a  contravention  of  the  divine  will,  can  yet  cordi- 
ally unite — did,  in  point  of  fact,  unite — in  a  common  declaration  of 
fundamental  principles;  principles  which  must  interpenetrate  and  give 
vitality  to  every  system,  or  it  will  remain,  cold,  dead,  barren.  The  rea- 
son of  this  is  obvious.  Systems  are  but  methods,  processes  ;  principles 
are  living  forces.  Systems  may  change,  do  change,  must  change,  with  the 
climate,  soil,  territorial  extent,  manners,  customs,  institutions,  traditions, 
I)rejudices  of  different  countries;  principles  are  roots,  essences,  powers, 
without  which  here  is  neither  life  norenergy  in  any  organization,  physi- 
cal or  moral.  Systems  are  temporary  and  perishable ;  priucijiles  eternal 
and  indestructible.  Systems  are  human;  jirinciples  divine.  The  former 
have  their  origin  in  the  wisdom  of  man,  which  may  err;  the  latter,  in 
the  wisdom  of  Cod,  wliic^li  is  unerring.  Starting  with  the  postulate,  in 
which  the  whole  world  is  now  agreed,  that  a  chief  aim  of  prison  disci- 
j)line  is  the  reformation  of  (nimiiiMls,  tlu^  essential  princi])les  which  must 
gui<h',  quicken,  aiul  render  fruitfid  tliis  great  work,  are  :  That  ho\K^.  must 
be  eaiiy  i»lant('<l  in  the  breasts  of  the  prisoner,  and  kei)tthere  as  an  ever 
•living,  r\<'r  active  power;  that  the  piisoner  himself  must  be  the  chief 
agent  in  his  own  anu'udnu'.ut,  and  that,  theiefore,  his  will  must  be 
gained  to  that  end,  and  his  active  ex<Mtions  enlist«'d  in  its  furtherance  ; 
that,  while  i)hysical  force  is  not  to  be  ex(;liuled,  nu)i"al  forces  must  be 
made  jiromiiu'ut,  ami  l)e  substituted  for  the  former  in  all  cases  where 
.sucli  substitution  is  lu-acticable  ;  that  tlu^  feeling  of  selfrespect  and  per- 
sonal dignity  must  be  develojx'd  and  cultivated  in  the  ])risoner  to  the 
utmost  extent  possible,  and  that,  conse(piently,  his  m:iidiood  must  be 
respected,  and  all  insult  and  needless  humiliation  withheld  from  him  ; 


PRINCIPLES    SUPERIOR    TO    SYSTEMS SHORT    SENTENCES.    271 

that  religion,  educatiou,  and  labor  must  be  made  to  contribute,  in 
harmonious  combination,  tlieii-  powerful  agency  toward  his  moral 
regeneration ;  that  both  the  power  and  the  will  to  work,  and  .so  to 
earn  and  eat  honest  bread,  -when  he^  is  discharged  from  i)rison,  must 
be  imparted  to  him  while  he  is  still  in  prison ;  and  that  society  has 
not  done  its  whole  duty  to  the  criminal  when  it  has  punished 
nor  even  when  it  has  reformed  him,  but  that,  after  his  liberation,  it' 
owes  hjui  the  still  further  duty  of  watching  over  and  caring  for  him ;  of 
doing,  in  fact,  all  it  may,  to  encourage  him,  to  hold  him  to  his  good  reso- 
lutions, and  to  prevent  his  return  to  crime.  These,  in  altered  phrases, 
are  the  principles  adopted  by  the  congress ;  principles  in  which  the  advo- 
cates of  all  systems  uuitQd ;  principles  which  may  be  applied,  in  their 
integrity  and  all  their  regenerative  force,  under  the  separate  system,  the 
congregate  system,  the  social  or  the  silent  system,  the  system  of  shop- 
work  or  of  farm-work.  They  may  be  applied,  they  vuist  be  applied, 
whenever  and  wherever  the  work  of  reformation  is  sincerely  and  earn- 
estly taken  in  hand ;  for  they  are  principles  which  belong  to  human  na- 
ture iu  every  age  and  every  zone.  What  results  ?  The  necessity  for  a 
radical  and  comprehensive  change,  iu  a  direction  to  be  immediately 
pointed  out.  The  great  controversy,  among  prison  reformers,  has  been  as 
to  the  superior  excellence  and  efficacy  of  the  separate  system  and  the  asso- 
ciated silent  system,  of  which  Philadelphia  and  Auburn  stood  forth  as 
the  representatives  ;  and  the  controversy  has  been  waged  chiefly  on  the 
platform  and  in  the  press,  through  speech  spoken  or  written.  Let  the 
locality  and  the  instrument  of  this  controversy  now  be  changed.  As  re- 
gards the  former,  let  the  hall  of  debate  be  replaced  by  the  prison;  and  as 
regards  thei  latter,  let  deeds  be  substituted  for  words.  Let  the  partisaua 
of  bot^  systems,  of  all  systems,  drop  the  war  of  words,  and  exert  all  their 
ability,  all  their  energy,  all  their  skill,  all  their  resources  of  whatever 
kind,  in  broad,  hearty  efforts  to  apply  the  principles,  in  which  all  are 
agreed,  to  the  workof  changing  criminals  into  honest  men,  spoliators  into 
producers,  drones  into  busy  toilers  in  the  hives  of  industry.  Let  all 
work  iu  their  own  way  and  with  tools  of  their  own  choosing,  unchallenged, 
unmolested.  I,  for  one,  have  no  doubt  that  all  will  show  good  work.  I  have 
my  own  thoughts  as  to  which  will  show  the  best;  but  I  am  perfectly 
willing  to  abide  the  issue,  and  will  joyfully  cast  in  my  lot  with  those  who 
are  most  successful  iu  accomplishing  the  end,  which  all  desire  and  all 
propose,  with,  I  doubt  not,  equal  sincerity  and  in  all  good  conscience. 

Most  of  us  in  this  country  have,  I  am  persuaded,  undervalued  cellular 
separation,  which  is  good  and  useful  in  its  proper  place  and  function.  I 
think  it  ought  to  be  applied  to  all  the  arrested  and  indicted,  imprisoned 
before  trial.  I  think  it  may  be  usefully  applied  to  first  offenders  as  a 
short,  sharp,  vigorous  notice,  and  with  a  view  mainly  to  deterrent  effect. 
And  I  am  equally  clear  that  it  should  form  a  first  stage  in  any  and  all 
systems  for  the  reformatory  treatment  of  criminals  of  the  higher  grades ; 
and  that  in  that  case  it  should  be  applied  with  iv  considerable  degree  of 
elasticity,  so  that  it  may  be  made  longer  or  shorter  within  limits  of  a  far 
wider  range  than  is  given  to  it  in  the  Croftoii  system  as  uow  i>ractis'ed 
iu  Ireland. 

§  2.  No  reform  is  today  more  essential  to  the  introduction  of  a  real 
and  eff'ective  reformatory  prison  discipline  than  such  a  change  in  our 
criminal  laws  as  will  do  away  with  constantly  repeated  short  sentences 
for  minor  offenses,  which  are  as  constantly  repeated  by  the  same  per-, 
sons.  I  need  not  here  repeat  what  was  said  in  the  official  reports  handed 
in  to  the  congress  from  the  different  countries  represented  iu  it ;  nor 
what  was  uttered  in  debate  upon  the  floor;  nor  the  arguments  so  well 


272  INTERNATIONAL    TENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

put  ill  tlie  papers  furnished  by  the  Liverpool  magistrates  and  by  Mr. 
Barwick  Baker.  But  one  voice  came  from  all  quarters,  which  was,  that 
these- ever- recurring  sentences  of  only  a  few  days'  or  a  few  months'  im- 
prisonment, inflicted  scores,  yes,  hundreds  of  times,  on  the  same  indi- 
vidual for  the  same  or  similar  peccadillos,  constitute  an  evil  of  grave 
character,  which  requires  the  early  and  serious  attention  of  the  law- 
making power.  No  one  put  this  matter  more  sharply,  and  it  would  be 
impossible  to  put  it  more  truly,  than  Count  Sollohub,  in  his  report  for 
llussia,  viz,  that  "  not  only  do  these  short  imprisonments  for  trivial 
offenses  do  no  good,  but  they  create  criminals  by  profession."  One  short 
imprisonment  for  such  misdemeanors  is  well,  but  it  should  be  a  sharp 
and  keenly-felt  admonition,  of  a  character  to  be  really  "  a  terror  to 
evil-doers  j"  and  with  the  understanding,  very  clearly  imparted  to  the 
culijrit,  that  a  second  offense,  even  though  of  no  greater  gravity  than 
the  first,  would  be  sure  to  be  visited  with  a  far  heavier  and  more  pro- 
longed punishment.  The  sentence  should  then  be  made  long  enough 
for  reformatory  processes  to  take  effect:  and  in  this  work,  time,  and  a 
good  deal  of  it,  is  an  essential  element ;  for  idle,  vagrant,  and,  in  most 
cases,  drinking  habits  are  to  be  broken  np,  and  replaced  by  those  of 
steady  industry  and  absolute  sobriety  ;  in  a  word,  the  wholebeut  and 
current  of  the  life  are  to  be  changed.  If  it  should  be  objected  that  a 
long  sentence  is  out  of  all  proportion  to  a  trifling  offense,  the  reply  is, 
that  is  not  the  point.  It  is  not  a  question  of  so  much  suffering  for  so 
much  transgression ;  reformatory  prison  discipline  rises  far  above  such 
vindictive  and  retaliatory  considerations.  It  is  a  question,  first,  of  the 
effective  protection  of  society,  but  much  more,  of  the  salvation  of  the 
man ;  and  whatever  others  may  say,  the  man  himself,  on  whom  this 
saving  work  has  been  wrought,  will  thank  you  to  the  day  of  his  death 
for  any  degree  of  kind  and  wise  severity  that  may  have  been  found 
necessary  to  that  result. 

§  3.  There  is  a  principle  of  criminal  law,  not  yet  accepted  by  legisla- 
tors, and  therefore  not  incorporated  into  the  criminal  codes,  but  ap- 
proved by  many  of  the  deepest  and  wisest  students  of  penitentiary 
science — practical  men  as  well  as  theorists,  those  who  have  studied  that 
science  in  the  prison  as  well  as  those  who  have  studied  it  in  the  closet — 
the  introduction  of  which  into  our  penal  legislation  would  not  only  meet 
the  objection  mentioned  in  the  last  section,  but  greatly  facilitate  the  im- 
portant reform  there  suggested.  I  refer  to  the  imposition  of  indefinite 
sentences  instead  of  time-sentences,  under  which:;the  prisoner  would  be 
released  only  on  satisfactory  evidence  of  reformation,  and  not  as  the  re- 
sult of  mere  lapse  of  time.  1  have  said  that  some  of  the  best  thinkers 
and  workers  in  this  department  of  social  science  have  given  their  adhe- 
sion to  this  princii)le.  Among  these  may  be  named  Hill,  Maconochie, 
and  Miss  Carpenter,  of  England;  Despine  and  Bournat,  of  France; 
(luillaume,  of  Switzerland  ;  and  J  )wight,  Sanborn,  and  I>rockway,  of  the 
Unitrd  States.  These  names  aie  not  the  symbols  of  a  dreamy  fanati- 
cism ;  tiicy  represent  calm  thought,  careful  iM(|uiry,  cautious  and  solid 
Judgmetit ;  they  are  names  of  the  liighest  authority  in  their  respective 
countries,  and  some  of  tiu'iii  are,  known  and  inlluenlial  far  beyond  the 
limits  of  the  lands  that  gave  tlu'm  birlh.  \)v.  l)esi)inc  goes  so  far  as  to 
say  that  the  ai)plieal  ion  of  this  i»rine,iple  will  be<'omeanecessity,  whenever 
a  really  reformatory  i»rison  diseii)line  comes  to  be  generally  introduced 
and  jmisued  in  sohei- earnest.  jMaconoehie's  idea  was  ]»eenliar.  lie  did 
notjtropose  tlu'.  iinpcjsition  of  a  sentenee  indefinite  in  form,  but  oidy  in  op- 
eration and  effect.  This  sentence  took  the  shape  of  marks;  so  many 
huiulred  or  vSO  many  thousand  goo<l  marks,  to  be  earned  by  industry, 


INDEFINITE    SENTENCES.  273 

Studious  liabits  iu  scliool,  and  general  good  conduct,  as  the  condition  of 
his  release.  Bat  there  was  a  further  peculiarity  in  his  system.  In  it 
marks  had  a  financial  as  well  as  a  moral  value,  lie  would  give  nothing 
to  prisoners  beyond  bread  and  water  and  the  roughest  sleeping  accom- 
modations, except  what  they  earned  and  paid  for.  So  his  marks  were 
made  to  rei)resent  money,  as  well  as  progress  towards  liberation.  They 
were  so  adjusted  that  a  prisoner,  by  the  utmost  diligence  and  careful- 
ness, the  practice  of  which  was  thus  made  to  spring  from  an  inward  im- 
pulse, could  earn  such  a  maximum  number  daily.  A  certain  tale  of  these, 
say  one-half  or  two-thirds,  must  go  to  supply  his  bodily  and  mental  ne- 
cessities, (for  even  his  schooling  had  to  be  paid  for;)  so  that  only  the  sur- 
plus, the  savings,  so  to  speak,  counted  towards  his  release.  An  inci- 
dental advantage,  of  the  highest  value,  is  obvious  at  a  glance,  as  a  re- 
sultant of  this  system.  It  taught  the  prisoner  practically  what  econo- 
mizing is,  and  made  him  feel  its  necessity  and  value.  He  might,  if  he 
chose,  spend  the  whole  of  his  marks,  that  is,  of  his  earnings,  as  he 
went  along,  in  wliich  case  he  made  no  advance  towards  a  discharge,  but 
became,  by  his  own  election,  a  prisoner  for  life;  or  he  might  deny  him- 
self many  little  comforts  and  luxuries,  in  which  case,  on  the  other  hand, 
the  hour  of  liberty,  the  sweetest  possession  of  man,  was  constantly  ap- 
proaching, and  that  with  comparative  rapidity.  What  has  thus  far 
been  said  has  been  upon  the  assum])tion  that  the  prisoner  earned  his 
maximum  of  marks.  But  there  is  a  further  and  no  less  important  view. 
If  he  was  idle  or  disobedient,  and  only  earned  marks  enough  for  his 
support,  he  made  himself  a  life  prisoner  as  effectually  as  if  he  had  earned 
and  expended  the  whole  tale  ;  and  always,  be  it  carefully  noted,  by  his 
own  free  choiee.  Captain  Maconochie  was  never  permitted  to  apply  his 
system  in  its  entirety  ;  prescriptive  ideas  and  red  tape  forbade  such  free- 
dom of  thought  and  action  ;  but  the  mere  shreds  of  it,  which  were  all  he 
was  allowed  to  employ,  wrought,  incases  without  number,  transforma- 
tions on  iSorfolk  Island  which  seemed  little  less  than  miracles ;  insomuch 
that  he  could  say,  in  words  of  strictest  truth — for  the  testimony  to  that 
effect  is  too  strong  and  too  respectable  to  warrant  either  doubt  or  denial 
— "I  found  Jhe  ishiud  a  turbulent,  brutal  hell  ;  Ileft  it  a  peaceful,  well- 
ordered  community." 

I  feel  strongly  inclined  to  favor  this  fundamental  idea  of  the  Macon- 
ochie plan,  for  it  seems  to  me  that  very  few  criminals  could  come  out  of 
such  a  crucible  without  being  purified  and  refined,  at  least  to  such  a 
degree  as  to  become  fair  citizens  and  inclined  to  live  by  honest  toil 
rather  than  through  depredations  on  the  community.  But  Mr.  M.  D. 
Hill,  who  has  written  most  and  written  best  on  this  question,  for  he  has 
written  with  a  force  of  logic  which  has  carried  conviction  to  thousands 
of  minds,  and  which  no  adversary  has  yet  been  able  to  meet — propounds 
the  system  of  indefinite  sentences  pure  and  simple,  that  is  to  say,  sen- 
tences terminable  only  on  satisfactory  evidence  of  reformation,  never 
as  the  consequence  of  the  mere  flux  of  time.  However  consonant  this 
position  ma^^  be  to  reason  and  natural  justice — and  I  believe  the  accord 
to  be  perfect,  since,  if  the  protection  of  society,  as  all  men  hold,  is  the 
end  of  imprisonment  and  its  justification,  there  is  the  same  reason  for 
keeping  as  for  putting  a  man  in  prison,  so  .long  as  you  are  morally  cer- 
tain that,  if  set  at  liberty,  lie  will  go  out  to  prey  upon  honest  people,  and 
rob  them  of  the  quiet  and  the  comforts  to  which  their  honest  toil  has 
entitled  them — it  is  extremely  doubtful  whether  society  will,  or  could, 
ever  become  reconciled  to  so  great  a  change  on  the  sudden  as  that  from 
determinate  to  wholly  indeterminate  sentences.  If,  therefore,  the  prin- 
ciple is  ever  to  receive  a  practical  application,  it  is  likelv  that  it  must 
H.  Ex.  185 IS 


274  INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

be  uuder  certain  limitations;  that  the  conits  must  assign  a  maximum 
to  the  duration  of  the  punishment,  leaving  a  discretion,  greater  or  less 
in  extent,  to  the  authorities  who  are  charged  with  carrying  the  sentence 
into  eflect.  To  this  extent  the  principle  is  already  measurably  familiar 
to  the  thought  and  the  practice  of  our  own  and  other  countries.  It  is 
the  principle  of  all  the  sentences  to  our  refuges  and  reform  schools  for 
juvenile  delinquents,  where  it  is  applied  with  the  best  effect.  It  is  ap- 
plied also,  though  to  a  less  extent — for  with  us  sentences  are  mostly  dur- 
ing minority — to  similar  institutions  in  foreign  countries,  and  notably  to 
Mettray,  the  most  successful  reformatory  in  the  world  for  young  crim- 
inals, where,  if  I  do  not  mistake,  the  director  has  almost  unlimited  dis- 
cretion. It  exists  in  all  countries  where  provisional  or  revocable  liber- 
ation is  practised,  under  the  ticket-of-license  system  or  otherwise.  It  is 
found  in  all  those  state  prisons  of  our  country  where  what  are  called 
commutation  laws  are  in  force — that  is,  laws  which  allow  an  abbreviation 
of  the  term  of  imprisonment,  to  the  extent,  in  some  States  where  the 
sentence  is  long  enough,  of  one  third  or  more  of  the  entire  punishment, 
and  that  without  unj  power  of  revocation.  So  excellent  is  the  effect  of 
this  remission,  granted  only  as  the  fruit  of  industry,  obedience,  and 
good  conduct,  that  it  is  generally  regarded  as  being  the  greatest  ad- 
vance in  prison  discipline  ever  made  among  us  by  any  single  measure. 
The  same  principle  is  applied  in  the  sentences  to  the  work-house  on  the 
state  farm  of  Ehode  Island,  where  a  term  of  three  years  may  be  assigned 
by  the  magistrate  for  even  trivial  offenses,  while  the  governing  author- 
ity, the  Board  of  Public  Charities  and  Correction,  is  intrusted  with  the 
power  of  releasing  a  prisoner  whenever  it  may,  in  their  judgment,  be 
done  to  his  advantage  and  that  of  the  community.  The  results  in  this 
case  have  not,  I  believe,  been  all  that  was  anticipated,  but  it  is  thought 
that  the  disappointment  is  due  to  a  faulty  administration,  the  board 
not  having  as  yet  found  the  right  man  for  the  place.  This  principle 
was  also  similarly  applied,  for  a  year,  to  one  class  of  female  prisoners 
in  the  Detroit  House  of  Correction,  under  Mr.  Brockway,  with  the  most 
encouraging  results;  but,  unhappily,  the  supreme  court  of  Michigan 
decided  the  law  to  be  unconstitutional  under  which  these  imprison- 
onments  had  taken  i)lace;  not,  however,  because  of  the  principle  under 
consideration,  but  upon  some  other  ground. 

So  that  it  is  not  so  much  a  new  i)rinciple  which  is  sought  to  be  intro- 
duced into  our  criminal  laws  and  administration,  as  it  is  tlie  application, 
in  a  more  con]prehensive,  well-adjusted,  thorough,  and  effective  way,  of 
a  principle  already  known,  and  whose  value  has  been,  to  a  certain  ex- 
tent, tested  and  recognized. 

Undoubtedly  before  it  would  be  safe  and  wise  to  give  to  this  princi- 
l)le  the  wid(;  application  proj)osed,  even  under  the  limitations  which  have 
been  named,  some  veiy  ra(li(;al  r(?forms  must  be  introduced  into  our 
X)rison  systems ;  for  it  would  be  little  less  than  madness  to  attempt  such 
an  expeiiment,  witliout  olliceis  (jualified  to  undertake  it,  or  an  official 
tenure  permanent  enough  to  con(Uict  it  to  its  normal  issue. 

§  4.  Centralization  in  every  branch  of  the  public  administration — 
that,  for  exaniiile,  which  embraces  i)risons,  as  Mell  as  others — may 
exist  in  various  degrees.  It  may  absorb  all  power;  it  may  be  wisely 
and  duly  temj'eied  with  local  authority;  it  may  be  feeble  and  languid, 
the  local  overshadowing  and  dominating  tlui  general;  or  it  may  be 
wholly  wanting,  with  llie  dilferent  i)arts  of  the  system,  like  so  many 
sej)arate  grains  of  sand,  unef)iiiiected  by  any  organic  princii>le  or  cohe- 
sive foi'ce  of  whatever  kind. 

The  last  of  theses  i)ropositions  describes  the  state  of  things  gener- 


CENTEAL   AUTHORITY PERMANENT    ADMINISTRATION.        275 

ally — universally,  indeed,  as  far  as  I  know— existing  among  us.  To  the 
best  of  my  knowledge  and  belief,  there  is  not  a  State  of  our  Union  in 
which  the  various  institutions  looking  to  the  prevention  and  repression 
of  crime  constitute  a  unit,  or  even  a  homogeneous  system,  held  together 
and  administered  by  a  central  power.  Yet,  without  something  of  this 
sort,  it  is  impossible  that  broad,  thorough,  permanent,  fruitful  prison 
reforms  should  take  place. 

As  long  ago  as  1850,  a  parliamentary  committee  in  England  expressed 
the  opinion,  in  reference  to  the  county  and  borough  prisons,  that  "  it  is 
desirable  that  the  legislature  should  intrust  increased  powers  to  some 
central  authority ;"  a  reform  not  yet  carried  out  in  that  country.  Move- 
ments in  this  direction  have  been  begun  in  several  of  our  States,  with 
more  or  less  breadth  of  scope,  and  with  varying  prospects  of  success. 
I  look  upon  it  that,  in  any  comprehensive  re-organization  of  the  prison 
system  of  a  state,  the  creation  of  a  central  authority,  having  general 
powers  of  direction  and  control,  is  an  essential  feature.  Without  some 
such  power,  ready  at  all  times  for  deliberation  and  action,  there  can  be 
no  consistent  administration,  no  experiments  conducted  on  any  uniform 
plan,  no  wide  generalizations,  no  establishment  of  broad  principles  of 
prison  discipline,  no  application  of  such  i^rinciples  in  the  use  of  common 
methods  ;  with  it,  all  these  things  may  be.  Nor  is  such  central  and  su- 
preme authority  at  all  inconsistent  with  local  boards  acting  iu  unison 
"with  it.  But  with  or  without  local  boards,  either  a  general  board  or  a 
general  superintendent,  seems  to  be  essentially  requisite,  to  the  end 
that  all  the  preventive,  reformatory,  and  penal  institutions  of  a  state 
may  be  molded  into  one  harmonious  system ;  its  parts  mutually  an- 
swering to  and  supporting  each  other,  the  whole  animated  by  the  same 
spirit,  aiming  at  the  same  objects,  and  subject  to  the  same  control,  yet 
without  the  loss  of  the  advantages  of  voluntary  aid  and  effort,  where 
such  are  attainable  and  of  the  right  kind,  and  with  the  co-operation  of 
local  boards,  if  they  should  be  deemed  desirable. 

England,  as  before  stated,  is  without  such  a  system,  so  far  as  her 
county  and  borough  jails  are  concerned,  though  possessing  it  in  the 
management  of  her  convict  prisons.  Switzerland  suffers,  as  we  do, 
from  the  jealousy  and  power  of  local  administrations;  while  in  some 
other  of  the  continental  states  of  Europe,  possibly  in  most  of  them,  cen- 
tralization is  in  excess. 

§  5.  Another  reform,  equally  essential  to  a  genuine  reformatory  prison 
discipline,  is  the  elimination  of  partisan  politics  from  the  control  of  our 
prisons,  and  the  creation  of  a  permanent  administration  for  each. 
There  is  scarcel}^  a  State — Pennsylvania  is  probably  the  most  conspicu- 
ous exception — in  which  political  influence  is  not  the  dominating  j)ower. 
Too  often  the  prisons  constitute  a  part  of  the  political  machinery  of  the 
State,  and,  in  their  management,  the  interest  of  the  convict  and  the 
community  is  sacrificed  to  the  interest  of  the  politician.  This  is  the 
bane  of  our  penitentiary  systems.  It  lies  at  the  root  of  most  of  the 
evils  connected  with  them,  and,  in  particular,  it  is  the  cause  of  that  in- 
stability in  the  tenure  of  office  and  want  of  permanence  in  the  execu- 
tive administration,  which  render  improvement  difficult  and  perfection 
impossible.  The  utility  of  party  politics  is  freely  acknowledged.  Within 
its  proper  sphere  it  has  a  generous  and  noble  function.  But  there  are 
things  which  it  touches  only  to  mar.  Keligion  is  one  of  these;  educa- 
tion is  another;  and  surely  the  penal  institutions  of  a  state  form  a  third, 
since  they  combine  the  cliaracteristics  of  both,  being  at  once,  if  they 
are  what  they  ought  to  be,  religious  and  educational  establishments. 

An  article  framed  by  tlie  Prison  Association,  of  IS'ew  York,  was  in- 


276  INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

corporate^  iuto  tbe  amended  coustitution  of  that  State  by  the  conven- 
tion of  1867.  The  constitution,  as  a  whole,  was  rejected  by  the  people, 
and  the  prison  article  fell  with  the  rest.  At  the  session  of  the  legisla- 
ture following  that  rejection,  it  was  offered  in  the  form  of  a  joint  resolu- 
tion, recommending  its  adoption  to  the  people  of  the  State,  and  passed 
the  senate  by  a  unanimous  vote,  but  failed  to  receive  the  action  of  the 
lower  house.  The  next  winter  it  passed  the  senate  again,  with  one 
negative  vote,  but  was  rejected  by  a  small  majority  of  the  assembly. 
On  the  third  trial,  at  the  subsequent  session,  it  passed  both  houses.  It 
must  receive  a  second  affirmative  vote  by  the  legislature,  with  a  new 
senate  as  well  as  assembly,  after  which  it  goes  to  the  people  of  the  State 
for  their  suffrage.  There  is  little  doubt  that  the  popular  vote  will  be 
favorable.  But  would  its  adoption  be  a  reform  1  I  think  so  ;  and  one  of 
the  highest  value  to  tlie  cause  of  prison  discipline  in  Ne  w  York,  and, 
through  the  great  influence  of  that  State,  in  the  whole  country.  It 
creates  a  board  of  tive  prison  managers,  to  be  appointed  by  the  gov- 
ernor and  senate,  and  to  hold  oftice  for  ten  years,  one  vacancy  to  occur 
every  two  years.  This  board  is  to  be  put  in  immediate  charge  of  the 
State  prisons,  and  to  appoint  the  principal  officers,  viz,  warden,  chap- 
lain, physician,  and  clerk,  but  to  have  no  power  of  removal,  except  for 
cause,  stated  in  writing,  and  after  a  fair  hearing,  that  is,  on  impeach- 
ment. The  warden,  being  responsible  for  the  state  and  discipline  of  the 
prison,  and  to  be  held  rigidly  to  that  responsibility,  is  to  have  the  sole 
power  of  appointment  and  removal  of  his  subordinates,  the  agents  who 
are  to  execute  bis  will ;  subject,  as  a  matter  of  course,  to  his  general 
responsibility  to  the  board.  The  managers  are  to  have  no  salary,  but 
are  to  appoint  a  secretary,  who  will,  it  is  understood,  receive  a  compen- 
sation that  will  command  the  very  best  talent  in  the  market.  The 
board  is  invested,  by  the  proposed  article,  with  no  direct  power  over 
the  other  pena  or  reformatory  institutions  of  the  State ;  but,  as  the 
intention  of  ts  framers  was  to  make,  ultimately,  the  whole  system  a 
unit,  it  provides  that  the  said  board  shall  i)ossess  such  powers  and 
perform  such  duties  in  regard  to  all  the  other  penal  and  reformatory 
institutions  of  the  State  as  the  legislature  may  from  time  to  time  direct. 
From  the  above  statement  it  will  be  seen  what  an  immense  advance 
would  be  gained  to  prison  reform  by  the  incorporation  of  the  proposed 
amendment  into  the  constitution  of  New  York.  The  administration 
would  be  at  once  lifted  out  of  the  slough  of  politics,  and  made  abso- 
lutely i)ermanent,  except  in  cases  where  incompetency  or  nmlfeasance 
should  make  the  removal  of  the  head  necessary  to  the  proper  govern- 
ment and  efliciency  of  the  i)rison  committed  to  his  charge.  At  present 
the  state  of  things  is,  almost  everywhere  in  our  country,  quite  the 
reverse  of  this.  Both  ai)i)<)intmeiits  and  removals  are  made  on  i)arty  con- 
sideiations  chiefly,  if  not  solely.  JNIen  aie inconsiderately  idaced  in  office 
without  refeicnce  to  their  fitness;  and  they  are  remorselessly  removed 
from  office  as  soon  as  they  liave  leained — often  befoic  tiiey  have  learned — 
their  duty.  C:an  it  be  expected  that  we  should  haxe  elfective  service  on 
su<;h  conditions?  Can  it  be  exi)ected  tliat  men  will  do  their  duty 
elliciently  and  honestly,  who  know  tliat,  despite  their  utmost  diligence 
and  fidelity,  next  week,  or  next  month,  or  next  year,  their  ])laces  will  be 
taken  from  tlxni  and  given  toothers  ?  Would  nu'rcantiU;  houses,  woulil 
banking  and  insnran(;(!  coni|)anies,  would  raiboad  corpoiations,  be  willing 
toeniph)^  theii- agents  on  tiiis  ])lan"i?  To  ask  sueii  a(iuestion  is  to  answer 
it.  We  (•(jmi)lain  of  the  inelli<'ien(;y  and  corruption  of  our  ]»rison  ollicials  ; 
yet  we  could  not  ilevise  a  scheme  of  administration  bett<'r  adapted  to 
I)rodiu;e  these  evils  tliaii  the  one  actually  employed.     Would  not  men  be 


PREVENTIVE    INSTITUTIONS.  277 

almost  more  than  human  who,  under  such  circumstances,  would  do  their 
duty  faithfully  and  eiiectively  f 

Happily,  the  prison  systems  of  the  Old  "World  are  not  burdened  with 
this  weight  nor  impeded  by  this  obstruction.  I  made  special  inquiries 
upon  this  point,  and  satisfied  myself  that  there  is  not  a  country  in 
Europe  in  which  political  influence  is  felt  as  an  evil,  so  far  as  prison  ad- 
ministration is  concerned.  Nor  was  there  anything  so  incomprehensi- 
ble to  gentlemen  connected  with  prison  affairs  in  those  countries  as  this 
state  of  things  among  us.  It  was  a  perpetual  wonder  to  them  that 
anything  could  be  accomplished  in  this  department  under  such  circum- 
stances, and  especially  that  so  much  good  work  could  be  done  as  they 
freely  gave  us  credit  for. 

§  6.  The  machinery  of  our  penal  systems,  if  that  is  the  right  \vord  by 
which  to  reiH-esent  the  series  or  classes  of  institutions  designed  to  effect 
a  diminution  of  crime,  stands  in  urgent  need  of  re-adjustment  and  reform. 
As  this  branch  of  the  general  question  lies  in  my  mind,  the  series  should 
embrace  five  gradations,  to  wit,  preventive  institutions,  juvenile  reform- 
atories, county  jails,  houses  of  correction,  and  state  prisons,  with  append- 
ages to  each  of  the  two  last  named,  having  the  general  character  of  the 
Crofton  intermediate  prison.  It  will  be  necessary  to  compress  what  I 
have  to  say  on  each  class  into  a  narrow  compass.  Before  proceeding, 
however,  to  sketch  the  system,  a  single  preliminary  observation  may  be 
excused.  It  is  this  :  As  a  preparatory  step,  laws  ought  to  be  enacted 
by  which  the  education  of  all  the  children  of  the  State  should  be  made 
compulsory.  It  is  far  better  to  force  education  upon  the  people  than  to 
force  them'  into  prisons  to  pay  the  penalty  of  crimes,  of  which  neglect 
or  ignorance  has  been  among  the  chief  causes. 

(I.  Preventive  institutions,  strictly  so  named,  are  the  first  in  the  series. 
"We  enter  into  life  with  various  proclivities,  which  may  be  developed 
and  molded  to  virtue  by  education  and  the  good  examples  and  salu- 
tary influences  of  home.  But  to  what  dangers  are  those  exposed  who 
lack  these  advantages?  And  what  multitudes  of  children,  neglected 
or  abandoned  almost  from  the  cradle,  are  deprived  of  them,  and  hence 
are  exposed  to  all  the  fatal  consequences  of  that  deplorable  condition. 
If  their  first  steps  in  the  world  are  marked  by  a  violation  of  the  laws  of 
society  it  is,  most  frequently,  because  they  have  no  knowledge  of  those 
laws.  JSTot  a  few  of  these  unhappy  beings  never  knew,  and  will  never 
know,  to  what  parents  they  owe  the  light.  One- fifth  of  them  are  orphans 
in  the  fuU  sense.  Half  the  remainder  have  lost  their  father,  a  fourth 
part  their  mother  ;  and  nearly  all  who  have  known  a  family  have  been 
dragged  by  it,  either  through  example  or  direct  incitement,  to  vice  and 
crime,  so  thut,  in  their  case,  the  family  relation  is  actually  worse  than 
orphanage.  These  general  statistics,  which  are  repeated  from  year  to 
year,  in  different  states  and  in  all  countries,  aftbrd  a  full  explanation  of 
the  precocious  wickedness  of  these  unfortunates,  who  are,  in  some  sort, 
devoted,  driven  to  crime  by  the  circumstances  of  their  birth  or  by  their 
early  surroundings,  so  that  society,  which  lays  its  strong  hand  upon 
them  the  moment  they  disturb  its  repose,  punishes  them,  in  the 
greater  number  of  cases,  for  faults  which,  in  reality,  are  not  theirs ; 
faults  for  whose  commission  society  itself,  which  inflicts  the  punishment, 
has  a  grave  responsibility — graver  than,  perhaps,  it  is  aware  of,  or  is 
willing'  to  admit;  for,  if  it  had  been  awake  to  its  duty  and  been  wise, 
it  might  have  prevented  these  violations  of  its  laws  at  a  cost  far  less  thau 
it  is  obliged  to  incur  in  punishing  them.  It  is  precisely  at  this  point  that 
the  proposition  comes  in — may  I  not  say,  that  the  duty  presses  itself 
upon  the  public  conscience? — for  the  establishment  of  preventive  institu- 


278  INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

tions,!)^  whatever  name  tbey  may  be  called — orpliau-asyluras;  news-boys'' 
homes;  industrial,  truant,  or  ragged  schools;  children's  aid  associations; 
juvenileasylams,  homes  for  destitute  children,  &c.,&c.  Institutionsof  this 
sort  should  be  multiplied  tenfold,  a  hundred-fold,  tbroaghout  the  length 
and  breadth  of  the  land.  Into  them  should  be  gathered,  to  the  last  one, 
the  children  of  whom  I  have  spoken — fatherless,  motherless,  homeless, 
or  worse  than  either,  because  their  homes  are  but  schools  of  vice,  with 
the  parents  for  teachers! — into  these  shelters  and  retreats  should  they 
be  gathered  to  receive  that  mental,  moral,  religious,  and  industrial  train- 
ing, not  otherwise  attainable  by  them,  and  thence  to  be  sent  out,  in  due 
time,  to  good  places  on  farms  or  in  the  workshop,  where  they  would 
grow  into  virtuous  and  useful  citizens,  adding  to,  instead  of  preying 
upon,  the  i^roductive  industry  of  the  country.  I  could  wish  for  time  and 
space  to  develop  the  ideal  of  such  institutions,  as  it  lies  in  my  thought,, 
but  can  only,  in  the  most  general  terms,  express  the  opinion  that  all  the 
arrangements  in  them  should  be  such  as  to  cultivate  industrious  habits 
and  prepare  their  inmates  for  the  stations  they  are  afterward  to  till. 
The  kitchen,  the  wash  tub,  the  sewing  and  knitting  room,  the  workshop, 
the  farm,  and,  above  all,  the  school-room,  together  with  such  recreations 
as  may  be  suitable  to  their  years,  should  occupy  the  time  of  those  who 
find  a  home  there  ;  and  this  home  should  be,  though  tidy  and  attractive, 
yet  of  the  plainest  character,  the  counterpart,  as  near  as  may  be,  of  the 
homes  of  farmers  or  mechanics  in  moderate  circumstances,  such  as  they 
th(^mselves  will  be  likely  to  have  when  they  become  fathers  or  mothers, 
with  households  around  them. 

Is  the  expense  of  such  establishments  made  a  point  of  objection?  I 
will  repl}"  to  the  objection  by  a  short  relation.  In  every  district  of  Swe- 
den, a  country  far  advanced  in  her  school  system,  there  is  an  officer 
called  the  "  persuader,"  whose  duty  it  is  to  look  after  children  without 
family,  or  whose  parents  are  in  prison.  Those  whom  he  persuades  (and 
his  methods,  it  may  be  believed,  are  somewhat  summary  as  well  as  po- 
tent) are  placed  in  special  schools,  where,  instead  of  pests,  they  become 
useful  members  of  society.  An  Engliishman,  visiting  Sweden,  asked 
a  Swedish  gentleman  whether  the  care  of  the  children  picked  u[)  in  the 
streets  and  highways  was  not  costly  ?  The  answer  was :  "  Yes,  it  is 
costly,  but  not  dear.  We  Swedes  are  not  rich  enough  to  let  a  child  grow 
up  in  ignorance,  misery,  and  crime,  to  become  afterward  a  scourge  to 
society,  as  well  as  a  disgrace  to  himseli'.''-  There  is  a  whole  volume  of 
fact  and  philosophy  in  that  curt  reply.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  a 
judicioua  system  of  prevention^  such  as  here  proi)Osed,  would  be  the 
liighest  economy,  for  it  would  cut  olf  the  most  copious  source  of  adult 
crime,  and  thus  elfectually  stoi)  an  incx'ssant  ami  trcmen«lous  drain  upon 
tlie  wealth  of  the  state. 

h.  The  next  class  of  institutions  in  tlie  series  is  the  juvenile  reforin- 
atory,  intended,  not  lik(5  the  i)recediiig,  for  children  and  youths  who 
are  in  danger  of  becoming  criminals,  but  ibr  those  who  h;ive  actually 
committed  ciiminal  ;icts.  Tlu;  constitution  and  design  of  this  class  of 
establishments  are  so  well  known,  and  their  m;inagement,  i'or  the  most 
j)art,  80  excellent,  both  in  our  own  ami  other  countries,  that  it  is  quite 
needless  to  enlarge  u])on  tluMU.  All  that  I  deem  it  necessary  to  do — 
and  in  this  I  would  jthice  the  highest  ]iossible  emplmsis — is  to  urge 
their  establishment  in  States  wlieie  they  do  not  now  exist,  and  their 
miiltiplieation  in  all.  Most  l'hiroi»ean  (;()iintries  are  far  better  i)rovided 
with  them  than  we  ;ire,  while  in  onr  extendcul  territory  and  unprece 
dented  <leiii;nnl  lor  hilioi'  w(^  li!i\('  jidvantagis  denied  to  them  lor  dis. 


REFORMATORIE.S JAILS.  279 

posing-  ill  a  hopefal  maurier  of  those  who  liave  beou  made  the  subjects 
of  their  discipline. 

Establishments  appropriated  to  ijoiinfi  pri.soners  are,  beyond  all  contra- 
diction, the  leadinj^point  in  every  penitentiary  system.  To  reform  the 
criminal  masses,  it  is  with  childhood  that  we  must  commence  ;  it  is  to 
the  fountain-head  that  we  must  apply  the  purifying?  ngencies.  We  too 
often  forget  that  it  is  these  insubordinate  and  perverted  children  who, 
at  a  later  period,  will  form  the  generations  of  adult  transgressors  whose 
crimes  will  disturb  and  terrify  society. 

It  seems  to  me  that  there  is  great  need  of  a  class  of  reformatories  or 
juvenile  prisons  for  boys  and  young  men  too  old  for  the  ordinary  re- 
formatory, yet  tot)  young  for  the  state  prison,  though  guilty  of  crimes 
ordinarily  punishable  by  sentence  to  that  class  of  prisons.  Au  insti- 
tution of  this  kind,  called  au  industrial  reformatory,^  is  now  in  process 
of  construction  at  Elmira,  New  York.'  This  experiment  is  of  the  highest 
importance  to  penitentiary  science,  and  its  progress  will  be  watched 
with  a  lively  interest  by  tlie  friends  of  prison  reform  in  this  and  other 
countries. 

c.  The  third  class  is  the  county  jail.  I  have  no  hesitation  in  declaring 
the  county -jail  system  of  the  United  States  a  disgrace  to  our  civilization  : 
and  there  is  no  department  of  our  repressive  agencies  in  which  the  hand 
of  reform  is  more  imperatively  needed.  The  great  evil  of  the  jail  sys- 
tem is  the  promiscuous  intercourse  of  the  prisoners  with  enforced 
idleness,  there  being,  in  general,  no  classification,  except  that  which 
results  from  an  imperfect  separation  of  the  sexes,  and  no  labor  at  all. 
From  this  unchecked  association  and  want  of  employment  it  results 
that  our  jails  are  but  schools,  maintained  at  the  public  cost,  for  in- 
struction in  vice,  and  for  providing  an  unbroken  succession  of  thieves, 
burglars,  and  pYotiigates.  The  stripling  who  has  been  committed  for 
vagrancy  or  some  trifling  otfense,  locked  up  without  employment  in 
company  with  accomplished  villains  as  idle  as  himself,  listens  to  their 
narrative  of  crime  till  he  pants  for  the  hour  of  liberty,  that  he  may 
commence  the  same  bold  and,  to  his  childish  imagination,  brilliant 
career. 

The  couuty  jail  is  now  made  not  only  a  place  of  detention  for  prison- 
ers awaiting' trial,  but  a  place  of  punishment  for  minor  offenses,  to  which 
persons  are  sentenced  for  periods  varying  from  a  day  to  two  years,  and 
that  so  repeatedly  that  many  get  the  name  of  revolvers,  on  account  of 
the  frequency  with  which  they  come  back.  This  class  of  prisons  should, 
in  my  opinion,  be  limited  in  its  functions  to  two  classes  of  prisoners, 
viz:  i.  Persons  under  arrest  and  awaiting  the  preliminary  hearing,  or 
under  indictment  and  awaiting  trial.  2.  Persons  undergoing  their  pun- 
ishment for  a  first  ofl'ense.  Both  classes  should  be  subjected  to  the  strict 
cellular  regime;  the  first  because  their  punishment,  as  already  ex- 
plained in  a  former  section,  should  be  made  strongly  deterrent,  a  real 
intimidation,  and,  therefore,  should  be  undergone  in  a  separate  ward  ; 
the  second,  for  reasons  to  be  immediately  explained. 

It  isa  principleof  criminal  law  that  an  accused  person  is  to  be  presumed 
innocent  until  he  has  been  proved  guilty.  While  there  can  be  no  doubt 
that  society  has  the  right  to  subject  its  members,  under  certain  circum- 
stances, to  preliminary  detention,  it  is  as  undoubted  a  corollary  from  the 
principle  just  stated  that  the  exercise  of  this  right  ought  never  to  take 
on  a  penal  character,  and  that  the  accused  himself  must  be  protected,  as 
well  as  the  interests  of  social  order.  The  sole  object  of  such  prelimi- 
nary detention  is  to  prevent  escape  and  the  possible  defeat  thereby  of 
the  ends  of  justice;  consequently  it  is  but  a  precautionary  measure, 
which  leaves  untouched  the  ultimate  question  of  guilt.     It  follows  that 


280  INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

the  person  of  the  accused  is  a  deposit,  coutided  to  the  magistrates 
pending  the  decision  of  that  question,  to  be  returned  to  society,  if  he  is 
proved  innocent,  as  pure  and  sound  as  M'heu  received.  Hence  all  the 
care  and  consideration  due  to  innocent  citizens  must  be  accorded  to 
these  persons,  so  long-  as  the  presumi)tion  of  innocence  remains  in  their 
favor.  Hence,  too,  it  follows  that  the  accused  and  the  convicted  should 
receive  a  treatment  materially  different  the  one  from  the  other,  and  that 
the  prison  for  detention  should  be  quite  another  thing  than  the  prison 
for  punishment.  The  Eoman  jurisprudence  long  ago  distinguished  be- 
tween the  accused  and  the  convicted,  calling  the  former  the  hostage  of 
justice,,the  latter  the  slave  of  ijunishmeni.  It  also  distinguished  between 
the  places  in  which  they  were  detained,  naming  the  prison  of  the  former, 
career  ;  that  of  the  latter,  vincida  pitblica;  and  distinctly  declared  that 
the  career  was  to  be  regarded  simply  as  a  place  for  detaining  men,  keeping 
them  safely,  and  not,  like  the  vinculainihUca,  for  punishing  them.  The 
supreme  conclusion  from  this  argument  is,  that  persons  under  a  charge 
of  crime,  and  while  that  charge  remains  still  unproved,  have  a  right  to 
be  protected  from  all  danger  of  contamination  by  their  fellow-prisoners, 
many  of  whom,  no  doubt,  are  guilty  ;  and  this  protection  can  be  had  only 
through  cellular  separation.  Even  if  the  accused  himself  is  willing,  or 
indeed  anxious,  to  forego  this  protection,  society  owes  such  guardianship 
to  itself,  for  it  cannot  afford  to  have  its  members  corrupted  when  it  is 
in  its"  power  to  prevent  it.  Another  consequence  flows  from  the  argu- 
ment,* it  is  that,  except  the  deprivation  of  liberty,  nothing  in  these 
places  of  detention  ought  to  be  made  to  assume  the  aspect,  the  forms, 
the  alflictive  austerity  of  the  prison.  The  accused  ought  to  enjoy  in 
them  all  the  moral  and  material  comforts  that  are  consistent  with  their 
safe  custody. 

Permanency  in  the  administration  of  county  jails,  as  of  all  other 
prisons,  1^  regard  as  a  matter  of  the  highest  importance.  To  this  end, 
where  contiguous  counties  are  small,  or  the  i^opulation  sparse,  it  might 
be  well  to  have  two  or  more  counties  unite  in  the  maintenance  of  a  jail. 
This  would  economize  the  expenditures,  as  well  as  lacilitate  the  change 
suggested  from  an  ever  shitting  to  a  ])ernianent  administration. 

d.  Next  in  the  ascending  series  would  come  a  class  of  institutions  oc- 
cupying a  position  between  the  countyjail  and  the  state  prison.  This 
kind  of  prison  is  not  at  present  numerous  in  the  United  States,  al- 
toii  gli,  properly  organized  and  conducted,  it  would  be,  in  some 
resx)ects,  the  most  important  of  all,  es])ecially  since,  if  multipled  to  the 
extent  it  should  be,. it  would  be  the  most  numerously  peoi)led,  and  its 
occupants  would  be,  for  the  most  part,  a  class  of  criminals  less  steeped 
in  crime  tlian  the  population  of  the  slate  prisons,  and  therefore  more 
open  to  refoiniatory  influences.  The  few  that  are  now  found  among  us 
are  called  by  various  names,  l)ut  the  designation  whi(;li  seems  most  flt, 
as  best  expressing  their  iiatuie  and  design,  is  that  of  House  of  Correc- 
tion. I'lu-y  would  re('«'ive,  for  Ihc  most  ])art,  tliose  misdenu'anants  who 
now  have  Ihcii'  })uiiisliment  in  the  county  jails,  though  with  the  crimi- 
nal laws  St)  cliangcd  lluit,  alter  a  first  oll'cnsc,  which  would  still  be  pun- 
ishable in  the  county  jiiil,  tlu^  sentences  would  be  nuule  long<'nough  for 
genuiiK!  n'loi'nuitoi'v  work  to  be  wi'ought  upon  tlu'm.  A  number  of 
these  liouses  of  cori-e(;tion,  greater  or  less,  according  to  territorial  ex- 
tent and  ]>opid;ition,  woidd  he  needed  in  every  kState.  They  should  be 
disj)ersed  through  the  State,  at  ])oints  as  conv^enient  as  possible  to  the 
several  counties  for  whose  use  each  is  iut<'nded. 

The  advantiiges  to  I)e  expected  from  the  general  establishment  of  this 
class  of  ]»risoiis  nre:    1.  The  organi/.iitiou  of  each  with   a  full   staft  of 


HOUSES    OF    CORRECTIOX STATE    PRISONS.  281 

officers,  and  with  all  other  appointineuts  necessary  for  an  effective  per- 
formance of  the  work  assigned  them.  2.  The  arran<^ement  of  build- 
ings, cells,  workshops,  school-rooms,  chapels,  and  the  entire  i)remises,  Iq  a 
manner  suited  to  a  complete  penitentiary  system.  3.  The  introduction 
of  a  comprehensive,  well-adjusted  system  of  industrial  labor,  4.  Di- 
minished cost  of  maintenance,  despite  the  increase  of  officers — owing- 
in  part  to  the  earnings  of  the  prisoners,  and  in  part  to  greater  economy 
in  the  administration.  5.  The  relief  of  the  common  jails  by  the  absence 
of  a  large  proportion  of  their  worst  inmates  and  those  returning  most 
frequently,  which  would  make  the  separate  imprisonment  of  the  rest 
comparatively  easy,  and  might  even  enable  several  counties  to  unite 
their  jails  into  one.  6.  The  relief  of  the  State  prisons  by  punishing  in 
houses  of  correction  the  younger  criminals,  and  perhaps  some  others, 
in  whose  cases  extenuating  circumstances  may  have  appeared,  and  in 
reference  to  wliom  good  hope  may  be  entertained  of  benefit  from  the 
■discipline  of  the  house.  7.  The  crowning  recommendation  of  the  sys- 
tem lies  in  the  reformatory  character  to  be  impressed  upon  it.  This, 
indeed,  is  the  great  point  to  be  sought  through  its  establishment.  But 
the  complete  and  effective  introduction  of  a  reformatory  discipline  into 
any  prison  system  makes  exceedingly  desirable,  if  it  does  not  necessi- 
tate, the  accompaniment  of  the  Crofton  intermediate  prison.  To  avoid 
repetition,  however,  the  treatment  of  this  point  will  be  i^ostponed  till 
the  subject  of  state  i)risons  comes  to  be  considered,  when  some  hints 
will  be  given  touching  the  application  of  the  principle  to  houses  of  cor- 
rection. 

e.  Next  and  last  in  the  series  of  establishments  composing  the  prison 
system  is  the  state  prison  proper — called  in  England  convict,  and  on 
the  continent  central,. prisons — the  receptacle  of  criminals  convicted  of 
the  gi^avest  offenses  against  society  and  its  laws,  which  are  punishable 
by  imprisonment,  and  not  by  death.  It  is  here,  as  T  conceive,  that  re- 
forms the  most  material  are  needed.  Even  supposing  the  system,  in  its 
substratum,  to  remain  unchanged,  still  important  modifications  are  re- 
quired to  bring  our  state  prisons  into  harmony  with  the  true  design  of 
a  penitentiary  sj'stem,  considered  as  an  agency  for  reforming  fallen  men 
and  women.  A  complete  separation  of  their  government  from  party  poli- 
tics; permanence  in  their  executive  administration;  the  employment  of 
w^ell-qualified  officers;  the  abolishment  of  the  contract  system;  the  or- 
ganization of  convict  labor  on  a  principle  which,  in  seeking  to  make  the 
prisons  self-supporting,  will  seek  still  more  to  make  their  industries  an 
agency  in  reforming  their  inmates,  and  in  restoring  them  to  society 
masters  of  a  trade  that  will  enable  them,  on  their  discharge,  to  earn  an 
honest  living ;  a  broader  moral  and  scholastic  instruction  ;  a  wider  use  of 
rewards  to  industry  and  good  conduct,  so  that  the  princii)!e  of  hope  shall 
be  made  to  act  with  greater  vigor  than  that  of  fear;  and  the  making  of 
the  reformation  of  the  prisoners  the  real,  as  it  is  admitted  to  be  the 
proper,  aim  of  the  discipline.  Such  are  the  essential  reforms  needed  in 
the  system,  supposing  it  to  continue,  in  other  respects,  what  it  is  at 
present. 

But  I  am  not  satisfied  with  the  system  as  it  is,  nor  should  I  be  even 
with  the  reforms  indicated  in  the  last  paragraph,  for  there  are  other 
reforms  needed  to  give  even  to  these  their  full  vigor  and  efficiency. 
The  fundamental  reform  required  is,  in  my  jutlgment,  the  introduction 
and  efficient  application  of  the  principle  of  progressive  classification, 
worked,  in  successive  stages,  on  some  well-considered  mark  system. 
Three  stages  would  seem  to  be  essential  to  the  best  and  most  effective 
working  of   this  plan  :    the  first  strongly  j)enal,  to  be  undergone  in 


282  INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

cellular  separation ;  the  second  less  penal,  bnt  still  distinctly  par- 
taking of  that  cliaracter,  yet  becoming  gradually  less  and  less  so,  on 
tbe  prisoner  passing  from  class  to  class,  as  successive  promotions  are 
earned  ;  while  tbe  tbird  sbould  retain  but  little  of  tbe  penal  character, 
being  intended  partly  to  test  the  reality  of  the  reformation  effected 
in  the  two  preceding  stages,  and  partly  to  train  tbe  prisoner  for  a  time 
before  bis  discbarge,  under  conditions  similar  to  those  of  ordinary  free 
life,  and  so  facilitate  bis  re-absorption  into  the  ranks  of  honest  industry. 
This  would  place  tbe  prisoner's  fate,  during  bis  incarceration,  to  a  great 
extent,  in  bis  own  bands.  It  would  enable  him,  through  industry  and 
good  conduct,  to  raise  himself,  step  by  step,  to  a  position  of  increased 
freedom  and  privilege,  while,  on  tbe  contrary,  idleness  and  disobedience 
would  keep  him  in  a  state  of  coercion  and  restraint.  This  would  place 
the  springs  of  conduct  within  instead  of  without,  and  make  him  act  from 
an  inward  impulse  rather  than  from  tbe  api)licationof  any  external  force. 
It  would  effectually  enlist  his  own  will  in  the  work  of  self-improvement, 
which  I  look  upon  as  an  essential  condition -of  his  reformation,  for  how 
is  it  possible  to  change  a  bad  man  into  a  good  one  against  his  own  con- 
sent? Virtue  is  an  outgrowth.  It  cannot  be  forced  upon  a  man,  but 
must  spring  from  a  germ  planted  within,  to  be  developed  and  brought 
to  perfection,  by  the  assiduous  care  and  nurture  of  the  man  himself;  on 
this  condition,  and  no  other. 

The  system  thus  brietly  sketched  is,  for  substance,  what  has  been 
heretofore  known  as  the  Irish,  but  is  now  generally,  as  of  right  it  sbould 
be,  called  the  Crofton  system,  from  the  name  of  its  founder;  and  this 
last  stage  is  bis  intermediate  prison,  so  named  because  it  holds  a  mid- 
dle ground  between  an  imprisonment  strictly  penal  and  an  imprison- 
ment differing  but  slightly  from  the  condition  of  freedom  complete  and 
entire.  It  is  essentially  a  probationary  stage,  its  supreme  aim  being  to 
2)rove  the  prisoner,  and  so  to  be  enabled,  if  tbe  trial  turn  out  satisfac- 
tory, to  give  to  an  employer  needing  bis  services  the  requisite  guaran- 
tee of  industry  and  trustworthiness. 

Here  we  touch  the  very  heart  and  marrow  of  the  question.  The 
Ijroblem  is,  how  to  effect  the  re-absori)tion  of  reformed  criminals  into 
^■irtuous  society  ?  An  army  of  convicts  is  every  year  discharged  from 
])rison.  Society  distrusts  and  refuses  to  employ  them,  thereby  compel- 
ling a  return  to  crime,  and  augmenting  by  its  injustice  the  evil  which 
it  aims  to  cure  by  its  punisliments.  llow  can  its  distrust  be  conquered, 
work  secured  to  the  convict,  his  salvation  assured,  and  crime,  as  the 
resulting  conseciucncc,  diminished  if  There  are  Just  two  elements  in  the 
solution  of  this  problem,  and  both,  I  think,  essential — the  reformation 
of  the  convict  and  a  guarantee  of  bis  reformation  tiiat  shall  be  satisfac- 
tory to  the  public.  The  reformation  is  to  be  effected  by  the  processes 
— industrial,  educational,  and  moral — to  which  be  is  suljjeeted  during 
his  imprisonment.  Jbit  the  needed  guarantee — bow  is  that  to  be  had  1? 
How  is  the  moral  cure  of  the  prisoner  to  be /e.ste</ /  For  a  test  there 
must  be ;  it  is  indisjiensable.  The  discharge<l  convict,  though  reformed 
:ind  resolved  to  li\-e  honestly,  fails  to  get  work;  and  lu^  fails  so  general- 
ly, tliat  failni-c  is  the  nih;  and  success  the  exception,  ^\'hy  is  this? 
It  is  not  that  society  is  hardhearted;  that  it  has  no  symjiathy  with 
misfortune;  that,  it  is  \  indietive  and  cinel ;  I  hat.  it  trami)les  upon  a  man 
meicly  Ix'causi',  he  is  down.  Far  from  it.  Hut  socii^ty  has  no  eonlidence, 
in  the  liberated  i)risoner;  ami,  what  is  more  to  the  purpose,  it  has  uo 
guarantet'  for  its  conlidcuiee.  it,  is  the  want  of  a  guarantee  that  builds  a 
wall  of  granite  b(;tw(;cn  the,  rcleasuil  conviei,  and  honest  bread.  (Jon- 
<juer  the  distrust  of  society,  replace  it  with  eonlidence,  furnish  the  re- 


CROFTON    SYSTEM — INTERMEDIATE    TRISONS.  283 

quired  guarautee  that  the  man  is  trustworthy^  and  all  difficulty  will 
vanish.  Every  shop,  every  factory,  every  farm,  every  avenue  of  honest 
toil  will  be  open  to  his  entrance.  Bat  the  question  is,  how  to  abate  the 
prejudice  felt  by  society  toward  the  liberated  prisoner;  how  to  over- 
come its  dread  of  him;  how  to  allay  its  fears;  how  to  win  for  him  its 
contideuce  and  conciliate  its  regard  ?  There  is  but  one  way  to  accom- 
plish this  result.  The  convict  must  furnish  proof,  during  his  imprison- 
ment, that  it  is  safe  to  trust  him  ;  safe  to  put  him  at  the  work-bench  ; 
safe  to  place  in  his  bauds  "  the  shovel  and  the  hoe;"  safe  to  admit  him 
to  the  fireside  and  the  home-circle.  In  other  words,  his  cure  must  be 
tested  before  he  is  discharged.  But  I  do  not  see  how  this  can  be  done 
where  the  system  is  one  of  nuiterial  isolation  to  the  end,  nor  any  more 
how  it  can  be  done  where  the  system  is  one  of  moral  isolation  to  the  end. 
There  must  be  some  field,  some  opportunity,  for  the  trial.  But  such  a 
Theater,  such  a  chance,  can  be  afforded  neither  by  the  separate  nor  the 
associate  system,  as  generally  conducted.  Both  systems  must  be  in 
part  retained,  in  part  discarded,  in  part  changed.  They  must  be  so 
modified  that  the  passage  from  imprisonment  to  freedom  shall  not  be, 
as  heretofore,  by  a  single  bound.  The  change  must  be  so  adjusted  that 
the  former  shall  gradually,  almost  imperceptibly,  melt  into  the  latter. 
The  system  must  be  such  that  the  latter  part  of  the  imprisonment  shall 
be  little  more  than  moral,  in  which,  as  far  as  may  be,  all  the  arrange- 
ments shall  be  those  of  ordinary  life,  with  its  trusts,  its  temptations,  its 
motives,  its  responsibilities,  its  victories  over  self  and  sin,  its  silent 
toning  up  and  strengthening  of  the  whole  character  by  the  friction  to 
which  the  man  is,  in  these  various  ways,  subjected. 

Our  state-prison  systems  should  be  so  organized  as  to  have  connected 
with  each  prison,  in  one  form  or  another,  the  substance  of  this  inter- 
mediate establishment,  this  stage  of  comparative  freedom  and  of  natural 
training,  which,  at  the  same  time,  prepares  the  prisoner  for  full  freedom, 
and  tests  his  fitness  for  it. 

But  how  can  this  stage  be  aj^plied  in  the  case  of  prisoners  committed 
to  the  houses  of  correction?  These  would  scarcely  be  large  enough  to 
warrant  the  establishment  of  an  intermediate  i:>risou  in  connection  with 
each.  A  single  establishment  of  this  kind  would  probably  be  sufficient 
for  most  States,  but  if  the  State  were  both  large  and  populous,  two  or 
three  might  be  necessary.  The  English  convict  establishments  have 
not  yet  added  the  intermediate  prison  ;  nor  does  it  exist  in  connection 
with  the  system  of  county  and  borough  jails,  either  in  England  or 
Ireland.  An  eminent  English  philanthropist,  INIr.  Barwick  Baker,  is  so 
impressed  with  the  importance  of  the  intermediate  prison  in  connection 
with  the  English  county  and  borough  jail  system,  that  he  proposed, 
four  years  ago,  a  plan  for  making  an  experiment  in  that  direction,  and 
proffered  his  services  to  conduct  the  experiment  himself.  Mr.  Baker  is 
a  gentleman  of  large  wealth  and  high  social  position,  as  well  as  of  great 
intellectual  and  business  capacity,  all  of  which  are  devoted,  with  in- 
cessant and  tireless  zeal,  to  the  promotion  of  i-eforms  in  every  depart- 
ment of  social  progress,  but  more  especially  to  the  work  of  juvenile 
reformation  and  the  improvement  of  prison  discipline.  He  established, 
I  think,  the  first  juvenile  reformatory  in  England — certainly  one  of  the 
first — and,  at  his  own  cost,  conducted  it  for  a  number  of  years  in  person, 
and  has  maintained  it  ever  since;  his  eldest  sou,  upon  whom  the  fathers 
mantle  appears  to  have  fallen,  acting  at  present  as  superintendent.  Nor 
has  he  only  been  acquainted,  for  at  least  twenty  years,  with  reformatory 
work,  but  for  a  still  longer  period. he  has  been,  as  a  magistrate  and 
visiting  justice,  conversant  with  the  management  and  character  of  adult 


284  INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

criminals.  These  facts  are  stated  to  show  that  it  is  not  as  a  mere 
amateur,  still  less  as  a  sciolist,  that  Mr.  Baker  speaks;  but  as  a 
gentleman  of  large  experience  and  calm  judgment,  whose  opinions, 
on  that  account,  are  entitled  to  the  highest  respect.  Mr.  Baker 
commences  the  statement  of  his  plan  with  a  citation  from  a  late 
report  of  the  inspector  of  reformatories,  in  which  that  oflicer  declares 
that,  on  the  occurrence  of  certain  changes  which  he  recommeads, 
a  considerable  number  of  these'  establishments  might  be  given 
up.  In  that  case,  Mr.  Baker  says  that  he  would  propose  to  have  the 
boys  in  his  reformatory  removed  to  others,  and  that  the  Home  Office 
accept  the  buildings  and  land  as  an  intermediate  prison  or  house  of  cor- 
rection. The  secretary  of  state  for  the  homo  department  having  full 
power  to  remove  a  ijrisoner  from  any  one  prison  to  any  other,  and  to 
send  him  back  at  pleasure,  Mr.  Baker  proposes  that  a  few  of  the  best 
men  in  the  jails  of  his  own  and  the  neighboring  counties  be  allowed  to 
l^etition  the  secretary  to  remove  them  to  the  intermediate  prison  for  such 
time  only  as  their  conduct  proves  to  be  satisfactory.  Their  petition 
should  state  that  they  had  had  the  rules  of  the  new  prison  read  to  them, 
and  that  they  understood  and  agreed  to  the  terms  of  their  removal.  If 
the  secretary  granted  the  petition,  and  the  prisoner  conformed  to  the 
rules  and  worked  with  earnest  good-will  on  the  farm,  he  would  continue 
There  for  the  remainder  of  his  sentence ;  if  otherwise,  he  would  be  sent 
back  to  the  jail.  Nor  could  he  complain  of  this  re-transfer  as  a  hard- 
ship, since  it  would  be  but  a  return  to  .his  original  sentence,  to  which 
he  had  made  himself  justly  liable  by  a  violation  of  the  conditions  on 
which  his  first  transfer  was  granted.  Those  who  remained  through  their 
whole  term  would  then  return  to  the  kinds  of  work  on  which  they  had 
been  lately  employed,  and  to  habits  and  a  manner  of  life  not  unlike  those 
which  they  left  behind  them.  If  a  man's  release  occurred  at  a  season  of 
the  year  when  employment  was  scarce,  (a  matter  of  much  importance, 
if  care  be  had  for  the\liminution  of  crime,)  he  should  be  allowed  to  re- 
main at  the  house  till  work  could  be  found  for  him.  So  far,  Mr.  Baker 
says,  no  new  legislation  would  be  required.  But  if  the  system,  on  trial, 
]»roved  a  success,  it  would  become  necessary  to  secure  the  passage  of  au 
act  authorizing  the  release  of  the  prisoner  on  license,  to  earn  his  living 
under  the  watch  of  the  police.  Such  license  would  not  be  a  pardon,  but 
simply  a  permission  for  a  man  to  earn  his  own  living  (^^ui'JUo  good  be- 
havior, revocable  at  any  time  for  any  kind  of  misconduct,  even  for  being 
for  any  considerable  time  out  of  work,  and  so  without  visible  means  of 
support.  Tlie  great  objection  to  placing  criminals  in  an  intermediate 
prison  Mithout  walls  is  that  they  would  be  likely  io  escape.  To  this  Mr. 
Uaker  rei)lies  that  he  well  remembers  the  time  when  the  greatest  pains 
were  taken  to  search  prisoners,  even  to  the  frecjuent  unripping  of  their 
beds,  to  ])revent  the  possibki  secreting  of  a  nail  with  which  the  cell-door 
miglit  be  o])ened,  or  of  a  scrap  of  iron  Miiich  could  be  sharpened  into  a 
knife.  The  safety  of  the  jail  was  supposed  princi[)ally  to  depend  on 
this  sort  of  care  and  watchfnhiess.  But  every  prisoner  now  has  a  knife 
in  his  cell ;  yet  escapes oj"  vioh'uce  are  mu(;h  less  frequent  than  in  those 
days.  So  .Mr.  Ilakcr  tak(\s  notice  that  twenty  years  ago,  if  it  had  been 
proposed  to  keep  a  nuinl)er  of  )M)ys  iiiq)risone<l  in  a  field  with  common 
liedges  i-onnd  it  and  i)ul)lic  footpaths  runiiing  through  it,  the  person  so 
]»roposiiig  would  lia\('  l»eeii  thought  little,  short  of  a  lunatic;;  yet  this 
system  has  proved  a  decided  suc(M'ss.  Mr,  Baker  claims  to  liave  liad, 
and  c(!rtainly  has  had,  large  experience  of  men  and  boys,  and  he  d<H5]ares 
that  he  has  no  doubt  that  men  would  be  far  more  easily  restrained  with- 


CRIME CAPITALISTS.  285 

out  Willis  than  boys  have  beeu,  for  tlie  reason  that  they  commonly  act 
more  upon  reason  and  less  on  sadden  impulse. 

I  have  cited  this  proposition  of  Mr.  Baker  at  some  length,  not  because 
it  is  api)licable,  in  all  its  phases  and  details,  to  the  case  in  hand,  but 
because  it  contains  the  judgment,  on  the  general  question,  of  a  man  of 
cool  and  cautious  intellect  and  of  a  half  century's  observation,  and  more 
particularly  because  of  the  important  opinion,  expressed  in  the  last  sen- 
tence, as  to  the  greater  ease  with  which  men,  as  compared  with  boys, 
might  be  held  under  restraint  by  moral  forces. 

§  7.  A  paper  of  great  value,  on  the  "  Capitalists  of  Crime,"'  was  sub- 
mitted to  the  congress  by  Mr.  Edwin  Hill,  who  has  for  many  years  made 
the  study  of  this  subject  a  specialty.  An  analysis  of  this  paper  has  already 
been  given  in  the  second  ]iart  of  the  present  report,  which  treats  of  the 
work  of  the  congress.  But  the  subject  is  one  of  so  much  importance^ 
and  to  which  so  little  attention  has  heretofore  been  given,  that  it  seems 
to  me  worthy  of  still  further  elucidation,  and  especially  that  it  should 
have  a  place  in  this  chapter  of  "  suggestions." 

The  contest  between  those  who  work  j^nd  those  who  plunder  is  nearly 
as  old  as  the  world  itself.  Nor  is  there,  I  fear,  much  ground  to  hope  for 
its  speedy  termination.  It  is  worth  while  to  inquire  whether  society  has 
not  made  a  mistake  in  its  mode  of  carrying  on  this  contest.  Has  it  not 
failed  to  recognize  the  fact  that  habitual  criminality  is-a  craft,  not  car- 
ried on  solely  by  isolated  individuals,  but  by  a  virtual,  if  not  a  formal, 
organization,  compf-ehending  various  grades  and  divisions  of  work,  and 
requiring  the  combined  action  of  capital  and  labor  just  as  other  crafts 
do,  and  being,  like  them,  too,  dependent  for  its  continued  existence  on 
this  union  1  There  are  two  well-defined  classes  enlisted  in  criminal  oper- 
ations, the  capitalists  and  the  operatives,  those  who  furnish  the  means 
and  those  who  work  the  machinery;  and  the  former  are  absolutely  essen-  . 
tial  to  the  latter.  The  crime-capitalists  include  at  least  four  classes :  1. 
The  owners  of  houses  and  dens,  affording  to  criminals  habitations  and 
places  to  which  they  may  resort  for  carousal  and  low  enjoyments.  2. 
The  receivers  or  purchasers  of  stolen  goods.  3.  The  pawnbrokers  who 
lend  money  on  such  goods.  4.  The  makers  of  burglarious  and  other 
instruments  used  iu  criminal  operations.  It  is,  to  a  great  extent,  the 
practical  impunity  of  these  capitalists  which  supports  the  breed  of 
thieves,  burglars,  and  counterfeiters.  As  the  law  now  stands,  a  man 
possessed  of  some  capital  may,  with  absolute  impunity,  use  it  in  pro- 
viding homes  for  criminals,  arranged,  if  he  so  please,  for  concealing  the 
thieves  and  their  plunder,  and  for  baffling  the  pursuit  of  the  police ;  or 
he  may,  with  equal  impunity,  engage  in  the  manufacture  of  burglars', 
thieves',  and  counterfeiters'  instruments,  some  of  which  are  required  to 
be  of  elaborate  construction  and  workmanship.  It  is  true  that  as  regards 
those  who  cash  the  stolen  property,  either  by  purchase  or  by  loan — re- 
ceivers and  pawnbrokers — the  law  does  provide  for  their  i)unishment ;. 
but  the  requirements  as  to  evidence  are  such  as  to  make  detection  and 
conviction,  in  ordinary  cases,  all  but  impossible.  No  doubt  the  criminal 
capitalists,  compared  to  the  swarms  of  operative  plunderers,  constitute^ 
but  a  small  class.  But  being  more  sensitive  to  the  terrors  of  the  law,, 
and  more  confined  to  given  localities,  they  offer  by  far  the  fairest  mark 
for  criminal  legislation.  The  mere  operative  of  the  criminal  class  has 
neither  reputation  to  hazard  nor  property  to  lose ;  he  can  hide  himself, 
or  run  away.  Not  so,  however,  the  man  who  has  invested  his  capital  in 
aid  of  the  predatory  class.  He  cannot  conceal  himself;  and  if  he  ab- 
scond, he  must  leave  his  house,  his  shop,  or  his  stock  behind  him.  These 
crime-capitalists  present  a  vital  and  an  exceedingly  vulnerable  part  of 


286  INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

the  organization.  If  it  were  made  absolutely  unsafe  for  owners  of  prop- 
erty to  afford  shelter  to  habitual  criminals — the  stern  rule,  "  no  house- 
room  to  the  dishonest,"  being  rigidly  enforced — and  if  it  were  also  made 
equally  unsafe  either  to  purchase  stolen  property  or  to  advance  money 
upon  it,  the  class  that  now  lives  by  plunder  would  be  driven  to  honesty 
or  starvation.  Some  years  ago,  in  the  town  of  Kidderminster,  England, 
it  was  noticed  that  while  more  bulky  articles  were  perfectly  secure  from 
depredation,  the  silk  and  thread  used  in  bombazine  and  carpet  weav- 
ing were  constantly  stolen.  Now,  what  was  the  cause  of  this  strange 
anomaly  ?  Not,  surely,  that  the  people  were  honest  for  one  thing  and 
dishonest  for  another.  But  this  was  the  reason :  Kidderminster  was 
not  large  enough  to  harbor  a  trader  in  stolen  goods  of  the  ordinary 
kind;  but  it  contained  many  small  weavers,  some  of  whom  had  both 
means  and  inclination  to  buy  the  stolen  silk  and  thread.  Circumstances 
enabled  capital  and  labor — the  capital  of  the  small  weaver  and  the  labor 
of  the  thi^f — to  act  jointly  against  the  silk  and  thread,  while  they 
did  not  admit  of  such  joint  action  against  other  kinds  of  property. 
There  is  a  world  of  instructioi^in  this.  It  says  to  society,  Strike  at  the 
crime-capitalist  in  your  warfare  against  crime ;  maji;e  the  cities  too  hot 
to  hold  him  ;  destroy  opportuuitj'  in  the  large  towns  as  well  as  in  the 
small;  and  then  evil  inclination  ^^ill  remain  dormant  and  undeveloped 
in  the  former  no  less  than  in  the  latter.  But  so  long  as,  through  igno- 
rance or  fear,  you  fail  to  adopt  this  method  of  attack,  you  will  be  obliged 
to  maintain  an  army  of  policemen  to  check  evil  inclination  as  it  ripens 
into  crime ;  your  property  will  be  exposed  to  plunder  and  your  persons 
to  injury  ;  and  thousands  upon  thousands  of  children,  who  might  have 
been  saved,  will  be  doomed  to  grow  up  under  iuiiuences  which  will  com- 
pel them,  by  a  law  as  inexorable  as  that  which  makes  the  magnetic 
needle  obey  the  lodestone,  to  become  the  criminal  army  of  the  future. 

Now,  of  what  has  been  said,  this  is  the  sum :  To  the  spoliation  of 
property,  the  united  action  of  capital  and  labor  is  essential.  Habitual 
criminality  is  sustained  by  an  alliance  between  these  two  elements,  each 
being  alike  indispensable  to  the  prosecution  of  the  business.  The  crime- 
<;a])itali.sts  are  few ;  the  operative  plunderers  many.  The  law  strikes  at 
the  many  operatives,  one  by  one ;  it  might  and  should  strike  at  the  few 
capitalists  as  a  class.  Let  it  direct  its  blows  against  the  connection 
l>et  ween  cai)ital  and  labor,  ordinarily  a  beneficent  one,  but  in  this  case 
evil,  and  only  evil;  nor  forbear  its  assaults  till  it  has  wliolly  broken  and 
dissolved  tlie  connection.  When  this  baleful  union  shall  be  pierced  in  a 
vital  part,  it  will  perish.  When  the  corner-stone  of  the  leprous  fabric 
shall  be  removed,  the  building  itself  will  tumble  into  ruins. 

§  8.  A  large  number  of  i)ersons,  in  this  country  and  in  all  countries, 
are  every  year  arreste«l  on  sus])icion  and  committed  to  prison,  where 
they  are  (tonfined  for  longer  or  shorter  periods,  varying  from  a  day  to  a 
\  e;ir,  and  (;ven  more,  who,  nevertheless,  either  on  their  first  hearing  or 
their  trial,  are  acMjuitled  by  the  magistrate  or  the  coui't,  and  liberated 
as  not  guilty  of  the  crimes  charged  against  them.  Yet,  I  am  not  aware 
that  aiiy\vhei-e  1  lie-persons  so  arrested,  so  imprisoned, and  so  adjudged  to 
be  innoecMit,  receive  any  indemnity  for  the  loss  of  time  to  which  they  have 
bi-eii,  if  not  nnjiistly,  at  least  wilhont  an.\  fault  of  theirs,  subjected.  On 
this  state  of  thiugs,  the  (|u<'slion  arises,  Is  not  i»ersonal  liberty  a  right 
as  respectable  as  the  right  of  property'/  And  if  this(|uestion  is  answered, 
as  it  must  be,  in  the  allii-mativc^,  a  secoml  instantly  arises,  viz,  Is  it  not 
the  plain  duty  of  society  to  indemnify  the  innocent  citizen,  whom  it  has 
imprisoned,  lor  the.  loss  of  time  thus  occasioniMl,  as  it  indemnities  the 
citizen  from  wlioiti  it  has  taken  his  house  or  his  Ib'hl  for  some  public  use  ? 


INDEMNITY    FOR    WRONGFUL    IMPRISONMENT.  287 

The  riglit  of  indemnity,  in  this  latter  case,  is  not  only  fully  recognized, 
but  guarded  with  a  jealous  care.  The  state  wants  a  part  or  the  whole 
of  my  laud  for  some  great  work,  whose  execution  is  demanded  by  the 
public  good.  Yet  it  can  take  possession  only  after  various  and  solemn 
formalities.  My  right  of  ownership  is  guarded  at  every  point  and  at 
every  step ;  and  I  can  be  finally  dispossessed  only  on  receipt  of  full  value 
for  that  of  which  1  am  deprived.  I  am  found  under  circumstances  which 
induce  a  suspicion,  possibly  a  very  slight  one,  that  I  have  committed  a 
criminal  act.  The  state  causes  my  arrest,  and  shuts  me  up  in  prison. 
It  holds  me  there  one  month,  six  months,  twelve  months  ;  and  then,  by 
the  mouth  of  its  chosen  agents,  solemnly  declares  that  I  am  not  guilty 
of  the  crime  of  which  it  had,  or  thought  it  had,  reason  to  suspect  me, 
and  consequently  lets  me  go  free.  That  is  all  the  state  does.  But  is 
that  the  state's  whole  duty  ?  Am  I  not  as  much  entitled  to  indemnity  in 
this  case  as  in  the  other?  The  stale  thought  I  had  done  wrong,  but 
was  mistakeu,  and  has  made  public  and  solemn  declaration  to  that 
effect.  Ought  she  not  to  repair  the  loss  of  time  caused  by  her  error? 
It  is  imi)0ssible  for  her  to  make  good  other  and  graver  losses.  "A  man 
is  accused,  (I  cite  the  words  of  an  eminent  French  publicist,  Mr. 
Mathieu ;)  some  appearances  are  against  him ;  and,  though  the  pre- 
sumption of  innocence  protects  him,  he  is  arrested;  he  is  torn  away 
from  his  home,  his  familj^,  his  affairs;  disorder  and  trouble  are  intro- 
duced into  all  his  relations;  a  deadly  blow  is  given  to  his  credit; 
and  he  is  exposed  to  a  ruin  which  he  might  ward  off  if  he  were  at 
liberty,  but  which  his  imprisonment  renders  inevitable.  Not  only 
has  this  man  suffered  all  the  j)aius  which  have  just  been  described; 
not  only  has  he  seen,  without  being  able  to  apply  a  remedy,  disor- 
der and  ruin  invade  his  business,  but  it  is  in  vain  that  an  order  of 
the  judge,  or  even  a  decision  of  the  tribunal,  annuls  his  imprisonment 
and  breaks  his  chains.  The  preliminary  detention  has  marked  him  with 
an  indelible  stigma;  the  suspicion,  in  virtue  of  which  justice  has  laid 
her  hand  upon  him,  follows  him  like  his  shadow,  and  his  reputation  will 
not  be  cured  of  the  deadly  wound  it  has  received.  Yet  it  is  not  the 
prisoner  who  is  most  to  be  pitied.  How  can  we  fail  to  turn  our  eyes 
toward  his  wife,  his  children,  his  family,  though  innocent,  yet  smitten 
with  the  same  blow,  ruined  and  disgraced  like  himself,  without  a  fault 
that  can  be  laid  to  their  charge?  Is  this  justice?  Can  society  so  crush 
tlie  individual  in  the  name  of  the  general  interest?" 

Surely  the  principle  of  indemnity  lies  wrapped  up,  as  the  acorn  holds 
the  oak,  in  this  eloquent  denunciation;  rather,  let  me  say,  this  irref- 
ragable logic.  Not,  indeed,  complete  indemnity,  for  money  is  not  equal 
to  that  function,  but  indemnity  for  the  time  spent  in  prison.  This  prin- 
ciple is  applied  every  day  in  similar  cases.  The  witness  and  the  jury- 
man, summoned  from  the  work-bench  or  the  counting-house  to  the  court- 
room, receive  each  a  piece  of  money  for  the  loss  of  time  thus  incurred. 
To  one  of  them,  who  makes,  perchance,  his  hundreds  a  day,  it  is  but 
the  symbol  of  justice,  a  token  of  the  mutual  relation  between  the  citi- 
zen and  the  state;  to  the  other,  it  is  the  daily  breaJ  of  himself  and  his 
family.  Can  any  reason  be  assigned  wh}'  the  same  principle  should  not, 
nay,  must  not,  be  applied  in  the  case  of  the  man  whom  the  judicial 
authority  itself,  speaking  from  the  seat  of  justice,  has  declared  to  have 
been  imprisoned  and  "held  in  durance  vile"  without  adequate  cause? 
Two  incidental  advantages,  of  no  inconsiderable  moment,  additional  to 
that  of  meeting  a  d<^mand  of  justice,  might  be  expected  from  the  intro- 
duction of  this  principle  into  the  administration  of  criminal  law,  viz, 
greater  caution  in  making  arrests,  and  more  speedy  trials  after  arrest. 


288  INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

Well  and  eloquently,  iu  a  paper  on  this  subject  prepared  for  the  Ciucin- 
nati  couoress,  has  Mr.  Corne  said:  "Man  is  not  yet  valued  at  his  Just 
price.  The  resources  which  he  is  capable  of  developing  are  far  from 
having  attained  their  maximum  of  force.  Henceforth,  without  danger 
of  being  considered  Utopian,  we  may  demand  for  him  a  i)ortiou  of  that 
respect  with  which  mere  property  is  surrounded.  It  is  iu  this  view  that 
we  claim  that  no  prisoner,  judicially  recognized  as  innocent,  shall  be  re- 
stored to  his  liberty  w^ithout  indemnity  for  the  injury  he  has  suffered  as 
a  consequence  of  his  unjust  imprisonment." 

§  9.  The  identification  of  prisoners  who  have  been  previously  convicted, 
is  a  matter  of  the  highest  importance  in  the  administration  of  criminal 
law;  but,  unfortunately,  no  well-devised  plan  for  attaining  this  object 
with  certainty  exists,  so  far  as  I  know,  in  any  of  the  States  of  our  Union. 
Hence  the  statistics  of  relapses  and  recommittals  among  us  are  vague 
and  unreliable  in  the  extreme ;  nothing  could  be  in  a  more  unsatisfactory 
state.  Much  use  is  made  of  photography  in  England  and  Ireland,  and 
the  same  is  true  of  several  of  the  continental  states.  But  the  most 
perfect  scheme  for  securing  trustworthy  knowledge  on  this  point  is  the 
criminal  registers  {casiers  judiciaires)  devised  by  Mr.  Bonneville  de  Mar- 
sangy,  a  French  jurist  of  great  eminence,  who  has  lived  to  see  the  re- 
markable success  of  his  invention  in  his  own  country,  where  it  has  been  in 
use  for  some  fifteen  years  or  more,  and  its  adoption  in  many  others — Italy, 
Portugal,  Denmark,  &c.  The  first  Napoleon,  the  greatest  organizer  of 
modei'n  times,  desired  that  his  minister  of  justice  should  have  always 
at  hand  "the  biography  of  all  malefactors;"  a  most  natural  wish,  since 
of  all  the  elements  of  a  judgment  as  to  the  moral  curability  or  incorri- 
gibility of  an  offender,  the  most  reliable  is  a  knowledge  of  his  past,  and 
particularly  as  that  past  may  have  been  connected  with  the  administra- 
tion of  penal  justice.  This  is  precisely  the  knowledge  which  the  crimi- 
nal registers  give  concerning  every  man  in  France,  who  has  ever  felt 
himself  within  the  grasp  of  the  law.  The  registers  are  an  administra- 
tive agency,  with  whose  oiganizatioa  and  workings,  on  my  first  visit  to 
France,  I  was  more  desirous  of  becaming  acquainted,  from  personal  ex- 
amination, than  almost  any  other.  Hence,  learning  that  they  were  to 
be  seen  in  the  court-house  {jKdais  de  justice)  at  Saint  Omer,  the  first 
town  I  visited  in  France,  that  venerable  structure  received  very  early 
attention  after  my  arrival.  I  found  the  easier  to  be  an  immense  case, 
resembling  a  cui)board  or  closet,  covering  the  whole  side  of  a  large 
aj)artment  in  the  building,  called  the  registry.  The  case  contained  rows 
of  deep  pigeon-holes,  of  which  the  number  was^ equal  to  that  of  the  let- 
ters of  the  alithabet.  These  compartments  Avere  filled  with  boxes  or 
movable  registeis  {easier.s  inobUes)  arranged  in  alphabetical  order,  each 
containing  the  individual  bulletins,  or  certificates  of  conviction,  pro- 
nounced in  any  part  of  France  against  all  i»ersons  born  in  that  district, 
[arrondisHement.)  As  soon  as  a  sentence  is  jtronounced  by  any  tribunal 
(even  though  it  be  military  or  naval)  the  clerk  of  the  district  in  which 
the  piisoncr  has  been  convicted  is  obliged,  on  pain  of  a  fine,  to  imme- 
diately a<l(hess,  signed  by  the  attorney  lor  the  government,  the  certifi- 
cate of  his  KcntcMice  to  the  registry  of  the  district  of  which  he  is  a 
native.  JOacli  certificate  is  on  a  single  sheet,  of  a  prescribed  form  and 
size,  to  facilitate  the  handling,  and  on  strong  ])aper  to  i)revent  its  de- 
struction. 1  examined,  with  li\ely  inter<'st,  a  great  number  of  these  cer- 
tificates, giving  the  criminal  history,  so  far  as  it  is  found  in  the  records 
of  courts,  of  j)ris()ners  coiivi<;ted  irom  om;  to  twenty  times — often  in  a 
half  dozen  or  dozen  dillerent  places.  I'liey  fully  met  the  denuvnd  of  the 
author  of  the  Code  Napoleon  for  a  com]>leLe  criminal  biography  of  evejy 


IDENTIFICATION    OF    PRISONERS.  289 

man  who  had  suffered  the  arrests  of  justice.  Now  there  is  just  such  a 
registry  in  every  arroudissement  or  jurisdiction  of  France.  There  is, 
therefore,  no  longer  any  uiicertainty  possible  in  regard  to  the  antece- 
dents of  any  person  charged  with  crime.  A  telegram,  addressed  to 
the  register  of  his  place  of  birth,  immediately  brings  the  statement  that 
there  is  no  record  in  his  case,  or  a  recapitulation  of  all  the  convictions 
previously  had  against  him,  no  matter  where,  no  matter  when. 

But  suppose  the  accused  to  be  of  foreign  birth,  or  to  be  ignorant  of 
his  birth-place,  or  to  conceal  it.  M.  de  Marsangy  has  not  forgotten  or 
failed  to  provide  for  such  contingencies.  For  these  three  classes  he  has 
caused  to  be  established  in  Paris  a  central  depot  of  certilioates  of  con- 
viction in  the  department  of  the  minister  of  justice. 

There  are  thus  two  centers  of  investigation.  When  the  conviction  of 
a  person,  arraigned  before  any  tribunal  in  France,  is  found  neither  in 
the  registry  of  his  birthplace  nor  in  that  of  the  ministry  of  justice,  M. 
de  Marsangy  regards  it  as  an  almost  certain  proof  that  he  has  never 
before  been,  in  that  country  at  least,  under  the  hand  of  justice. 

I  will  not  stay  to  point  out  the  many  and  great  advantages  which 
must  accrue  to  a  country  in  which  such  a  system  has  been  established 
and  is  efficiently  administered.  Whoever  wishes  to  see  them  set  forth 
with  equal  force  and  eloquence  is  referred  to  a  paper  furnished  by  their 
author  to  the  penitentiary  congress  of  Cincinnati,  and  published  in  its 
volume  of  transactions.* 

The  system  of  criminal  registers,  by  the  very  simplicity  of  the  prin- 
ciples which  form  its  basis,  is  easily  applicable  to  all  countries.  The 
four  following  measures  constitute  all  the  conditions  precedent  which 
are  necessary  to  the  establishment  and  successful  working  of  the  sys- 
tem in  any  state :  1.  That  a  register  of  births  be  kept  in  duplicate 
copies,  and  that,  every  year,  one  of  these  duplicates  be  deposited  in  the 
registry  of  the  tribunal  of  the  district.  2.  That  each  clerk  of  the  court 
of  the  district  have  a  case  made,  containing  a  cei'tain  number  of  com- 
partments for  the  reception  of  the  boxes  or  movable  registers,  {casiers 
mobiles,)  arranged  in  alphabetical  order,  which  are  to  serve  as  deposi- 
tories of  the  individual  certiticates  under  each  letter.  3.  That  the  cer- 
tificate of  every  conviction,  wherever  had,  be  immediately  addressed  to 
the  tribunal  of  the  convict's  native  district.  4.  That  every  magistrate, 
prosecuting  an  offender,  be  required  to  obtain  from  the  clerk  of  the  dis- 
trict of  which  he  is  a  native,  and  to  attach  to  the  proceedings  in  the 
case,  the  certificate  recapitulating  all  jirior  convictions  against  him 
which  may  have  been  collected  and  classified  in  his  native  district. 

A  careful  study  of  the  most  effective  means  of  identifying  accused 
prisoners  previously  convicted,  and  of  the  criminal  registers,  among 
other  agencies  having  this  end  in  view,  is  worthy  of  the  best  minds  in 
our  country,  and  especially  of  those  who  are  called  to  make  or  execute 
the  laws. 

§  10.  Eeference  was  made  in  the  last  section  to  the  scantiness  and 
untrustworthiness  of  penitentiary  statistics  in  this  country  relating  to 
relapses  and  recommittals.  But  the  remark  might  receive  a  broader 
application.  Indeed,  the  whole  science  of  statistics,  and  more  particu- 
larly as  it  relates  to  crime  and  criminal  administration,  is  too  little  ap- 
preciated, and  therefore  too  much  neglected  in  the  United  States.  We 
have  no  general,  and  especially  no  uniform,  system  of  penitentiary 
statistics  for  the  whole  country.     But  such  a  system  is  a  great  desider- 

*A  copy  of  said  transactions  can  be  had,  without  charge,  by  applying  to  Dr.  Wines, 
secretary  National  Prison  Association,  No.  320  Broadway,  New  York. 

H.  Ex.  185 19 


290  INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

atum ;  it  is,  indeed,  almost  essential  to  broad  and  solid  progress  in  this 
department  of  social  progress.  The  laws  of  social  i^beuomena  can  be 
ascertained  only  through  the  accumulation  of  facts.  Keturns  of  such, 
facts,  carefully  gathered  from  a  wide  Held  of  observation,  and  skill- 
fully digested  and  tabulated,  are  indispensable  to  enable  us  to  judge  of 
the  effect  of  any  law  or  system  which  may  have  been  put  in  operation. 
What  we  want  to  know  is  the  facts ;  but  a  knowledge  of  the  facts  re- 
lating to  so  comi^lex  a  subject  as  that  of  crime  and  criminal  adminis- 
tration implies  a  mass  of  figures,  collected  from  all  quarters,  and 
arranged  with  refereu(;e  to  some  well-defined  end.  The  local  and  the 
special  are  to  little  purpose  here.  It  is  the  general  only  that  has  value; 
that  is  to  say,  returns  so  numerous,  so  manifold,  and  drawn  from  so 
wide  a  field  and  amid  such  diversified  circumstances  as  to  give  real 
significance  to  tlie  results.  It  is  such  returns  alone  that  will  yield  in- 
ferences of  practical  value.  We  want  to  get  an  average ;  but  in  order 
to  this,  we  must  have  scope  and  variety  enough,  both  in  the  rauge  and 
character  of  the  returns,  to  be  enabled  to  eliminate  from  them  whatever 
is  local  and  accidental,  and  to  retain  only  what  is  general  and  perma- 
nent. Only  on  this  condition  can  our  conclusion  as  to  what  constitutes 
the  essence  of  the  matter  be  sound  and  safe.  Only  on  this  condition 
shall  we  be  able  to  feel  that  our  inferences  rest,  not  upon  mere  inci- 
dents of  the  phenomena,  which  maybe  partial,  casual,  and  immaterial; 
but  upon  the  phenomena  themselves,  apart  frooi  variations  which  are 
only  temporary  or  adventitious. 

We  wish  to  know,  for  example,  whether  the  stern  severity  of  the 
old  system  of  prison  discipline,  or  the  benign  pressure  of  the  new,  is  the 
more  successful  in  diminishing  crime.  How  are  we  to  decide  this  ques- 
tion 1  Obviously,  our  decision  will  have  little  force,  unless  our  facts 
shall  have  been  collected  from  a  wide  territory,  and  under  a  great  diver- 
sity of  conditions  ;  so  that  every  phase  of  the  phenomena  shall  have 
been  included  in  our  returns,  and  all  that  is  special  and  exceptional 
shall  have  been  corrected,  jind  a  result  reached,  not  neutralized  or 
"S'itiated  by  any  circumstances  which  have  not  been  noted  and  due 
allowance 'made  for  them  in  the  analysis.  But  the  materials  for  a  gen- 
eralization having  the  breadth  and  trustworthiness  here  supposed  are 
criminal  and  penitentiary  statistics.  A  reformatory  prison  in  one  place 
may  signally  succeed,  and  in  another  as  signally  fail;  yet  the  success 
of  the  one  and  the  failure  of  the  other  may  have  little  value  as  an  argu- 
ment, since  they  may  have  been  due  to  accidental  causes — the  comi)e- 
tency  or  incompetency  of  the  head,  for  example — and  they  will,  there- 
fore, afford  no  ground  for  any  general  conclusion.  But  if  the  experi- 
ment of  the  new  und  milder  discl[)linc  has  been  tried  in  a  score  of  differ- 
ent ])laces,  and  under  conditions  widely  variant,  and  yet  has  always 
succeeded  in  securing  a  larger  proportion  of  reformations  than  the  old 
and  more  rigid  system,  except  in  a  very  few  cases  where  the  iuilure  can 
be  dearly  traced  to  adventitious  causes,  such  an  induction  will  afford 
^  a  solid  basis  for  our  infereiuH's,  and  we  shall  feel  that  we  stand  u{)on  a 
*  rock  in  allirming  the  j)roposition  that  kiiulness  is  more  eflicacious  than 
severity  in  r(  Ibniiing  j)risoners  and  leading  them  back  to  the  paths 
of  virtue. 

In  proportion,  thcrclore,  as  our  fa(;(s  are  gatliered  from  narrow  dis- 
tricts an<l  conriMcd  to  short  pciiods  of  time,  our  generalizations  will  be 
unsaf«'  as  a  basis  ot  argument,  for  we  can  iu',ver  be  sure  tliat  the  mere 
accidents  of  tlie  expeiinu-nt  may  not-  have  determined  the  eharacter 
of  the  result.  A  ]>ractiee  founded  on  eonelusions  arriv(^d  at  in  this 
way,  though  scienlilic,  in  form,  would  be  enqiiiii-al  in  fact;  dogmatism 


PENITENTIARY    STATISTICS.  291 

would  have  been  mistaken  for  induction.  Nor  can  this  false  reasoning 
be  corrected  otherwise  than  by  returns  which,  it  not  universal,  are  at 
least  general ;  that  is,  broadly  comprehensive  both  of  space  and  time. 
As  we  know  crime  to  be  occasionally  local  and  epidemic,  so,  under  cer- 
tain conditions,  may  reformations  be ;  for  what  else  are  those  mighty 
revivals  of  religion  which  have  marked  the  history  of  the  church  in  all 
ages "?  Results  may  be  secured  in  one  place  and  by  one  agency,  w^hich 
we  may  in  vain  seek  to  parallel  in  another  jilace  and  by  a  different 
agency.  If  we  would  know  what  a  curative  agency  applied  to  crimin- 
als can  accomplish  on  the  whole,  we  must  know  what  it  is  effecting  in 
the  manufacturing  towns  and  the  rural  villages,  what  in  the  sea-ports 
and  the  mountains  and  valleys  of  the  interior,  and  what  in  the  coal  beds 
and  the  gold  mines.  We  must  learn  its  results,  not  in  selected  spots 
and  under  particular  circumstances,  but  over  broad  regions  and  amid 
conditions  endlessly  varied.  The  essential,  inwrought  power  of  a  system 
of  prison  discipline  then  comes  out  and  makes  itself  manifest,  when  it 
is  seen  in  conflict  with  the  special  obstacles  it  has  to  encounter  in  the 
agricultural,  commerdal,  manufacturing,  and  mining  populations  of  a 
country.  The  result  of  its  struggle  with  all  opposing  forces  is  the  re- 
sult which  alone  is  of  any  worth  to  us.  And  this  can  be  known  only  as 
the  facts  are  gathered  from  all  these  fields,  and  are  collated,  digested, 
and  reduced  to  tabulated  forms  upon  some  uniform  system,  or  at  least 
in  a  way  that  will  admit  of  i^ractical  comparison. 

We  want  such  statistics,  uniform,  full,  and  collected  with  regularity, 
year  by  year,  from  all  the  prisons  and  reformatories  of  the  country. 
What  do  the  American  people  know  about  American  prisons  ?  Some- 
thing they  know  of  the  prisons  of  Charlestown,  Sing  Sing,  and  Phila- 
delphia ;  but  what  information  have  they  of  the  condition  and  progress 
of  prison  discipline  in  Oregon,  Texas,  and  Arkansas?  How  many  know 
the  principle  on  which  labor  is  organized,  and  the  manner  in  which  it  is 
conducted  in  the  penitentiaries  of  Nevada,  Kansas,  Alabama,  and  Geor- 
gia f  Yet  prison  discipline  is  a  mighty  interest,  touching  profoundly  the 
nation's  well-being,  and,  as  it  succeeds  or  fails,  involving  its  material 
interests  to  the  extent  of  millions,  aye,  scores  of  millions  every  year.  Is 
not  prison  discipline,  then,  a  subject  in  which  the  people  everywhere 
ought  to  be  interested,  and  on  which  they  need  information,  full,  sys- 
tematic, and  regular  ?  It  is  not  in  reference  to  a  prison  here,  a  reform- 
atory there,  and  a  truant  home  somewhere  else,  that  they  require  to  be 
informed ;  but  they  should  have  such  information  touching  all  the  penal, 
reformatory,  and  preventive  institutions  of  all  the  States ;  and  then  they 
would  be  able  to  judge  whether  the  work  of  reforming  criminals  is  really 
accomplished  among  us,  or  whether  our  penitentiary  system  is,  so  far 
forth,  a  mistake  and  a  delusion.  In  the  former  case  all  we  would  need 
to  do  would  be  to  "  go  on  unto  perfection  ;"  in  the  latter  it  would  be 
necessary  to  retrace  our  steps  and  take  a  "  new  departure." 

It  is  not,  however,  simply  in  a  national  view  that  penitentiary  statis- 
tics are  valuable ;  they  have  an  international  importance  as  well.  The 
Congress  of  London  expressed  very  clearly  its  sense  of  this  importance 
by  the  appointment  of  a  permanent  international  commission,  charged, 
among  other  functions,  with  the  duty  of  devising,  and,  if  possible,  car- 
rying into  effect  a  scheme  for  a  comprehensive  system  of  international 
criminal  and  penitentiary  statistics,  based  on  common  principles,  em- 
ploying common  formulas,  and  arranged  in  such  manner  as  to  be  a  true 
measure  and  index  of  the  crime,  the  penal  administration,  and  the  prison 
discipline  of  all  civilized  countries.  The  National  Prison  Association  is 
the  only  organization  in  this  country  having  a  field  of  operations  broad 


292  INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

euougli,  and  at  the  same  time  tbe  requisite  macliinery,  to  co-operate  iu 
so  vast  a  work.  The  association  is  disposed  to  give  special  attention  to 
an  enterprise  recommended  by  so  respectable  a  body,  and  promising  re- 
sults of  such  signal  utility,  not  to  our  own  country  alone,  but  to  the 
whole  human  race.  It  is  obvious,  however,  that  the  prosecution  of  such 
a  work,  where  the  very  agencies  through  which  it  is  to  be  eiiected  will 
have  to  be  created,  will  involve  no  inconsiderable  esiienditure  of  money, 
as  well  as  an  immense  amount  of  labor.  The  labor  it  is  willing  to  as- 
sume 5  the  money  must  be  supplied  from  without.  Impressed  with  the 
importance,  iu  a  national  point  of  view,  of  the  end  proposed,  the  asso- 
ciation sought  from  Congress,  at  its  last  session,  a  grant  of  $10,000  to 
enable  it  to  pursue  that  end  with  the  vigor  requisite  to  its  accomplishment. 
The  Senate  inserted  in  the  annual  deficiency  bill  the  appropriation  asked, 
but  it  was  thrown  outiu  the  conference  committee,  and  so  failed.  The 
application  will  be  renewed  at  the  next  session,  when  better  success  may 
be  anticipated.  It  was  well  understood  by  the  London  Congress,  and 
the  opinion  freely  expressed,  that  so  great  a  design  could  be  accom- 
plished only  through  the  generous  co-operation  of  the  governments  of 
the  whole  civilized  world,  which,  it  was  believed,  would  be  readily  ac- 
corded, iu  view  of  the  beneticence  as  well  as  the  vastuess  of  the  results 
to  be  expected.  Mr.  Beltrani-Scalia,  of  Italy,  secretary  of  the  commis- 
sion, has  prepared  a  complete  series  of  formulas  for  recording  the 
statistics  sought ;  and  the  governments  of  various  European  countries 
have  already  given  their  adhesion  to  the  plan,  and  promised  co-opera- 
tion. It  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  the  government  of  the  United  States 
will  decline  co-operation  when  it  learns  that  other  governments  are 
lending  their  aid,  and  especially  when  it  comes  to  understand  the  real 
nature  and  importance  of  the  work,  and  an  organization  competent  to 
its  performance  stands  ready  and  is  even  anxious  to  undertake  it. 

§  11.  A  system  of  prison  discipline,  to  be  really  reformatory,  must 
Mork  icith  nature  rather  than  against  it.  If  we  would  improve  men, 
whether  in  prison  or  o\it  of  it,  we  must  not  ignore,  much  less  crush, 
those  great  i)rincij)les  which  the  Creator  has,  for  wise  purposes,  impressed 
upon  the  human  constitution.  The  principle  of  sociability,  for  instance, 
is  one  of  the  strongest  instincts  of  the  soul ;  one  of  the  mightiest  forces 
of  human  progress.  Can  we  safely  thrust  it  aside  in  our  eftbrt  to  re- 
claim and  reform  fallen  men  'I  Captain  Maconochie's  great  experiment 
ill  ])rison  discipline  on  Norfolk  Island,  with  its  great  harvest  of  reforma- 
tions of  even  the  most  hardened  criminals,  is  well  known.  But  he 
iiimself  declares  that  liis  task  was  not  really  so  dillicult  as  it  was  thought, 
nor  its  results  so  wonderful  as  they  appeared,  for  the  reason  that  he 
was  working  with  nature,  not  against  her,  as  most  other  prison  systems 
(lid.  He  sought  to  cherish,  and  at  the  same  time  to  direct  and  regulate, 
those  ciavings  for  improved  position  which  all  men  possess  in  some  de- 
gree, an<l  which  are  otten  strongest  in  those  otherwise  most  debased. 
Under  the  guidance  of  right  i)rincii>le,  he  (bund  that  his  men,  most  of 
whom  were  steei)ed  in  crime,  rose  easily  to  order  and  exertion.  But 
MiJH  r(!sult  WiiH  iKjfc  accomplished  by  a  system  of  })ami)ering  and  weak 
iiidulgt'Mce.  On  the  contrary,  lu^  held  a  steady  hand,  and  his  discipline 
wiis  firm  and  energetic,  though  always  just.  Jle  <lid  not  lail  to  inflict 
punishment  when  dcseived  ;  i)ut  he  applied  it  within  the  limits  assigned 
i>()tli  by  the  letter  iiiid  the  spirit  of  the  law,  not  byex(;esses  of  authority 
beyond  it.  The  law  imposed  imprisonment  atul  hard  labor,  and  these 
h(^  caused  his  men,  in  tlie  I  idlest  sense,  to  emlure.  10v(^ry  one  was  re- 
(piiied  to  perform,  to  the  last  stioke,  his  allotted  task  ;  but  he  was  saved 
ai!  needless  h iiiniliat ion,  ami  was  encouraged  to  look  to  his  own  steady 


PRISON   DISCIPLINE    MUST    AVOEK    WITH    NATURE.  293 

efforts  for  the  amelioratiou  of  his  lot  and  for  ultimate  liberation.  And 
this,  he  modestly  declares — not  the  efforts  of  an  individual,  however 
zealous — was  the  real  secret  of  his  success. 

This  principle  of  working  with  rather  than  against  nature,  in  prison 
inanageraent,  is  in  direct  contradiction  to  existing  systems  of  peniten- 
tiary discipline,  and  to  the  practice  of  most,  happily  not  all,  individual 
X)risons.  Coercion  is,  in  most  systems  and  prisons,  the  supreme  force. 
The  separate  system  is  the  most  i)erfect  form  of  coercion  ever  devised ; 
men  are  utterly  helpless  in  its  grasp.  But  the  silent  system  does  not 
much  differ  from  this.  The  silent,  like  the  separate,  system  rests,  in  its 
last  analysis,  on  the  principle  of  isolation.  The  only  difference  is,  that 
in  tbe  one  case  the  isolation  is  accomplished  by  an  absolute  bodily  sep- 
aration ;  in  the  other,  it  is  of  a  moral  kind,  being  effected  by  the  en- 
forcement of  an  absolute  and  eternal  silence.  The  principle  of  sociability 
has  no  more  play  under  the  one  system  than  under  the  other.  At  least 
so  far  as  theory  goes  it  has  not ;  for  if  the  theoretical  silent  system 
were  or  could  be  practically  enforced,  which  is  impossible,  men  would 
work  side  by  side  for  years,  yes,  for  a  life-time,  without  exchanging  a 
thought  by  word,  look,  gesture,  or  any  token  whatever.  Now  all  'this 
constitutes  a  species  of  domestic  slavery;  and  it  sets  such  systems 
aside  as  ordinary  agents  of  general  reform.  I  do  not  deny  that  individ- 
ual reformations  take  place  under  them  ;  but  this  is  not  so  much  through 
the  system  as  in  spite  of  it.  Coercion  is  not  a  soil  in  which  the  tender 
plant  of  moral  reform  ever  grew ;  or,  at  least,  in  which  it  can  be  ordiuarily 
expected  to  grow.  Such  rough-riding  over  human  nature  is  irrecon- 
cilable with  every  principle  legitimately  founded  on  its  study. 

Prisons  should  be  made  great  worksliops,  or  industrial  establishments, 
where  the  inmates  are  systematically  trained  to  be  skillful,  steady,  sober, 
and  voluntarily  industrious;  and  where  all  the  arrangements  for  labor 
are,  at  the  same  time,  so  like  real  life,  as  to  be  a  natural  preparation  for 
it.  The  voluntary  character  of  the  labor  cannot  be  too  strongly  insisted 
on.  Compulsory  labor — labor  into  which  the  will  of  the  workman  does 
not  enter  cordiall.y — is,  as  a  rule,  rude,  heedless,  unskillful,  and  therefore 
unprofitable.  It  is  free,  and,  still  more,  emulative  or  competitive  labor 
that  is  earnest,  ingenious,  skillful,  and  productive.  The  economical  im- 
provement under  such  a  system  would  be  felt  almost  as  soon  as  the 
moral ;  nor,  indeed,  can  these  ever  be  disjoined.  No  doubt  it  would  re- 
quire care  and  discretion,  in  the  first  instance,  to  organize  such  estab- 
lishments. But  the  skill  employed  in  their  organization  must  be  like 
that  highest  art  which  conceals  art;  and  it  must,  above  all,  be  content 
to  sow  good  seed,  and  then  wait,  Avithout  forcing,  the  expected  return. 
It  would  be  easy  to  produce  immediate  results;  but  these  would  be 
ephemeral.  Possibly  the  wisdom  which  is  willing  to  wait  can  be  gained 
only  in  the  school  of  experience;  but  the  test  of  renewed  convictions 
after  discharge  would  at  length  teach  it  eft'ectually.  When  the  lesson  not 
to  go  too  fast,  to  give  a  large  scope  to  free  agency,  to  let  temptation  as- 
sume all  its  customary  forms,  to  regulate  little  but  encourage  much,  is 
sufiiciently  learned,  complete  success  may  be  hoped  for  in  what  should 
ever  be  the  great  aim  of  public  punishment,  the  reformation  of  the  fallen. 

Much  has  been  said  of  the  demoralization  and  corruption  resulting  from 
the  association  of  prisoners,  especially  with  liberty  of  intercommunica- 
tion. No  doubt  if,  as  on  the  usual  principle  of  prison  management,  only 
their  worst  feelings  are  called  out,  and  their  intercourse  is  without 
guidance  or  control,  the  association  of  prisoners  will  be  corrupting.  But 
if  their  better  impulses  are  brought  into  play — and  Maconochie,  Mon- 
tesiuos,  Obermaier,  Crofton,  Sollohub,  and  Guillaume  have  shown  that, 


294  INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

by  proper  combinations,  this  may  be  done  without  sacrificing  any  measnre 
of  just  and  reasonable  i^unishment — prisoners  will  be  found  very  much 
like  other  men. 

It  is  argued  that,  however  the  association  of  i)risoners  with  free 
persons  might  be  advantngeous  to  the  former,  that  of  i^risoners 
with  prisoners  cannot  but  prove  hurtful  to  them.  But  this  is  a 
gratuitous,  and,  in  my  opinion,  wholly  erroneous  assumption.  Every 
one  knows  that  it  is  easier  to  intluence  men  in  a  body  than  individually,, 
and  that,  when  once  in  motion,  they  will  go  further,  since  they  mutually 
help  one  another  by  the  common  enthusiasm  created  by  the  union. 
Moreover,  strange  as  the  proposition  sounds,  there  is  a  natural  tendency 
in  numbers  toward  right  feeling.  Witness  the  clap-traps  of  a  theater, 
which  are  generally  high  moral  sentiments.  Witness  the  further  fact, 
that  the  better  feelings  of  a  mob  are  rarely  appealed  to  in  vain.  On  the 
field  of  battle,  the  most  heroic  devotion,  even  to  the  sacrifice  of  life,  is 
often  called  out  at  a  word.  In  none  of  these  instances,  probably,  could 
the  same  generous  response  be  obtained  from  a  single  individual,  which 
he  renders,  not  only  spontaneously,  but  enthusiastically,  as  one  of  a 
body.  Captain  Maconochie  says  that,  on  Norfolk  Island,  he  could  have 
done  nothing  with  the  prisoners  separately ;  that  the  best  of  them 
would  have  remained  only  dogged  under  his  exhortations  ;  and  that,  in 
Birmingham,  he  would  neither  have  gained  the  boys  as  he  did,  nor 
would  they  have  beeu  able  to  influence  each  other  outside  as  they  did, 
if  they  had  been  shut  up  in  separate  cells.  The  experience  of  Monte- 
sinos  at  Valencia,  of  Obemiaier  at  Munich,  of  Crofton  at  Lusk,  of  Sollo- 
hub  at  jNIoscow,  and  of  Guillaume  at  l^eufchiitel,  was,  as  we  have  seen, 
all  of  the  same  nature. 

There  is  a  reason  of  much  cogency  why  greater  prominence  should  be 
given  to  the  social  principle  in  our  systems  of  prison  discipline.  Crime 
is  essentially  and  intensely  self-regarding,  self-seeking,  anti-social. 
Hence  it  is  fostered  by  the  selfish,  and  checked  by  the  social,  element  of 
our  nature.  This  fact  is  noted  by  Herbert  Spencer  in  his  Essay  on 
Prison  Ethics.  He  remarks  :  "  The  natural  prompter  of  right  conduct 
to  others,  and  the  natural  opponent  of  misconduct  to  others,  is  sympa- 
thy; for  out  of  sympathy  grow  both  the  kindly  emotions,  and  that  sen- 
timent of  justice  which  restrains  us  from  aggression.  Well,  this  sympa- 
thy, which  makes  society  possible,  is  cultivated  by  social  intercourse. 
By  habitual  participation  in  the  pleasures  of  others,  the  faculty  is 
strengthened  ;  and  whatever  prevents  this  participation  weakens  it — an 
effect  commoidy  illustrated  in  the  selfishness  of  old  bachelors.  Hence 
we  contend  that  shutting  up  prisoners  Mithin  themselves,  or  forbidding 
all  interchange  of  feeling,  inevitably  deadens  such  sympathies  as  they 
have,  and  so  tends  ratlier  to  diminish  than  to  increase  the  moral  check 
to  transgression.  Thus  there  is  good  reason  to  think  that  while  silence 
and  solitude  may  cow  the  s[)irit  or  undermine  the  energies,  they  cannot 
produce  true  reforuialion." 

The  i)riii(;iple  is,  that  life  within  prison  must  be  made  as  close  a  copy 
of  Iif(5  outsi<le  as  may  be,  without  sacrificing  any  of  the  just  ends  of 
I)iiblic  puiiisliMicnt.  One  of  the  nu)st  iini)ortant  i)arts  of  the  machinery 
by  whi(^ii  Ciiptiiin  jMaconochie  luoposcd  to  attain  this  ()bje(;t,  was  his 
iiuirk  system,  which  has  been  already  partially  exjdained.  Jt  will  be 
rccolUjcted  that  his  ])Iiin  was  to  have;  hibor  sentences  instead  of  time 
H(!nteiic('S — speci(i(;  tasUs  to  be  measured  by  niarks,  and  to  be  worked 
out  by  tlu',  ])rison(us.  Ko  supplies  of  any  kind,  whether  of  food,  bedding, 
clothing — not  cv(!U  ediu-ation — were  to  be  given  gratuitou.sli/ ;  all  were 
to  be  mad(^  excliaugcahlc,  at  fixed  r;ites,  us  the  prisoner  needed  and  was 


REFORMATORY  DISCIPLINE  MUST  EMBRACE  TWO  STAGES,     295 

willing  to  buy  them,  for  marks  previously  earned  ;  with  the  distinct  un- 
derstanding, however,  that  only  those  which  remained  over  and  above 
all  so  exchanged,  should  count  toward  liberation.  The  prisoners,  like 
free  citizens,  were  thus  made  to  depend,  for  every  necessary  and  com- 
fort, on  their  own  industry  and  personal  deserts ;  while  their  prison 
offenses  were  restrained  by  fines  to  be  paid  in  marks,  just  as  those  of 
persons  outside  are  by  fines  in  money  or  privation  of  liberty.  Describ- 
ing the  practical  working  of  his  method.  Captain  Maconochie  says : 

"First,  it  gave  me  wages,  and  then  fines.  One  gave  me  willing  and 
progressively  skilled  laborers ;  the  other  saved  me  from  the  necessity  of 
imposing  brutal  and  demoralizing  punishments.  My  form  of  money 
next  gave  me  school  fees.  I  was  most  anxious  to  encourage  education 
among  my  men,  but,  as  I  had  refused  them  rations  gratuitously,  so  I 
would  not  give  them  schooling  either,  but  compelled  them  to  yield 
marks  to  acquire  it.  I  never  saw  any  other  adult  schools  make  such 
rapid  progress.  My  form  of  money  next  gave  me  bail  bonds  in  cases  of 
minor  or  even  of  great  offenses;  a  period  of  close  imprisonment  being 
often  wholly  or  in  part  remitted  in  consideration  of  a  sufficient  number 
of  other  prisoners  of  good  conduct  becoming  bound,  under  penalty  of 
the  forfeiture  of  a  certain  number  of  good  marks,  for  the  improved  con- 
duct of  the  culprit." 

Even  in  the  establishment  of  a  sick-club  and  a  burial-club.  Captain 
Maconochie  applied  the  inflexible  principle  of  "nothing  for  nothing" — 
that  is  to  say,  here,  as  throughout,  he  made  the  discipline  of  the  prison 
as  much  like  the  discipline  of  Providence  in  free  life  as  possible.  He 
sought  to  make  all  his  arrangements  such  that  the  prisoners  would  ex- 
perience, through  them,  just  such  and  so  much  of  good  or  evil  as  natur- 
ally flowed  from  their  coiiduct — a  principle  which  he  rightly  declares  to 
be'the  only  true  one.  Now,  what  were  the  effects  of  a  system  made  to 
conform,  in  so  remarkable  a  degree,  to  the  providential  arrangements 
found  in  ordinary  society  ?  The  extreme  debasement  of  the  Norfolk 
Island  convicts  was  notorious.  They  were  the  scum  of  all  the  penal 
colonies,  sent  to  Norfolk  because  of  their  exceptional  depravity.  Yet 
reformations  of  these  men  were  effected  to  an  extent  and  of  a  character 
unknown,  either  before  or  since,  in  any  of  the  penal  colonies  of  the 
British  Empire.  This  we  must  believe,  unless  all  human  testimony  is  to 
be  discredited.  How  strong  the  attestation  thus  lent  to  the  truth  and 
force  of  the  principle  under  consideration. 

§  12.  In  order  to  the  best  effect  of  a  reformatory  prison  discipline,  it 
should  be  divided  into  two  distinct  stages — the  stage  of  punishment 
and  the  stage  of  reformation  and  training  ;  the  former  having  in  view 
the  prisoner's  past,  the  latter  his  future.  Both  these  processes,  when  the 
object  is  reform,  are  equally  benevolent,  because  both  are  equally 
essential  to  the  end  in  view.  There  can  as  little  be  true  reform  with- 
out true  penitence,  as  there  can  be  the  growth  of  the  man  without  the 
birth  of  the  child.  But  the  necessity  for  each  is  not,  of  itself,  equally 
clear  to  criminals.  IMany  who  would,  if  possible,  escape  from  restric- 
tions as  mere  punishment,  would  willingly  submit  to  them  when  under- 
stood to  be  a  necessary  antecedent  of  reform,  and  especially  of  release 
as  conditioned  upon  reform ;  for  nothing  is  counted  a  hardship  which 
fends  to  that  issue.  As  a  fever  must  be  reduced  before  its  ravages  can 
be  repaired,  and  as  a  wound  must  be  probed  and  cleansed  before  it  can 
be  properly  healed,  so,  in  the  moral  cure  of  a  criminal,  a  punishing 
stage  must  precede  the  reformatory  stage.  To  do  one  thing  at  a  time, 
and  each  well,  is  the  rule  in  all  nice  operations  ;  and,  surely,  the  recov- 
ery of  a  fellow-being  from  habits  of  crime  to  virtue,  is  worthy  of  an 


296  INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

equally  methodical  and  careful  procedure,  and  is  not  likely  to  be  accom- 
plished by  one  less  scientific  and  delicate.    " 

The  necessity  for  separating  these  two  processes  may  be  placed  in 
another  light,  and  shown  by  a  different  argument.  Subjection  to  pun- 
ishment is  ?ai  unnatural  state,  and  interferes,  necessarily,  with  that  free 
agency,  a  sense  of  which  is  instinctive  in  man ;  whereas,  on  the  con- 
trary, a  state  of  trial,  of  difiQculty,  of  hardship  even,  supported  by  hope, 
and  with  its  objects  to  be  attained  -by  voluntary  exertion  and  self- 
denial,  is  a  highly  natural  and  improving  state  ;  it  is  the  very  state  in 
which  we  are  all  sent  into  the  world,  and  to  which,  accordingly,  our 
faculties  are  especially  accommodated.  The  two  processes,  therefore, 
cannot  be  combined,  for  either  the  restrictions  involved  in  direct  iiun- 
ishment  destroy  the  free  agency  which  is  the  essence  of  trial,  or  the 
concessions  made  to  free  agency  weaken,  if  they  do  not  destroy,  the  re- 
strictions essential  to  punishment. 

A  testing  stage  should  follow  these  two ;  but  of  that  enough  has  been 
said  in  a  former  section. 

§  13.  It  belongs  to  the  essenceof  a  reformatory  prison  discipline  to  impart 
to  theprisoner,  during  his  detention,  the  power  as  well  as  the  will  to  earn 
an  honest  living  after  his  release.  This  can  be  done  only  by  giving  him, 
while  he  remains  in  prison,  both  the  love  and  the  habit  of  industry.  Labor 
is  at  once  a  means  of  support  and  an  auxiliary  to  virtue.  It  was  a  favorite 
maxim  with  Howard,  "  Make  men  diligent,  and  they  will  be  honest." 
Work  is  the  only  sure  basis  of  a  reformatory  discipline.  "  Unless 
prisoners  acquire  habits  of  industry  and  a  liking  for  some  kind  of  labor," 
says  Mr.  Frederic  Hill  in  his  admirable  Treatise  on  Crime,  "  little  hope 
can  be  entertained  of  their  conduct  after  liberation."  Good  resolutions 
ure  well  as  far  as  they  go  ;  but,  as  a  dependence  for  the  future,  unsup- 
ported by  the  habit  of  honest,  useful  toil,  they  will  prove  wholly  falla- 
cious. It  will  turn  out  with  them  as  with  sick-bed  resolves,  which 
usually  vanish  with  returning  health.  Therefore,  it  is  a  matter  of  prime 
importance  to  impart  to  prisoners  the  knowledge  of  some  regular  busi- 
ness. The  ranks  of  criminals  are  chieliy  recruited  from  persons  without 
fixed  occnpation,  and  especially  from  those  who  have  never  learned  a 
trade.  At  least  eighty  i)er  cent,  of  our  imprisoned  criminals  belong  to 
this  class,  which  shows  to  what  an  extent  the  want  of  a  trade  becomes 
an-occasion  of  crime.  To  teach  a  convict  a  trade  is  to  place  him  above 
want,  and  that  is  more  than  half-way  toward  making  him  an  honest 
man.  A  convict  learning  a  trade  is  mastering  the  art  of  self-help.  He 
feels  that  he  is  doing  something  for  himself.  As  a  consequence  he  is 
filled  with  hope;  he  is  in  better  temper;  his  spirits  are  cheerful  and 
buoyant.  This  feeling  is  itself  a  reformative  agency,  and  the  man  in 
wliom  it  is  found  is  much  more  likely  to  be  morally  imi)rovod  by  his  in- 
carceration than  another  in  M'honi  hoi)e,  alacrity,  and  cheerfulness  have 
IxMiii  extinguished.  In  one  of  his  reports  Mr.  Kice  states  that  of  two 
liundrcd  convicts  dischargcMl  from  the  state  prison  of  Maine,  only  seven 
liad  been  reconvicted,  and  but  two  of  th(!se  had  learned  a  trade.  Would 
it  not  be  well,  would  it  not  beecononiical,  to  nuikc  less  use  of  machinery 
in  our  ju-isons,  iiiid  more  use?  of  the  hands  found  there °i? 

§  14.  iJoth  icligion  and  education  are  fonuisof  vast  potency  within  as 
well  as  without  i»ris()M-walls.  JJut  tlu'ir  i»ower  and  value  are  so  well 
known,  and  have  been  so  otteii  and  forcibly  exhil)it«'d,  tiuit  a  )nere  ref- 
erence is  all  that  seems  n<'cessary  in  this  report.  Jleligion  is  the  only 
I)ower  that  is  al)le  to  r<'sist  the  ii'i'itat  ion  that  saps  the  moral  forces  of 
these  men  of  powerful  impulses,  whose  neglect  of  its  teachings  has  been 
the   occasion  of  their  being  immured  within  prison-walls;    while  the 


MORAL  FORCES  TO  BE  MADE  PROMINENT.       297 

efifect  of  education  is  to  quickeu  intellect,  give  new  ideas,  supply- 
food  for  thought,  inspire  self-respect,  excite  an  honorable  ambition,  open 
new  fields  of  exertion,  and  afford  a  healthful  substitute  for  low  and 
vicious  amusements.  What  more  need  be  said  to  show  the  value  of 
these  agencies  in  reforming  criminals? 

§  15.  All  who  would  engage,  with  any  hope  of  success,  in  the  work  of 
regenerating  vicious  and  criminal  humanity,  must  be  animated  by  a 
hearty  desire  and  intention  to  accomplish  that  result.  Such  a  feeling 
and  purpose,  really  entertained  by  all  prison  officials,  would  revolution- 
ize prison  management.  It  would  change  the  whole  spirit  and  tone  of 
administration  ;  and  when  that  is  done,  the  fit  processes  of  a  reformatory 
discipline  will  follow  as  a  matter  of  course.  It  is  not  so  much  any  spe- 
cific apparatus  that  is  needed,  as  it  is  the  introduction  of  a  really  benev- 
olent spirit  into  our  prison  work.  It  is  the  exercise  of  the  Christian 
virtues  as  related  to  man  that  is  wanted ;  and  this,  when  exhibited  under 
the  control  of  principle  and  conscience,  not  of  mere  sentiment  and  im- 
pulse, is  also  the  best  manifestation  of  those  virtues  in  their  relation  to 
God.  Once  let  prison  officers  understand  that  their  business  is  to  re- 
form— not  merely  to imnish — their  fellow-men,  and  let  their  desire  and  in- 
tention be  conformed  to  that  understanding,  and  they  will  speedily  be- 
come inventive  of  the  methods  conducive  to  that  end.  Let  the  principle 
be  established  in  theory  and  rooted  in  the  heart  of  those  who  are  to 
apply  it,  and  suitable  processes  will  follow,  as  naturally  as  the  harvest 
follows  the  sowing. 

§16.  Equally  essential  is  a  serious  conviction  on  the  part  of  prison 
officers  that  prisoners  are  capable  of  being  reformed.  This  belief  is 
indispensable  to  success,  for  no  man  can  heartily  maintain  a  discipline 
at  war  with  his  inward  beliefs.  No  man  can  earnestly  strive  to  ac- 
complish what  in  his  heart  he  despairs  of  accomplishing.  Doubt  is  an 
element  of  failure ;  xiontidence  a  guarantee  of  success.  Nothing  so  weak- 
ens moral  forces  as  unbelief;  nothing  so  strengthens  them  as  faith. 
"  Be  it  unto  thee  according  to  thy  faith,"  is  not  a  mere  theological  dic- 
tum ;  it  is  equally  the  statement  of  a  fundamental  principle  of  success 
in  all  human  undertakings,  especially  when  our  work  lies  within  the 
realm  of  mind  and  morals. 

§  17.  Greater  prominence  than  heretofore  should  be  given  to  moral 
forces,  and  less  to  mere  physical  power.  A  broad  distinction  must  be 
made  between  physical  apparatus  and  moral  appliances  in  prison  treat- 
ment. By  physical  apparatus  is  to  be  understood  whatever  is  intended 
merely  to  coerce ;  by  moral  appliances,  whatever  offers  a  choice,  and 
thus  strengthens  while  it  guides.  The  essential  distinction  is  that  be- 
tween force  and  persuasion,  between  fettering  the  body  and  gaining  the 
soul.  The  chief  reliance,  both  for  preventing  crime  and  weaning  from 
it,  has  been,  and  is,  fear.  Fear  is  no  doubt  among  the  most  active 
passions  and  impulses  of  the  soul.  We  all  feel  it,  more  or  less,  daily  ; 
and  it  ought,  undoubtedly,  to  have  a  place  in  every  system  of  crime- 
repression.  Nevertheless,  there  is  not  an  impulse  of  any  kind — love, 
hatred,  desire,  hope,  avarice — that  does  not  continually  overcome  it, 
even  in  the  most  timid.  Is  it  rational,  then,  in  the  effort  to  repress 
crime,  to  rest  our  chief  confidence  on  the  weaker  rather  than  the  stronger 
agencies,  especially  when  it  is  considered  that  the  promptings  to  ci-ime 
usually  proceed  from  the  most  powerful  impulses  of  the  human  breast? 
There  needs  to  be  introduced  into  prison  discipline  a  higher  aim,  a  treat- 
ment of  prisoners  that  seeks  to  gain  the  will,  and  not  merely  to  coerce 
the  body.  What  is  wanted  is,  that  they  be  trained  to  become  virtuous 
freemen,  and  not  merely  that  they  be  reduced,  for  a  time,  to  the  posi- 


298  INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

tion  of  well-ordered  bondmen,  taught  the  Tirtues  of  a  state  of  slavery — 
obedience,  submission,  punctuality,  order,  and  the  like — but,  of  neces- 
sity, accompanied  by  a  large  admixture  also  of  the  vices  of  slavery — 
deceit,  duplicity,  evasion,  latent  but  cherished  resentment,  and  a  thicker 
cloak  of  hypocrisy,  which,  however,  only  conceals,  with  more  or  less  art, 
the  continued  rottenness  within. 

Criminals  are  too  commonly  considered  the  representatives  of  crime  ; 
and  harshness  tosvard  them  is  thought  to  be  a  legitimate  manifestation 
of  our  detestation  of  it.  Should  they  not  rather  be  looked  upon  as  its 
first  and  saddest  victims,  to  be  pitied  as  well  as  blamed ;  to  be  pitied 
all  the  more  for  being  bankrupt  in  virtue  and  character  as  well  as  in 
means  ?  If  we  would  earnestly  seek  to  raise  them  from  this  state,  not 
by  weak  and  unwise  indulgence,  but  by  a  judicious  course  of  firm  and 
even  severe  training,  which  would  develop  their  manly  and  stimulate 
their  moral  nature,  we  should  show  a  better  understanding  of  the  sub- 
ject and  of  our  duty  in  relation  to  it,  and  be  much  more  successful  in 
the  great  end  of  repressing  crime.  Only  let  us  try  ;  try  in  good  faith 
and  with  good  will ;  not  halting  between  two  opinions,  but  steadily  and 
energetically  acting  upon  one.  The  result  would  not  long  remain  doubt- 
ful ;  and  the  greatest  and  gravest  moral  jiroblem  of  our  day  would  be 
at  length  satisfactorily  solved. 

All  past  systems  of  prison  discipline  have  been,  in  the  main,  but 
modifications  of  force.  Authority  has  been  their  chief,  too  often  their 
exclusive,  reliance.  The  result,  so  far  as  reforming  criminals  is  con- 
cerned, has  been  failure.  Let  organized  persuasion  now  have  a  trial ; 
not  coaxing,  not  pampering,  not  indulgence — a  system  as  pernicious  as 
it  is  false  and  feeble — but  persuasion,  with  such  forces  behind  it,  result- 
ing from  a  judicious  application  of  motives,  as,  while  leaving  the  will 
free,  will  yet,  by  a  sort  of  moral  necessity,  determine  it  to  a  right 
choice. 

The  coercive  system  would  seem  to  be  an  inherently  and  essentially 
vicious  one,  insomuch  that  precisely  where  it  is  most  perfect,  it  will  be 
found  ultiuiately  least  successful.  Mind  can  be  gained  only  by  appeal- 
ing to  mind.  Fettering  the  body  is  even  directly  opposed  to  this.  It 
has  its  immediate  and  apparent  advantages;  but  they  are  too  dearlj^ 
purchased.  If  we  will  actively  employ  our  prisoners,  and  by  suitable 
means  cultivate  in  them  the  daily  practice  of  the  manly  and  social  virtues, 
they  will  protect  themselves  from  degrading  vices  much  better  than  we 
can  protect  them  by  walls  and  bolts;  and  the  moral  triumph  thus 
achieved  will  be  as  improving  and  streugthening  to  them  as  the 
triumph  won  by  ])hysical  force  is  humiliating  and  enfeebling. 

Let  me  brielly  indicate  two  or  three  of  those  moral  forces  whose  use 
would  be  likely  to  be  atteiuled  with  the  best  results. 

Tiie  ability  of  the  prisoner  to  better  his  condition  while  in  prison 
throu^ih  his  own  exertions — in  other  words,  a  regulated  self-interest — is 
one  of  {\\i\  mightiest  as  well  as  the  In-althiest  of  these  forces.  Montesi- 
Tios  found  this  so  in  his  jtrison  at  Valencia.  He  convinced  himself  that 
men  in  jnison,  as  well  as  men  outside,  need  the  slimnlus  of  some  per- 
sonal advantage  tolx'  <]criv(Ml  IVom  tlicir  exertions.  He  says  that  what 
no  severity  ol"  punishment  or  constancy  in  applying  it  could  ibrce  out 
of  his'  m(!n,  a  veiy  nuxlerate  personal  interest  readily  obtained.  In 
different  ways,  tliercfon^  he  constantly  aj)[>lied  this  ]>owerrul  stinuilant, 
and  the  excc^llent  results  it  yielded  and  the  iVuitlul  gernis  of  reform 
developed  by  it  convinced  him  at  length  that  the  most  ineflicacious  of 
all  methods  in  a  prison  and  the  most  fatal  to  every  chance  of  reform 
are  punishments  carried  to   the  length   of  harshness.     Jt  was  not,  he 


MORAL  FORCES  TO  BE  MADE  PROMINENT.       299 

says,  till  after  mauy  trials  of  severity  that  he  ultimately  made  the  prin- 
ciple of  encouragement  and  persuasion  the  basis  of  all  his  operations 
on  the  minds  of  the  prisoners.  He  caused  forty-three  distinct  trades  to 
be  taught  in  as  mauy  dift'ereut  workshops,  and  stimulated  industry  and" 
skill  by  allowing  the  prisoners  a  large  share  in  the  product  of  their 
toil.  The  administration  of  Colonel  Montesinos  lasted  fifteen  years, 
and  the  results  were :  1,  ready  submission,  few  punishments,  and  a  high 
state  of  discipline:  2,  the  ability  to  dispense  almost  entirely  with  a  paid 
staflt'  by  the  substitution  of  the  most  intelligent  of  the  reformed  crimi- 
nals as  under-oflficers  ;  3,  the  complete  self-support  of  the  establishment, 
so  that  never  a  dollar  was  called  for  from  the  state;  4,  the  reduction  of 
relapses  from  40  per  cent. — the  average  prior  to  his  incumbency — to 
zero,  not  a  single  recommittal  having  taken  place  during  the  last  three 
years  of  his  administration,  and  an  average  of  only  one  per  cent,  during 
the  ten  years  preceding. 

The  cultivation  of  a  feeling  of  self-respect  in  i^risoners  develops  a 
moral  force,  of  great  potency  in  prison  administration.  Self-respect  is  one 
of  the  most  powerful  sentiments  of  the  human  mind,  for  the  reason  that 
it  is  the  most  intensely  personal.  Hence  the  maxim,  "Do  not  further 
degrade  in  prison  the  man  who  has  come  to  it  already  degraded  by  his 
crimes,"  should  be  constantly  and  carefully  applied  in  prison  treatment. 
No  one  will  ever  beneficially  influence  prisoners  who  does  not  seek  to 
strengthen  in  their  breasts  the  sentiment  of  manhood  and  personal  dig- 
nity. 

Moral  power  over  prisoners  may  be  attained  through  frquent, 
frank,  kindly  conversations  with  them — not  too  familiar,  but  judicious 
and  self-respecting.  This  was  an  agency  constantly  employed  by 
Maconochie,  and  he  ascribes  to-  it  much  of  the  influence  that  he 
gained  over  his  men.  He  encouraged  all  to  address  him  with  freedom, 
and  he  would  not  even  listen  to  a  man  unless  he  stood  erect,  looked  him 
in  the  face,  and  spoke  to  him  like  a  man.  He  used  to  say  to  them  that 
he  would  rather  have  a  man  insolent  than  cringing.  He  encouraged  all 
to  speak  freely  to  him,  and  to  express,  without  reserve,  their  views  and 
sentiments  on  whatever  was  the  subject  of  conversation.  By  this  means 
he  was  enabled  to  sound  their  impressions  and  the  sources  of  them 
much  more  deeply  than  would  otherwise  have  been  possible.  He  made 
it  a  special  object  when  thus  conversing  with  a  prisoner  to  interrogate 
him  about  his  early  youth  and  training,  his  parents,  the  lessons  they 
had  taught  him,  the  example  they  had  set  him,  &c.  His  design  in 
this  was  to  call  up  the  associations  of  earlier  days,  and  thus  endeavor  to 
revive  in  him  the  good  impulses  and  principles  which  had  guided  his  con- 
duct before  he  became  corrupted  and  seared  by  the  scenes  through  which 
he  had  subsequently  passed.  In  this  way  he  obtained  an  immense 
power  over  his  jirisouers,  which  he  skillfully  and  eftectively  applied  as 
an  agent  in  their  reformation. 

"  The  law  of  love  and  love  in  law" — in  other  words,  kindness  duly  regu- 
lated— is  a  moral  force  of  almost  illimitable  power.  The  kindness  proposed 
is  not,  however,  that  which  seeks  merely  to  alleviate  the  immediate  suffer- 
ing of  prisoners,  which  they  have  deserved  and  ought  to  undergo.  It  is 
rather  a  rational,  prudent,  forecasting  kindness,  which  seeks  to  lift  them 
up,  to  strengthen  them,  and  to  prepare  them  for  the  battle  of  life.'  Such 
a  spirit  universally  introduced  into  our  prisons  would  work  wonders, 
both  on  the  character  of  the  prisoners  and  the  movement  of  crime. 
This  spirit  once  there,  this  aspiration  after  the  moral  improvement  of 
their  charge  felt  by  the  officers  and  recognized  by  them  as  a  duty,  would 
prove  both  inventive  and  creative  in  their  hands.     It  would  find  or  malce 


300  INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

means  to  accomplish  the  reform  of  their  prisoners,  and  when  one  agency- 
proved  abortive  it  would  have  recourse  to  others;  it  would  not  he  wlwlly 
bauJlied.  Further,  as  we  see  in  tlie  case  of  M.  Demetz  and  Mettray, 
such  a  spirit  having  once  found  a  lodgoient  in  the  breast  of  prison  offi- 
cers, and  constantly  working  itself  out  into  action,  would  not  long  be 
confined  within  the  prison  walls,  but  would  follow  into  society,  after 
their  discharge,  those  who  had  felt  its  beneficent  power  during  their 
captivity,  and  would  thus  tend  prodigiously  to  prevent  relapses  and,  as 
a  consequence,  to  diminish  the  volume  of  crime.  What  a  change  would 
the  general  possession  and  manifestation  of  this  spirit  produce  in  the 
tone  and  temper  with  which  prisoners  are  treated!  This  is  now  too 
often  supercilious,  if  not  even  contemptuous,  whereas  it  should  be  rather 
that  in  which  patients  are  received  and  treated  in  a  hospital.  Certainly 
the  hatefulness  of  the  crime  committed  should  be  freely  expressed.  On 
this  head  there  should  be  no  compromise.  But  apart  from  this,  the 
criminal  should  be  sincerely  regarded  and  studiously  treated  as  an  object 
of  compassion,  fallen  but  recoverable,  and  sent  to  prison  expressly  to 
that  end.  A  tone  of  hopefulness  for  his  case  should  thus  be  maintained, 
and  confidence  felt  and  shown  that,  when  put  in  the  right  way,  he  will 
be  manly  enough  to  abide  in  it.  This  idea  of  manliness  and  courage  as 
belonging  to  virtue,  and  of  abjectnessand  cowardice  as  inhering  in  vice, 
should  be  especially  insisted  on.  The  greatest  benefit  has  resulted  from 
it  in  dealing  with  rough  and  fallen  natures.  It  is  an  idea  that  comes 
home  to  many  men  otherwise  hard  to  be  impressed,  and  to  whom,  on 
the  other  hand,  any  approach  to  whining  or  cant  is  distasteful,  and 
becomes  an  object  of  scorn  and  scoffing. 

It  is  important  to  note,  in  passing,  that  a  liberal  application  of  the 
law  of  kindness  to  prisoners  is  not  incompatible  with  a  calm,  steady, 
resolute  discipline.  Tenderness  may  be  fitly  and  successfully  blended 
with  justice  in  dealing  with  them.  It  is  not  a  just  rigor  against  which 
the  prisoner  rebels,  for  that  may  be  as  kind  as  it  is  wise ;  it  is  rather 
against  capricious  harshness,  which  is  cruel  and  irritating  for  the  very 
reason  that  it  lacks  the  element  of  justice.  Criminals  are  not  much 
accustomed  to  kind  treatment,  and  therefore  they  are  the  more  touched 
by  it.  Convince  them  that  you  have  a  genuine  sympathy,  show  them  a 
kindness  which  evidently  has  its  seat  in  the  heart,  and  their  sensibility 
is  instantly  awakened.  This  principle  keeps  a  lingering  hold  upon  our 
nature  even  in  the  last  and  lowest  degree  of  human  wickedness.  When 
all  other  generous  sensibilities  are  gone,  this  survives  and  shows  itself 
even  in  the  most  hardened  criminals.  There  is,  somehow  and  some- 
where, a  soft  part  about  them,  which  will  give  way  before  the  demon- 
strations of  a  genuine  tenderness  and  love.  This  one  germ  of  a  dormant 
virtue,  this  solitary  element  of  an  improved  character,  is  found  to  out- 
live the  destruction  of  all  others;  insomuch  that,  fallen  as  a  brother 
may  be  from  the  moralities  which  oncte  adorned  him,  the  manifested 
good-will  (»r  his  fellow-man  still  carries  a  charm  and  an  inlluence  along 
with  it.  ^J'hcre  li(!s  a  regenerative  and  redem])tive  i)ower  just  here, 
which  no  degradation  can  crush,  no  «lepravity  extinguish. 

§  18.  Jiidividuali/ation  is  an  (essential  principle  of  a  reformatory 
prison  disciple.  'JMiere  was  a  general  agreement  in  {he  congress  ou 
this  point.  Jt  was  held  unanimously  that,  to  insane  the  highest  imi)rove- 
ment  of  ])rison(Ms,  ])ris()n(;rs  must,  to  a  (UM'tain  extent,  like  the  difi'ereut 
members  of  a  household,  Ixi  tn^ated  individually.  While  all  alike  are 
placed  under  a  general  hiw,  the  condu(;t  of  each,  as  directed  by  it, 
should  be  specially  ami  minutely  noted.  The  improving  effect  of  this 
would  he  found  very  great.     It  would  b(^  a  first  step  toward  restoring  to 


INDIVIDUALIZATION SPECIAL  EDUCATION  OF  OFFICERS.     301 

each  that  feeling  of  self-respect  without  which  no  recovery  will  ever  be 
found  permanent.  Each  should  be  enabled  to  know,  if  i)0ssible,  from 
day  to  day,  and  certainly  from  week  to  week,  the  light  iu  which  his  con- 
duct is  viewed,  in  all  important  particulars,  by  those  placed  over  him; 
for  thus  alone,  as  his  good  purpose  strengthens,  will  he  be  enabled  to 
correct  that  wherein  he  may  be  found  deficient.  To  this  end  a  card 
might  be  hung  iu  his  cell,  with  four  rows  of  figures  constantly  kept 
upon  it.  The  first  should  indicate  the  prisoner's  general  conduct ;  the 
secoud  his  degree  of  industry  and  exertion  ;  the  third  his  attention  and 
improvement,  as  noted  by  the  chaplain;  and  the  fourth  the  same,  as 
shown  by  the  schoolmaster's  record.  By  this  means,  whenever  the 
warden  or  chaplain,  or  any  person  entitled  to  make  such  perquisition,  goes 
round,  the  whole  conduct— and  thence  the  character — of  the  individual 
would  be  instantly  patent,  and  commendation,  censure,  caution,  advice, 
or  exhortation  could  be  addressed  to  him  as  each  might  be  needed. 
These  marks  would  also  form  the  basis  of  those  estimations  of  character 
according  to  which  prisoners  would  be  passed  through  the  different 
stages  of  treatment,  rising  successively  from  grade  to  grade,  until,  be- 
ginning at  the  lowest,  they  should  have  at  length  reached  the  highest. 

It  will  be  found  important  that  rewards  for  exertion  and  improve- 
ment, other  than  physical  comforts,  be  progressively  added ;  or  even 
that  they  should,  at  the  discretion  of  the  authorities,  be  substituted  for 
such  comforts.  It  is  right  and  fair,  and  even  improving,  that  consider- 
ation lor  the  last  should  be  used  as  a  stimulus  in  the  lower  stages  of 
reformatory  treatment.  Such,  indeed,  is  the  arrangmeut  of  Providence 
iu  human  eociety,  and  we  cannot  copy  a  better  type.  But  in  proportion 
as  the  higher  nature  of  the  prisoner  is  developed  and  cultivated,  higher 
objects  of  desire  should  be  suggested  and  made  similarly  attainable,  in 
order  at  once  to  keep  the  upward  tendency  active,  and"  to  raise  the  char- 
acter of  its  aspirations.  For  this  purpose  a  longer  allowance  of  gas- 
light, a  wider  scope  of  books  and  instruction,  and  increased  facilities 
of  communication  with  families  and  respectable  friends  outside,  and 
other  like  indulgences  will  be  found  powerful  and  most  improving  en- 
couragements. At  no  stage,  however,  should  any  remission  be  made  of 
the  call  for  contiuufyil  active  exertion.  To  reward  a  prisoner,  in  any 
part  of  his  course,  by  permitted  idleness,  is  to  uudo  the  improvement 
that  may  have  been  already  effected  in  him  by  dissociating  the  ideas  of 
sustained  eiibrt  and  success,  which  should,  as  much  as  possible,  be  kept 
inseparably  "together  in  his  mind.  Even  when  partially  sick,  employ- 
ment of  some  "kind  should,  wherever  practicable,  be  thus  given  him. 
The  surgeon  should  be  constantly  invited  to  suggest  such.  Not  infre- 
quently this  will  even  promote  recovery — if  not  otherwise,  yet  by  making 
a  state  of  sickness  not  entirely  a  state  of  exemption. 

§  19.  It  is  almost  superfluous  to  remark  that  such  a  i>rison  system 
and  prison  administration  as  that  sketched,  all  too  imperfectly  and 
feebly,  iu  the  preceding  sections  of  this  concluding  chapter,  cannot  be 
carried  out  in  its  true  spirit,  nor  with  the  necessary  intelligence  and 
vigor,  by  the  agents  at  present  engaged  in  the  work.  We  have,  happily, 
even  now,  many  heads  of  prisons,  holding  sound  views,  imbued  with  the 
right  spirit,  thoroughly  competent  to  the  duties  of  their  position,  and 
working  with  zeal  and  intelligence  in  fulfilment  of  their  high  mission. 
These  have  a  few  able  and  well-qualified  assistants,  who  are  animated 
by  the  same  sentiments  as  themselves,  and  are  lending  to  their  aims  and 
eflbrts  a  noble  and  efficient  co-operation.  But  the  mass  of  prison  officials, 
throughout  the  country,  are  sadly  deficient  iu  the  broad  intelligence, 
good  feeliug,  self-control,  sound  common  sense,  high  moral  principle, 


302  INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

strong  religious  feeling,  and  other  essential  qualifications  requisite  to 
their  calling.  It  is  idle  to  suppose  that  an  equitable  and  humane — 
above  all,  a  reformatory — prison  code  can  be  carried  out  successfully, 
where  a  fit  administration  cannot  be  had.  To  deal  with  delinquents, 
not  by  short  and  sharp  methods,  but  through  such  pains-taking,  cautious, 
and  tardy  processes  as  abstract  justice  indicates,  and  the  attainment  of 
genuine  and  permanent  reformatory  results  imperatively  demands, 
would  require  a  class  of  agents  which  is  yet,  as  a  body,  to  be  created, 
^or,  in  my  humble  judgment,  can  such  a  creation  ever  be  eftected,  ex- 
cept by  special  effort,  special  education,  special  training  to  that  end. 
The  reformation  of  fallen  humanity  is  a  work  as  complex,  as  delicate,  as 
difficult,  and  demanding  qualities  and  qualifications  of  intellect,  judg- 
ment, and  heart  as  high  and  as  broad  as  any  ever  committed  to  the  hand  of 
man,  and  as  worthy  of  being  raised  to  the  dignity  of  a  regular  calling  or 
profession  as  any  other  within  the  wide  range  of  human  employment. 
If  law,  medicine,  and  divinity;  if  engineering,  military  command,  and 
school-keeping;  if  sculpture,  painting,  and  music;  if  even  every  handi- 
craft requiring  mere  manual  dexterity  demand  a  special  technical  edu- 
cation and  training  in  those  who  devote  themselves  to  these  callings, 
why  not  equally  the  work  and  calling  of  a  prison  keeper,  whose  proper 
business — the  regeneration  and  redemption  of  fallen  immortals,  the  cure 
of  souls  all  sick  and  leprous  with  sin — is  the  peer  of  any  of  them  in 
the  dignity,  grandeur,  and  beneficence  of  its  aims.  Mettray,  with  its 
glorious  chief,  who  had  the  wisdom  to  establivSh  his  training-school  even 
before  he  established  his  prison — Mettray,  with  its  magnificent  reforma- 
tory results,  as  the  fruit  and  demonstration  of  that  wisdom — is  a  living, 
visible,  irrefragable  argument  in  suj^port  of  the  value,  the  imj)ortance, 
the  absolute  necessity  of  a  special  preparation  on  the  part  of  prison  of- 
ficers for  their  work.  Let  that  argument,  for  i)resent  purposes,  stand 
in  the  place  of  all  others. 

§  20.  The  necessary  complement  of  every  prison  system,  which  really 
aims  to  reform  its  subjects,  is  a  comprehensive  and  efficient  agency  for 
the  care  of  discharged  prisoners.  The  moment  of  their  liberation  is,  for 
them  and  for  society,  so  far  as  they  are  concerned,  a  crisis  whose  gravity 
cannot  easily  be  exaggerated.  Their  good  intentions  and  their  actual 
improvement  in  i)rison  are  then  severely  tested.  The  question  is 
to  be  determined  whether  they  will  pursue  the  patli  of  virtue,  or  return 
to  crime.  A  few  weeks,  at  most  a  few  months,  will,  in  all  likelihood, 
decide  the  point.  The  trial  is  often  one  of  terrible  severity  to  the  dis- 
charged convict.  The  temptations  which  surround  him  are  strong  and 
pressing.  There  is  a  fearful  conflict  in  his  soul.  He  wishes  to  do  right, 
but  is  sorely  urged  to  do  wrong.  He  desires  to  stand,  but  trembles  lest 
he  should  fall.  He  would  do  good,  but  evil  is  present  with  him.  He 
starts  at  his  own  shadow.  He  feels  that,  like  Cain,  he  is  "a  fugitive 
and  a  vagabond  on  the  earth."  Terrible,  indeed,  are  his  struggles,  for 
he  has  foes  within  as  well  as  without  to  combat.  His  soul  is  driven  to 
ahd  fro  Ijetween  the  frowns  of  the  world  and  the  upbraidings  of  con- 
science. These  awaken  remorse;  those,  despair.  What  does  the  released 
])riK0iH'r  n(M'd  in  this,  with  him,  suj)reme  hour?  First  of  all,  sympathy, 
which  will  act  like  a  cordial  upon  his  liruised  and  fainting  heart.  Then 
he  needs  words  of  encouragement  and  hope,  of  wise  and  affectionate 
counsel,  which  will  still  further  refresh  and  strengthen  his  spirits.  He 
needs,  moreover,  i>ecuniary  helj).  Souie  money  or  its  equivalent  he 
must  have,  or  crime  iKicomes  a  necessity.  The  best  j)rovision  of  this 
kind  wouhl  be  to  allow  him  some  share  in  his  earnings  as  a  prisoner, 
to  be  retained  for  him  to  the  day  of  his   liberation  ;    but   until  such  al- 


CARE  OF  DISCHARGED  CONVICTS.  303 

lowatice  is  accorded,  which  is  equally  the  dictate  of  justice  and  policy, 
private  benevolence,  or,  better  still,  the  state,  should  extend  some  as- 
sistance of  this  sort,  enough  at  least  to  enable  him  to  "  make  a  start  in 
the  world.''  But  most  of  all,  the  discharged  prisoner  needs  employment. 
At  the  earliest  possible  moment,  therefore,  he  should  be  put  in  a  position 
to  help  liimself.  Self-help  is  the  best  help  he  can  havB,  for  it  gives  in- 
dependence, self-respect,  and  inward  force.  Sympathy,  kind  words, 
good  advice,  are  all  excellent  in  their  place  5  but  they  are  useless — worse 
than  that,  they  are  mockery— while  you  leave  the  man  hungry  and 
shivering,  with  nothing  to  do.  But  back  your  words  with  acts ;  give 
work  as  well  as  counsel ;  and  then  the  words  and  the  counsel  have  a 
mighty  power  ;  they  become  living  forces. 

Messrs.  Haines  and  Howell,  commissioners  from  the  State  of  New 
Jersey  to  the  Congress  of  London,  in  the  report  submitted  by  them  to 
the  governor  of  the  State,  have  offered  some  excellent  suggestions  on 
this  point.  After  citing  the  declaration  of  the  congress  that  "the 
prisoner,  on  his  discharge,  should  be  systematically  aided  to  obtain  em- 
ployment," the  commissioners  add : 

"  The  truth  of  this  sentiment  has  been  frequently  and  painfully  proved. 
Prisoners  who,  when  discharged,  gave  evidence  of  thorough  reforma- 
tion, and  who  sincerely  believed  that  they  could  keep  their  solemn  res- 
olution to  live  honestly,  for  want  of  employment  and  consequent  poverty, 
and  taunted,  and  sometimes  threatened  by  those  who  knew  of  their  con- 
viction, have  been  driven  to  the  haunts  of  vice  and  plunged  again  into 
crime.  With  the  aid  of  some  friendly  hand  to  afford  them  suitable  em- 
ployment and  means  of  self-support,  many  such  might  have  become  good 
citizens  and  contributors  to  the  material  wealth  of  the  community. 

"An  agency  for  providing  discliarged  prisoners  with  employment  is  a 
present  and  pressing  necessity — one  that  is  deeply  and  paiiifully  felt. 
In  some  States  this  has  been  committed  to  individual  effort  and  benevo- 
lent associations ;  but  it  is  obviously  the  duty  of  the  State,  and  properly 
devolving  upon  it.  If  the  protection  of  society  is  to  be  secured  by  the 
imprisonment  and  reformation  of  the  convict,  surely  that  protection 
should  be  contiuued  by  such  meiisures  as  will  provide  against  a  relapse 
into  crime  and  a  repetition  of  the  former  process  of  punishment. 

"An  oflicer  of  the  prison,  or  what  would  be  more  effectual,  an  agent 
appointed  for  the  purpose,  charged  with  the  duty  of  ascertaining  the 
capacity  of  the  prisoner,  and  securing  for  him  suitable  employment, 
would  do  much  to  promote  the  peace  and  safety  of  society,  and  secure 
many  unhappy  persons  from  temptation  and  repetition  of  crime,  and  aid 
in  restoring  them  to  the  condition  of  useful  citizens. 

"  If  it  be  objected  tliat  the  appointment  of  such  an  agent  would  increase 
the  offices  of  the  prison  and  the  expenses  of  the  State,  it  may  be  an- 
swered that  such  increased  expense  will  prove  to  be  the  truest  economy. 
The  investment  of.  the  small  sum  for  the  salary  and  expenses  of  the 
agent  would  insure  large  profits  to  the  State  by  saving  the  charges  of 
lecouviction  and  support  of  the  prisoner,  and  by  rendering  him,  who  had 
been  a  burden,  a  contributor  to  the  material  property  of  the  State. 

"  This  is  the  tiuaucial  and  lowest  point  of  consideration  of  the  subject. 
If  we  regard  the  moral  and  social  effects  of  such  a  measure,  and  com- 
pare the  condition  of  one  reconvicted,  and  his  infiueuce  upon  his  family 
and  the  community,  with  that  of  one  reformed  and  returned  to  the  ranks 
of  honest  and  productive  industry,  we  can  have  no  doubt  of  the  pro- 
priety, the  necessity,  and  the  economy  of  such  an  office." 

§  21.  So  tar,  the  "  suggestions  and  recommendations''  submitted  by  the 
undersigned  have  been  of  a  general  character.    He  ventures  to  add  a  par- 


304  INTERNATIONAL    PENITENTIARY    CONGRESS. 

agraj)}!  more  specific  in  its  aim.  The  National  Government  has  uo  prisons 
of  its  own.  It  has  a  criminal  code  and  criminal  courts.  Men  charged  with 
criminal  oflenses  are  arraigned,  tried,  and  convicted  under  its  authority; 
but,  when  so  convicted,  it  has  no  prisons  to  which  it  can  send  them  for 
treatment.  It  iscompelled  to  sentence  them  for  punishmentto  the  prisons 
of  the  States  in  which  they  happen  to  have  had  their  trial ;  at  least,  such 
is  the  general  practice.  It  has  no  control,  no  influence,  over  the  discipline 
of  the  prisons  to  which  they  are  committed.  That  discipline  may  be  cru- 
elly severe  or  unwisely  lenient;  it  may  make  its  subjects  worse  instead  of 
better;  it  may  send  them  out  more  depraved  and  hardened  than  when 
they  entered,  and  more  certain  to  continue  their  evil  courses;  but  the 
government  has  not  a  word  to  say;  it  cannot  lift  a  finger;  it  cannot  ex- 
ert a  single  counteracting  force;  it  can  only  sit  silent  and  let  the  work  of 
corruption  go  on.  Is  this  wise?  Is  it  right!  Is  it  statesmanship"?  Has 
the  government  no  responsibility  in  regard  to  these  men  whom  it  has 
convicted  of  crime  I  Is  their  salvation  a  matter  in  which  it  has  no  con- 
cern, no  interest,  710  duty?  Is  it  not  bound,  in  honor  and  conscience,  to 
try  to  reform  them  and  send  them  back  to  society  regenerated  in  pur- 
-pose  and  in  life,  with  the  will  and  the  power  to  eat  bread  earned  by  honest 
toil"?  If  it  has  any  such  duty  in  regard  to  these  men,  can  the  obliga- 
tion be  discharged  by  sending  them  it  knows  not  whither;  by  commit- 
ting them  to  it  knows  not  whom;  by  subjecting  them  to  a  treatment 
which  it  has  no  power  to  control,  and  to  iutluences  in  regard  to  which 
it  does  not  even  know  whether  they  are  good  or  bad,  salutary  or  perni- 
cious! General  Coburn,  chairman  of  the  Military  Committee  of  the 
House  of  Eepresentatives,  and  General  Logan,  chairman  of  the  Military 
Committee  of  the  Senate,  succeeded  in  getting  an  act  passed  by  the  last 
Congress  providing  for  the  establishment  of  a  United  States  prison,  in 
which  prisoners  tried  and  sentenced  by  military  courts  may  receive  the 
benefits  of  a  humane  and  reformatory  discipline;  for  so  the  act  declares 
in  express  terms.  Whatever  reasons  there  may  be  for  such  a  prison 
and  the  a])plication  of  such  a  discipline  in  the  case  of  military  prison- 
ers, there  are  many-fold  more  and  more  cogent  reasons  for  such  appli- 
ances in  the  case  of  persons  convicted  of  crime  in  the  civil  courts  of  the 
United  States,  both  because  these  latter  are  mucli  more  numerous  and 
because  they  stand  in  much  greater  need  of  a  reformatory  treatment,  their 
offenses  being,  for  the  most  i)art,  less  against  technical  rules  and  more 
against  law  and  morality,  and  springing,  thin-efore,  from  a  deeper  moral 
taint.  For  these  reasons,  and  others  that  might  be  adduced,  the  under- 
signed does  not  hesitate  to  "suggest  and  recommend''  the  immediate  estab- 
lisiim<;ntof  one  prison,  at  least,  for  the  treatment  of  persons  convicted  by 
the  civil  courts  of  the  United  States,  and  the  addition  of  others  iis  they 
may  be  hnind  necessary  or  convenient,  in  which  a  discipline,  based  upon 
t}i(^  principles  s(^t  forth  in  this  closing  cha[>ter  of  his  rei)ort,  may  be  hon- 
estly, intelligently,  and  faithfully  applietl. 

All  of  which  is  respectfully  submitted  to  the  President: 

E.  C.  WINES, 

Commissioner,  tOc,  tfcc. 


TRANSACTIONS 


OF  THE 


NATIONAL  PRISON  REFORM  CONGRESS, 


BALTIMORE,  MARYLAND,  JANUARY  21-24,  1873 ; 

BEING   THE 

SECOND  ANNUAL  MEETING  OF  THE  NATIONAL  PRISON  ASSOCIATION 
OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

EDITED  BY 

E.  C.  WINES,  D.  D.,  LL.  D., 

Secretary    of    the     Association. 


H.  Ex.  185 20 


TRANSACTIONS. 


L— OPEXING  ADDRESSES— ORGANIZATION— STANDING  COM- 
MITTEES—ROLL OF  MEMBERS. 

The  National  Prison  Reform  Congress,  called  under  the  auspices  of 
the  National  Prison  Association  of  the  United  States,  assembled  at 
Masonic  Temple,  Baltimore,  Maryland,  at  8  o'clock,  p.  m.,  January  21, 
1873. 

The  Hon.  Horatio  Seymour,  of  New  York,  president  of  the  Associa- 
tion, took  the  chair  in  virtue  of  his  office,  and  called  the  meeting  to 
order. 

On  invitation  of  the  president,  prayer  was  offered  by  the  Rev.  Samuel 
J.  Baird,  D.D.,  of  Virginia. 

Governor  Seymour  then  delivered  the  opening  address,  as  follows: 

GOVERNOR  SEYMOUR'S  ADDRESS, 

The  name  of  this  association  fails  to  give  a  full  idea  of  its  scope  and 
aims.  In  terms,  they  seem  to  be  limited  to  that  class  of  men  who  have 
brought  themselves  under  the  penalties  of  the  law.  But  the  moment  we 
begin  to  study  the  character  of  criminals  and  the  causes  of  crime,  we 
find  that  we  are  forced  back  to  a  scrutiny  of  our  social  system  and  of 
the  weakness  as  w,ell  as  the  wickedness  of  our  fellow-men.  It  is  because 
the  subjects  of  pauperism  and  crime  thus  lead  to  an  analysis  of  human 
nature,  and  to  the  consideration  of  social  aspects,  that  they  have  been 
made  matters  of  profound  thought  by  able  publicists  and  large- 
minded  statesmen.  At  first  thought  it  seems  that  the  condition  of  a 
small  body  of  men,  who  have  offended  local  laws,  should  be  left  to  the 
thoughtful  control  of  local  authorities,  but  it  is  soon  found  that  the  con- 
siderations involved  are  as  broad  as  the  spread  of  the  human  race. 

For  these  reasons,  leading  men  of  different  nations  were  drawn  to- 
gether at  the  late  International  Convention,  at  London.  For  these  rea- 
sons, this  association  was  formed.  Crime  knows  no  geographical  limits, 
no  boundaries  of  states.  It  is,  in  its  nature,  at  war  with  the  welfare  of 
the  human  race.  It  must  be  opposed  by  the  united  wisdom  and  virtue 
of  all  nationalities  and  of  all  forms  of  civilization. 

While  local  laws  must  frame  penal  codes,  and  local  societies  do  the 
work  of  lifting  up  fallen  men,  still  much  is  gained  by  a  wide-spread  sym- 
pathy and  co-operation.  There  are  many  things  which  are  beyond  the 
reach  of  state  action,  in  a  moral  point  of  view ;  things  which  do  not 
come  under  the  cognizance  of  laws,  but  which  deeply  affect  the  welfare 
of  our  whole  country. 

At  the  first  view,  our  efforts  seem  to  be  limited  to  the  justice  which 
punishes  crime,  and  to  the  charity  which  tries  to  reform  the  criminal. 
But  we  are  soon  led  into  a  wider  field  of  duty.  We  are  apt  to  look, 
upon  the  inmates  of  prisons  as  exceptional  men,  unlike  the  mass  of  our 
people.  We  feel  that  they  are  thorns  in  the  body  politic,  which  should 
be  drawn  out  and  jjut  where  they  will  do  no  more  harm.     We  regard 


308  NATIONAL    PEISON    REFORM    CONGRESS    OF    1873. 

them  as  men  wlio  run  counter  to  tlie  currents  of  society,  thus  making 
disorder  and  mischief.  These  are  errors.  In  truth,  they  are  men  who 
run  with  the  currents  of  society,  and  who  outrun  them.  They  are  men 
who,  in  a  great  degree,  are  moved  and  directed  by  the  impulses  around 
them ;  their  characters  are  formed  by  the  civilization  in  which  they  move. 
They  are,  in  many  respects,  the  representative  men  of  a  country.  It  is 
a  hard  thing  to  draw  an  indictment  against  a  criminal  which  is  not,  in 
some  respects,  an  indictment  of  the  community  in  which  he  has  lived.  An 
intelligent  stranger,  who  should  visit  the  prisons 'of  foreign  countries 
and  should  hear  the  histories  of  their  inmates,  would  get  a  better  idea 
of  the  inner  workings  of  their  civilization  than  could  be  gained  by  in- 
tercourse with  a  like  number  of  their  citizens  moving  in  the  mere  con- 
ventional circles  of  society.  As  a  rule,  wrong-doing  is  the  growth  of 
influences  pervading  the  social  system,  as  pestilences  are  bred  by  mala- 
rias. Our  study  into  this  subject  soon  teaches  us  that  prisons  are  moral 
hospitals,  M'here  moral  diseases  are  not  only  cared  for,  but  science  learns 
the  moral  laws  of  life;  where  it  learns  what  endangers  the  general  welfare 
of  the  community  ;  what  insidious  pestilential  vapors  permeate  society, 
carrying  moral  disease  and  death  into  its  homes.  Prisoners  are  men  like 
ourselves ;  and  if  we  would  learn  the  dangers  which  lurk  in  our  path- 
ways, we  must  learn  how  they  stumbled  and  fell.  I  do  not  doubt  but 
some  men  are  more  prone  to  vice  than  others.  But  after  listening  to 
thousands  of  prayers  for  pardon,  I  can  hardly  recall  a  case  where  1  did 
not  feel  that  I  might  have  fallen  as  my  fellow-man  has  done,  if  I  had 
been  subjected  to  the  same  demoralizing  influences  and  pressed  by  tlie 
same  temptations.  I  repeat  here  what  I  have  said  on  other  occasions, 
that  after  a  long  experience  with  men  in  all  conditions  of  life,  after 
having  felt,  as.  much  as  most  men,  the  harsh  injustice  springing  from 
the  strife  and  passions  of  the  world,  I  have  constantly  learned  to  think 
more  kindly  of  the  hearts  of  men,  and  to  think  less  of  their  heads. 

If  we  flud  that  crimes  are,  in  a  large  degree,  the  hot-bed  growth  of 
social  influences;  if  the  weakness  of  human  nature  is  always  open  to 
their  attacks;  if  they  may,  at  any  time,  enter  into  our  homes  and  strike 
at  the  family  circle,  then  we  ihust  at  least  guard  against  them  as  we  do 
against  the  pestilence. 

To  protect  the  public  health  and  to  learn  the  laws  of  lifp,  we  build 
and  sustain,  with  lib(U'al  hands,  hos|)itals  where  the  sick  and  wouiided 
can  be  cured.  The  moral  hospital  should  be  regarded  with  an  equal 
interest.  In  each  of  them  we  should  seek  to  cure  the  inmates.  In  each 
of  them  we  shoidd  seek  to  And  out  the  secret  causes  of  disease.  With 
regard  to  botli,  we  should  always,  in  a  large-minded  way,  feel  that  the 
laws  of  nioial  and  jdiysical  life  are  a  thousand  times  more  im])oitant  to 
tlie  multitudes  of  the  wcnld  at  large  than  they  are  to  the  few  inmates 
wh(»  languish  within  their  gloomy  walls. 

Tiie  j)ublic  hold  in  high  honor  the  man  of  science  who  treads  the  walks 
of  the  hospital  to  relieve  suffering,  to  find  out  the  facts  which  will  en- 
able him  to  war<l  off  sickness  and  death  from  others.  This  association 
ap[)ea!s  to  thi;  public  for  the  same  sympathy  and  sui)port  for  those  who 
labor  to  lift  up  tlunr  unhappy  brethren  from  moral  degradation,  and 
at  tlie  same;  time  to  do  the  greater  work  of  ti'acing  out  the  si)rings 
and  sources  of  <;rime,  and  of  warning  the  i>ublic  of  its  share  of  guilt  in 
sowing  the  secuis  of  immoralily  by  its  tastes,  maxims,  and  usages.  Wo 
love  to  think  that  the  inmates  of  cells  are  unlike  ourselves.  AV\'  would 
like  to  disown  our  eornnion  humanity  with  the  downcast  and  depraved 
We  an;  apt  to  thank  (iod  thaf  we  are  not  like  other  men  ;  but  witli  (;I().ser 
study  and  deejjei'  thonglit  we   lin<l   they  are  oursehc^s,  uiuler  dill'erent 


GOVERNOR  Seymour's  opening  address.  309 

circumstances.  And  the  circumstances  tliat  made  tliem  what  they  are 
abound  in  our  civilization,  and  may,  at  any  time,  make  otliers  fall  who 
do  not  dream  of  danger. 

It  is  a  mistake  when  we  hold  that  criminals  are  merely  perverse  men, 
who  are  at  war  with  social  inflnences;  on  the  other  hand,  they  are  the 
outgrowth  of  those  influences.  Crimes  always  take  the  hues  and  aspects 
of  the  country  in  which  they  are  committed.  They  show  not  only  guilty 
men,  but  a  guilty  people.  The  world  deems  those  nations  to  be  debased 
where  crimes  abound.  It  does  not  merely  say  that  the  laws  are  unwise, 
or  that  the  judiciary  is  corrupt,  but  it  charges  the  guilt  home  to  the 
whole  society.  This  is  just;  for  most  of  the  crimes  wiiich  disgraee  us 
could  not  be  done  if  tliere  W'as  not  an  indifl'erence  to  their  causes  on  the 
part  of  the  community.  As  certain  plagues  which  sweep  men  into  their 
graves  cannot  rage  without  foul  air,  so  many  crimes  cannot  prevail 
without  wide-spread  moral  malaria.  It  is  the  greed  for  gold,  the  love  of 
luxury  in  the  American  people,  which  have  caused  the  legislative  frauds, 
the  municipal  corruptions,  the  violations  of  trusts,  which  excite  alarm 
in  our  land.  It  is  the  admiration  of  wealth,  no  matter  how  gained, 
which  incites  and  emboldens  the  desperate  speculator  in  commercial 
centers  to  sport  with  the  sacred  interests  of  labor,  to  unsettle  the  busi- 
ness of  honest  industry,  by  playing  tricks  with  the  standards  of  values. 
Those  who  use  the  stocks' of  great  corporations  as  machines  for  gam- 
bling schemes,  are  more  deliberately  and  artfully  dishonest  than  the 
more  humble  swindler  who  throws  his  loaded  dice.  Many  of  the  trans- 
actions of  our  capitalists  are  more  hurtful  to  the  welfare  of  our  people 
than  the  acts  of  thieves  and  robbers.  In  the  better  days  of  American 
simplicity,  honesty,  and  patriotism,  these  things  could  not  have  been  done. 
No  one  would  then  have  dared  to  face  a  people  indignant  at  such  rapa- 
cious greed.  Such  influences  have  led  to  frauds,  defalcations,  breaches 
of  trust.  They  have  filled  our  prisons  and  overwhelmed  many  house- 
holds with  shame  and  sorrow.  Yet  the  authors  of  such  things  are 
honored  for  their  wealth,  and  we  ask,  with  eagerness,  how  rich  do  they 
get?  and  not,  how  do  they  get  riches  ? 

To  make  the  public  feel  that  criminals  are  men  of  like  passions  with 
ourselves,  that  crime  is  an  infectious  as  well  as  a  malignant  disease,  and 
that  its  sources  are  not  so  much  personal  inclination  as  general  demor 
alizatiou,  are  the  great  first  steps  toward  reform.  When  we  feel  that 
disease  may  enter  our  own  houses  and  seize  upon  the  mental  or  moral 
weaknesses  of  those  we  love,  we  are  ready  to  study  its  causes  and  its 
workings.  We  should  then  uphold  and  honor  those  men  of  humanity 
and  true  statesmanship  who  study  out  the  causes  of  moral  stains,  as  we 
honor  and  support  those  men  of  science  who  search  out,  in  sick-rooms 
or  hospitals,  the  causes  and  courses  of  the  complaints  which  kill  the 
body. 

He  who  masters  the  diagnosis  of  crime  gains  a  key  to  the  mysteries 
of  oiir  nature  and  to  the  secret  sources  of  demoralization,  which  opens 
to  him  a  knowledge  of  the  great  principles  of  public  and  private  reform, 
the  true  methods  of  a  good  administration  of  laws.  Pauperism  and 
crime  have  been  made  the  subjects  of  earnest  thought  by  the  best  and 
wisest  men  of  the  w^orld,  not  only  on  account  of  their  intrinsic  interest. 
but  also  on  account  of  their  relationshij)  to  all  other  matters  of  good 
government.  Neither  of  them  can  be  driven  out  of  existence;  they  will 
always  be  problems  to  vex  statesmanship ;  but  they  must  always  be 
battled  with.  In  the  social  edifice  they  are  like  fires,  ever  kindling  in 
its  ditt'erent  parts,  which  are  to  be  kept  under  by  watchfulness  and  care. 
If  neglected,  they  burst  out  into  the  flames  of  anarchy  and  revolution, 
and  sweep  away  forms  of  government. 


310  NATIONAL    PRISON    REFORM    CONGRESS    OF    1873. 

These  subjects  must  be  studied  directly  and  in  their  moral  aspects. 
There  is  a  pervading  idea  in  our  country  that  the  spread  of  knowledge 
■will  check  crime.  No  one  values  learning  more  than  I  do,  but  it  is  no 
specific  for  immorality  and  vice.  Without  moral  and  religious  training, 
it  frequently  becomes  an  aid  to  crime.  Science,  mechanical  skill,  a 
knowledge  of  business  affairs,  even  the  refinements  and  accomplish- 
ments of  life,  are  used  by  offenders  against  law.  Knowledge  fights  on 
both  sides  in  the  battle  between  right  and  wrong,  at  this  age.  It  lays 
siege  to  banks ;  it  forces  open  vaults  stronger  than  old  castles  ;  it  forges 
and  counterfeits.  The  most  dangerous  criminal  is  the  educated,  intel- 
lectual violator  of  the  law,  for  he  has  all  the  resources  of  art  at  his 
command — the  forces  of  mechanics,  the  subtleties  of  chemistry,  the 
knowledge  of  man's  ways  and  passions.  Learning,  by  itself,  only 
changes  the  aspect  of  immorality.  Virtue  is  frequently  found  with  the 
simple  and  uneducated,  and  vice  with  the  educated.  Surrounded  by 
glittering  objects  within  their  reach,  our  servant  girls  resist  more  temp- 
tations thau  any  class  in  society. 

We  must  look  beyond  the  accidents  of  knowledge  or  ignorance,  if  we 
wish  to  learn  the  springs  of  action.  To  check  vice  there  must  be  high 
moral  standards  in  the  public  mind.  The  American  mind  must  move 
upon  a  higher  plane.  To  reform  convicts,  their  hopes  must  be  aroused 
and  their  better  instincts  worked  upon.  I  never  yet  found  a  man  so 
untamable  that  there  was  not  something  of  good  on  which  to  build  a 
hope.  I  never  yet  found  a  man  so  good  that  he  need  not  fear  a  fall. 
Through  the  warp  and  woof  of  the  Morst  man's  character  there  run 
some  threads  of  gold,  and  in  the  best  there  are  base  materials.  It  is 
this  web  of  entwined  good  and  evil  in  men's  character  which  make  the 
problems  and  perplexities  of  the  legislator  and  judge. 

While  there  is  no  honest  dealing  with  this  subject  unless  the  American 
people  are  charged  with  their  share  of  guilt,  and  while  Christian  charity 
leads  us  to  take  the  kindest  view  we  can  of  every  man,  it  does  not  follow 
that  crime  should  be  dealt  with  in  a  feeble  way.  Let  the  laws  be  swift, 
stern,  and  certain  in  their  action.  What  they  say,  let  them  do;  for 
certainty,  nuu'c  than  severity,  carries  a  dread  of  punishment.  Let  the 
ways  of  bringing  oll'enders  to  justice  be  direct,  clear,  and  untrammeled. 
The  technicalities  of  jdeading,  ])roof,  aiul  ])roceedings,  in  many  of  our 
States,  are  jiainlully  absurd.  To  the  minds  of  most  men,  a  criminal 
trial  is  a  mysterious  jumble.  The  jtublic  have  no  confidence  that  the 
worst  criminal  will  be  punished;  the  worst  criminal  cherishes,  at  all 
times,  a  hope  of  escape.  In  every  part  of  our  country  there  is  a  vague 
idea  tliat  certain  men,  of  legal  skill,  can  extricateofi'enders  without  regard 
to  the  merits  of  their  case.  This  is  a  fruitlul  cause  of  crimes.  There  is 
not,  in  the  minds  of  the  American  ])eople,  a  clear,  distinct  conception 
of  our  i)enal  laws,  their  actions,  and  their  results.  Is'ot  less  hurtlul  to 
justice  }ire  those  lluctuations  of  the  jtublic  mind,  which  shakes  off,  spas- 
modically, its  customary  indifference;  fiercely  demands  a  conviction 
of  those  \\  ho  liajijien,  !it  such  times,  to  be  charged  with  crime  ;  ami  thus 
makes  popular  clamor  take  the  place  of  judicial  calmness  and  impar- 
tiality. 

^o  one  Icrls  thai  Hicrc  is,  in  this  coimhy,  a  ch^ai',  sti'ong,  even  flow 
of  admiiiistiatioii  of  criniiiial  laws.  '1  lie  iiiood  of  the  popular  juind  has 
too  much  to  do  wit li  judicial  proceedings. 

1  he  evils  conncclcd  with  the  administiat  i(Ui  of  justice  in  our  laud  are 
(\\\v,  in  a  good  degree,  to  the  swift  <'liang(s  in  the  nuiteiial  condition  of 
our  country.  An  mm  rease  of  our  numbers  of  mow,  than  a  million  each 
year,  ol  noi-e  llian  twenty-five  hundied  each  day,  of  more  than  one  hun- 


GOVERNOR  Seymour's  opening  address.     311 

dred  each  hour,  explains  many  of  the  causes  of  our  overburdened  sys- 
tem of  penal  laws,  framed  for  a  different  state  of  society.  Our  perplexi- 
ties are  increased  by  the  fact  that  more  than  one-quarter  of  this  daily 
addition  to  our  population  is  made  up  of  those  who  come  from  other 
countries,  strangers  to  our  customs  and  laws,  and,  in  many  instances, 
ignorant  of  our  language. 

History  gives  no  account  of  such  vast  increase  of  the  numbers  of  any 
country  by  constant,  peaceful  accretion.  Conquest  rarely  makes  as 
many  i^risoners  of  war  as  we  make  captives  to  the  peaceful  advantages 
of  our  continent.  They  bring  us  wealth  and  power  ;  they  also  bring  us 
many  problems  to  solve.  British  laws  deal  with  British  subjects.  French 
courts  decide  upon  the  guilt  or  innocence  of  Frenchmen.  Germany 
shapes,  by  its  usages  and  customs,  the  ideas  of  right  and  wrong  in  the 
minds  of  the  Teutonic  races.  But  we,  in  America,  have  to  deal  with 
and  act  upon  all  nationalities,  all  phases  of  civilization.  While  these 
facts  palliate  the  defects  of  our  penal  laws  and  of  their  administration, 
they  certainly  make  more  clear  and  urgent  the  duty  which  demands 
that  we  keep  pace  with  the  swift  changes  going  on  around  us.  More 
than  .this,  our  circumstances  enable  us  to  take  the  lead  in  the  great 
work  of  reform,  as  we  deal  with  more  plastic  materials  than  are  found 
in  the  fixed  condition  of  older  nations.  Here,  too,  we  have  a  broader 
field,  filled  with  men  of  varied  phases  and  aspects  of  different  civiliza- 
tions, in  which  we  can  study  the  wants  and  weaknesses,  the  virtues  and 
vices  of  the  human  race. 

For  a  series  of  years,  nearly  three  hundred  thousand  emigrants  have 
been  annually  landed  at  the  harbor  of  Xew  York.  Disorder  and  crime  are 
always  active  along  the  line  of  march  of  great  armies.  I  believe  there 
is  no  instance  in  history  of  a  movement  of  the  human  race  so  vast  and 
long  continued.  I  am  glad  to  state  a  fact  which  in  some  degree  palliates 
the  disgrace  which  attaches  to  the  administration  of  justice  and  the  con- 
duct of  public  affairs  in  that  great  city.  But  I  should  fall  short  of  telling 
the  whole  truth  if  I  did  not  also  say  that  the  discredit  of  that  great  city 
mainly  springs  from  the  sad  fact  that  its  men  of  wealth,  as  a  body,  lack 
that  genuine  self-respect  which  leads  to  a  faithful,  high-minded  per- 
formance of  the  duties  each  citizen  owes  to  the  public. 

Is  there  any  other  basis  upon  which  we  can  found  this  great  work  of 
patriotism  and  philanthropy  than  the  one  contemplated  by.  this  associa- 
tion °J  It  may,  at  first  view,  seem  to  be  limited  to  a  small  class,  but  it 
opens  up  iuto  a  broad  field  of  unpartisan,  unsectarian  labor.  The  objects 
we  have  in  view,  although  they  make  our  prisons  their  starting-point, 
are  so  wide  in  their  bearings  that  they  brought  together,  at  the  London 
international  association,  in  the  interests  of  our  common  humanity,  men 
of  the  best  minds,  from  most  of  the  countries  of  Europe  and  America. 
These,  in  despite  of  their  differences  of  creeds,  usages,  language,  and 
form  of  civilizatiou,  could  acb  in  accord  in  devising  measures  to  lift  up 
the  fallen,  and  to  spread  the  princii)les  of  morality  and  justice  among 
the  peoples  of  the  world.  It  is  found  that  true  statesmanship,  like  true 
religion,  begins  with  visiting  the  prisoners  and  helping  the  poor. 

It  is  certain  that  in  our  own  country  Edward  Livingston,  the  public 
man  who  ranks  highest  in  European  regard  for  intellectual  ability, 
gained  his  position  by  his  great  work,  "The  Penal  Laws  of  Louisiana." 
When  it  was  the  fashion  in  the  scientific  world  to  hold  that  men  and 
animals  were  dwarfed  on  this  continent,  this  work  was  brought  forward 
by  our  friends  in  Europe  as  a  proof  that  statesmanship  was  full-grown 
here.  It  is  a  remarkable  fact  that  an  able  foreign  writer  selected  the 
Louisiana  code  and  the  proclamation  of  General  Jackson  against  the 


312  NATIONAL    PRISON    REFORM    CONGRESS    OF    1873. 

doctrine  of  secession  as  the  two  ablest  productions  of  tlie  American 
mind,  not  knowing  that  the^'  both  came  from  the  same  pen.  An  expo- 
sition of  Mr.  Livingston's  system  has  lately  been  published  in  France, 
under  the  auspices  of  the  French  Institute,  by  M.  Charles  Lucas,  a 
member  of  the  Institute,  and  formerly  president  of  the  council  of  inspect- 
ors of  the  penal  institutions  of  that  country.  M.  Lucas  is  a  distin- 
guished writer  and  leader  in  the  work  of  criminal  reform.  He  belongs 
to  that  body  of  large-minded,  philanthropic  men  who  seek  to  benetit 
humanity  by  wise  systems  of  legislation.  A  certain  breadth  and  reach 
of  mind  mark  all  those  men  who  have  entered  uj^on  the  study  of  penal 
laws  and  the  reformation  of  criminals. 

The  Louisiana  code  is  not  only  remarkable  as  the  product  of  one 
man's  mind — and  I  know  of  no  like  instance  in  history — but  it  is  also 
distinguished  by  the  fact  that  its  republication  is  called  for  after  the 
lapse  of  half  a  century.  The  new  edition  has  an  able  introduction  by 
Chief  Justice  Chase.*^  Only  fleeting  honors  are  gained  by  those  who 
deal  with  the  passing  phases  of  society,  while  enduring  honors  are  won 
by  those  who  grasj)  the  lasting  problems  of  government  and  laws.  It  is 
to  be  hoped  that  our  statesmen  will  learn  to  follow  in  the  higher  path- 
ways marked  out  by  Mr.  Livingston. 

While  there  is  much  to  condemn  in  our  system  of  laws  and  their 
administration,  there  is  much  to  admire  in  the  practical  workings  of 
many  of  our  iirisons.  In  some  respects  we  are  in  advance  of  other 
peoples.  Much  has  been  done  in  many  of  our  States  to  improve  the  con- 
dition of  criminals,  and  much  more  to  rescue  the  young  from  courses  of 
vice  and  destruction.  I  should  be  glad  to  speak  of  the  instances  of 
ability  and  self-devotion  shown  by  men  who  have  charge  of  public  or 
private  charities  established  for  the  reformation  of  offenders.  They 
would  lend  a  weight  to  my  argument  which  my  reasoning  cannot  give. 
But  I  must  leave  these  things  to  be  brought  out  by  the  discussions  of 
this  congress.  I  only  seek  to  show  the  ends  at  which  it  aims.  I  only 
seek  to  invoke  for  it  the  sympathy  and  support  of  the  public  in  its 
efforts  to  combine  and  organize  the  forces  of  those  who,  in  different  parts 
of  our  country,  are  working  in  this  field  of  philanthropic  and  patriotic 
labor. 

Crime  has  its  origin  in  the  passions  which  live  in  every  breast  and  in 
the  weaknesses  which  mark  every  character.  In  its  nature  it  concerns 
each  of  us  as  clearly  as  the  common  liability  to  fall  prematurely  before 
disease  and  death.  No  man  can  know  human  nature,  no  man  can  be 
a  great  teacher  to  his  fellow-men,  no  man  can  frame  laws  wisely  and 
well,  who  has  not  studied  character  in  convict  life.  There  he  can  best 
see  the  lights  and  shadows  of  our  nature;  see  in  strongest  contrasts 
what  is  good  and  what  is  bad. 

Tiie  ])ris()ns,  to  which  all  vice  tends,  are  the  points  from  which  the 
i-eforms  can  best  be  urged  which  seek  to  find  out  where  vice  begins. 
Starting  liom  the  sad  ends  of  crime,  and  running  back  along  their 
tracks,  it  is  seen  tliat  in  a  largr  degree  they  are  engendered  by  public 
tastes,  lialnts,  and  demoralizations.  Jt  is  in  our  prisons  tliat  we  can 
best  learn  tlie  corrupting  intlueiu'es  about  us  whicli  lead  the  weak  as 
well  as  tli(;  wicked  sistray ;  ay,  and  sometimes  make  the  strong  man 
lall  into  disgrace  and  misery. 

In  these  moral  iiospitals  the  thouglitlul  man,  the  ])]iilanthroi)ist,  and 
the  Htat;<'sman  will  look  for  the  causes  of  sixiial  danger  and  demoraliza- 
tion. AVhen  we  begin  at  th<'  prison  and  work  up,  we  find  oi)ening  before 
us  all  the  sf)Ui'ces  of  crime;  all  the  problems  of  soeial  order  and  discmler; 
all  til"  yicjil    (piestious  w  itli  which   statesiiianshi]».  in   dealing  with  the 


MK.  Jones's  address  of  welcome.  313 

interests  and  welfare  of  a  ])eople,  ninst  cope  when  it  seekyto  lift  up  high 
standards  of  virtue  and  patriotism. 

In  the  most  highlj^  civilized  countries,  the  subjects  of  pauperism  and 
crime  secure  the  most  attention  and  thought.  They  turn  men's  minds 
from  seltish  to  unselfish  fields  of  labor.  Those  who  enter  those  fields 
will  find  in  them  marks  of  toil  and  care  by  the  best  human  intellects. 
The  grandest  minds  have  worked  at  their  intricate  problems.  The 
ambition  of  the  first  Napoleon  sought  to  gain  immortality  in  his  code 
of  laws  as  well  as  in  victories  on  the  field  of  battle. 

Much  has  been  done,  in  many  of  our  States,  to  improve  prison  disci- 
pline. Something  has  been  done  toward  reforming  piisoners;  but  the 
larger  view  of  the  subject,  which  looks  to  the  moral  health  of  society 
and  the  baleful  influences  at  work  in  its  organization,  has  not  received 
the  atteutiou  which  it  deserves. 

When  prisons  are  visited  by  men  of  mind,  when  prisoners  are  looked 
upon  with  kindly  eyes  by  those  who  can  study  their  characters  and 
learn  from  them  the  virtues,  the  vices,  and  the  wickedness  which  mark 
our  race,  and  who,  tracing*  back  the  courses  of  their  lives,  shall  find 
the  secret  sources  of  their  errors  and  their  crimes,  then  we  shall  have 
not  only  our  laws  justly  enforced  and  reform  wrong-doers ;  but,  more 
and  better  than  these,  we  shall  gain  a  public  virtue  and  intelligence 
which  will  secure  the  safety  and  happiness  of  our  homes,  the  glory 
and  stability  of  the  republic.  Then  wealth  gained  by  unworthy  means 
will  no  longer  be  respected. 

No  one  can  recall  the  events  of  the  past  few  years,  particularly  those 
of  the  great  commercial  centers,  without  feeling  that  there  is  au  ebb- 
tide in  American  morals.  Not  a  little  of  the  glitter  of  our  social  and 
business  life  is  the  shining  of  putrescence.  Fungous  men  have  shot  up 
into  financial  prominence,  to  whom  a  pervading,  deadening  moral 
malaria  is  the  very  breath  of  life.  They  could  not  exist  without  this, 
any  more  than  certain  poisonous  plants  can  flourish  without  decaying 
A^egetatiou. 

While  I  have  tried  to  present  in  clear  terms  the  claims  of  this  asso- 
ciation upon  the  imblic  sympathy-  and  support,  it  must  be  understood 
that  we  claim  for  it  only  the  merit  of  being  a  useful  auxiliary  to  moral 
and  religious  teachings.  If  those  who  take  part  in  its  work  should  fall 
short  of  its  broader,  higher  objects  of  a  national  character,  they  will  at 
least  get  this  great  gain — they  will  learn  to  think  more  humbly  of  them- 
selves, more  kindly  of  their  fellow-men,  and  to  see  more  clearly  the 
beauties  of  Christian  charity. 

MR.  JONES'S   ADDRESS. 

The  Hon,  Isaac  D.  Jones,  late  attorney-general  of  Maryland,  welcomed 
the  members  of  the  congress  in  the  following  remarks: 
Mr.  President,  Members  of  the  National  Prison  Association, 

AND  ALL  WHO  HAVE  ASSEMBLED  IN  THIS  CITY  TO  ATTEND  THE  PRISON 

Eeform  Congress  :  On  behalf  of  the  Prisoners'  Aid  Association  of 
Maryland,  and  of  all  our  citizens,  I  have  been  requested  to  extend  to 
you  the  right  hand  of  fellowship  ;  to  offer  you,  in  their  name,  a  cordial 
reception,  and  to  bid  you  a  most  hearty  Maryland  welcome.  This  pleas- 
ant duty  had  been  assigned,  as  was  most  fit,  to  our  distinguished  and  elo- 
quent fellow-citizen,  his  excellency  the  governor  of  Maryland.  I  am  sure 
all  will  unite  with  me  in  regret  that  the  condition  of  his  health  has  de- 
prived us  of  the  honor  of  his  presence,  and  him  of  the  pleasure  of  meeting 
you  on  this  occasion,  as  I  am  sure  he  would  have  done,  with  a  most  cor- 


314  NATIONAL    PRISON    REFORM    CONGRESS    OF    1873. 

dial  greeting.  You  need  no  assurance  from  me  of  liis  sympathy  or  of 
his  readiness  to  render  all  the  aid  in  his  power  in  accomplishing  the 
good  work  in  which  you  are  engaged.  It  is  indeed  a  good  work  ;  a  great 
and  important  work  ;  a  noble  charity  and  Christian  duty.  The  congress 
of  representatives  of  many  of  the  most  important  nations  of  the  earth, 
which  met  in  London  in  July  last,  indicated  the  deep  interest  which  has 
been  aroused  throughout  the  civilized  world  in  the  success  of  this  work. 
It  involves  one  of  the  most  difficult  and  yet  vital  problems  connected 
with  the  administration  of  civil  government.  It  grows  in  importance 
and  extent  the  more  you  contemplate  it.  Beginning  with  those  now  in 
prison  under  condemnatiou  and  sentence,  and  considering  what  can  be 
done  toward  impressing  them  vrith  a  pro]ier  sense  of  their  crime,  and 
the  duty  of  repentance  and  reformation,  and  how,  if  i^ossible,  they  may 
be  restored  to  useful,  honest  citizenship  ;  then  looking  into  the  criminal 
code,  and  i)onderiug  its  provisions  and  its  administration  in  our  courts 
and  by  our  juries,  and  remedying,  as  far  as  possible,  such  defects  in 
both  as  may  be  discovered,  a  far  more  extensive  field  is  opened  to  the 
inquiry,  what  can  and  must  be  done  to  resist  the  swelling  tide  of  crime, 
and  to  prevent  its  sweeping  away  the  barriers  which  i^rotect  not  only 
property,  but  the  security  of  our  homes,  the  quiet,  peace,  and  safety  of 
social  life,  and  even  life  itself,  and  to  induce  all  classes  of  our  people  to 
lead  honest,  industrious,  sober,  and  useful  lives?  It  is  too  plain  to  ob- 
servation and  experience  for  any  doubt,  that  the  principal  sources  of 
this  destructive  flood  of  vice  and  misery  are  ignorance  and  idleness. 
"What  shall  be  the  remedy  for  these  1  Where  and  with  whom  shall  we 
begin  with  the  best  prospect  of  success  ?  Undoubtedly  with  those  who 
are  young  and  as  yet  uncontaminated.  And  as  to  these,  have  all  the 
experience  of  the  ages  and  the  boasted  discoveries  of  modern  science 
found  out  anything  better  thau  the  good  old  proverb,  "  Train  up  a  child 
in  the  way  he  should  go  f ' 

And  then  comes  the  question,  IIow  and  by  whom  shall  he  be  trained? 
What  are  the  duties  of  i)areutal  training;  what  the  duty  of  the  State 
in  providiug  the  most  eflicient  system  of  education  ?  And,  most  import- 
ant of  all,  upon  what  foundation  sliall  the  superstructure  of  education 
be  erected  ?  I  beg  pardon  for  having,  I  fear,  already  gone  beyond  the 
limits  assigned  me.  But  as  my  heart  is  deeply  impressed  with  the  solemn 
importance  of  the  subjects,  at  which  I  have  merely  hinted,  I  beg  most 
respectfully,  in  this  ]>resence — where  so  many  of  the  men  of  thought, 
men  deservedly  high  in  the  i)ublic  confidence,  aiul  in  the  councils  of  onr 
country,  are  asscml)led — to  declare  my  most  solemn  and  i)rofound  convic- 
tion that  any  system  of  education  which  does  not  include  the  recog- 
nition of  the  existence  and  attributes  of  the  God  of  the  Bible,  and  of 
man's  moral  resi)onsibility  as  an  innnortal  being,  will  utterly  fail  to  "  train 
up  a  child  in  the  way  he  should  go;"  will  utterly  fail  to  impress  the 
youthful  mind  with  that  reverence  for  truth,  purity,  justice,  and  right, 
and  for  tin;  laws  of  God  and  of  his  country,  which  shall  render  him  a 
good,  law-abiding  <;itiz('n. 

And  now,  Mv.  J 'resident,  renewing  the  assurance  of  a  most  cordial 
welcome,  ix'iinit  me  to  express  the,  hope  that  your  stay  with  us  may  be 
l»Icasant,  and  (hat  llic  ilclibrrations  of  llic  piison  congress  may  lead  to 
the,  best  results. 

MR.   KERR'S  ADDRESS'. 

The  Hon.  ^U\  Kerr,  M.  ('.,  of  Indiana,  in  icsponding  to  the  welcoming 
address  of  iMr.  Jones,  said  : 

Mr.  President  :  When  the  executive  oi  Indiana  commissioned  me  as 


MR.  kerr's  address.  315 

a  delegate  to  this  body,  lie  invited  me  to  duties  which  I  consider  most 
honorable  and  important.  IMy  only  reg;ret  is,  that  the  exacting-  duties 
of  service  in  another  Congress  compel  me  to  decline  their  performance, 
beyond  attendance  upou  this  opening  meeting. 

The  interest  and  safety  of  society  demand,  primarily,  that  crime  shall 
be  restrained  and  punished.  There  is  no  element  in  (;rinunal  adminis- 
tration that  contributes  so  effectively  to  hold  in  check  the  criminally 
disposed  as  the  certainty  of  punishment.  Nothing  tempts  the  wicked 
more  strongly  to  the  per[>etration  of  crime  than  the  hope  of  escape  with 
impunity.  It  is,  therefore,  the  obvious  duty  of  every  citizen  to  aid  in 
whatever  way  he  has  opportunity  to  maiutain  and  increase  the  certainty 
of  the  faithful  execution  of  the  law's  judgments.  Even  an  imperfect 
criminal  law  thus  enforced  will  prove  more  salutary  in  its  intluence 
upou  society  than  a  good  and  wise  law  loosely,  haltingly,  or  htfully 
executed.  I  believe  the  experience  of  all  countries  and  governments 
verifies  these  propositions.  It  results  as  our  duty,  that,  in  all  our  efforts 
to  promote  reforms  in  connection  with  the  administration  of  criminal 
law,  we  should  studiously'-  avoid  any  policy  that  would  tend  to  defeat 
the  operation  of  these  essential  principles. 

But  while  certainty  of  execution  is  essential  to  the  success  of  criminal 
law  and  the  protection  of  society,  it  is  equally  important  that  the  just 
and  impartial  judgments  of  the  law  shall  be  executed  upon  the  offender 
in  the  spirit  of  rational  sympathy  and  mercy.  The  aim  of  all  laws 
should  be  to  punish  and  improve.  Society  has  no  right  to  enforce  its 
punitive  decrees  with  cruelty  or  torture.  Such  agencies  do  not  tend  to 
reform,  but  to  humiliate,  to  enrage,  to  crush,  to  brutalize.  If  punish- 
ment alone  be  the  object  of  the  law,  it  cannot  be  best  attained  by  such 
means.  If  you  would  sharpen  the  edge  or  intensify  the  sting  of  public 
punishment,  you  must  cultivate  the  sensibilities,  the  conscience,  the 
moral  perceptions  of  your  victim.  The  brutal  man  cannot  suffer  in  any 
beneficial  or  reformative  sense.  The  state  whose  punitive  policy  tends 
to  brutalize  its  offenders  becomes  itself  an  enemy  of  society  in  an  im- 
portant sense.  lu  truth,  civilized  and  Christian  society  should  never 
cease  to  remember  that,  "'tis  excellent  to  have  a  giant's  strength,  but 
tyrannous  to  use  it  like  a  giant."  A  brutalized  convict,  set  free,  is  a  worse 
m'an  than  before,  and  more  disposed  than  ever  to  prey  upon  society ;  but  if 
the  offender  be  treated,  during  imprisonment,  as  a  moral  and  rational 
creature,  capable  of  being  made  better,  a  very  different  and  much  better 
result  will  follow.  The  temporary  loss  of  personal  liberty  is  exacted  of 
the  wrong-doer  for  the  safety  of  society;  but  imprisonment  cannot  con- 
tinue always.  Therefore,  even  intelligent  selfishness,  as  well  as  humanity, 
demands  that,  during  confinement,  the  offender,  if  possible,  be  made  a 
better  man.     In  almost  all  cases  this  can  be  done. 

The  inherent  enormity  of  crime  ought  never  to  be  denied  or  palliated 
to  the  criminal,  or  reduced  in  the  popular  estimation,  but  rather  magni- 
fied, as  of  necessity  it  will  be  just  in  proportion  to  the  increased  enlight- 
enment of  the  individual  and  of  tlie  popular  judgment  and  conscience. 
Yet  it  becomes  legislators  and  i^rison  oflicers  to  bear  always  in  mind, 
that,  in  the  evil  antecedents  and  surroundings  of  birth,  in  the  law  of 
hereditary  descent,  in  the  misguiding  intiuences  of  evil  associations,  of 
ignorance,  of  abject  poverty,  and  of  social  neglect  and  ostracism,  there 
are  to  be  found  many  suggestions  that  should  excite  an  earnest  sympa- 
thy and  a  merciful  forbearance.  In  subordination  to  the  safety  and 
parity  of  society  the  offender  should  have  the  full  benefit  of  these  sug- 
gestions. They  appeal  in  his  behalf  to  the  best  impulses  of  enlight- 
ened and  just  men.     It  is  not  improper  or  injurious  in  any  way,  nor 


316  NATIONAL    PRISON    EEFOEM    CONGRESS    OF    1873. 

does  it  savor  of  undue  sentiinentalism  to  award  to  the  crimiual,  in  his 
prison  treatment,  tbe  advantages  which  result  from  these  couvsideratious. 

They  forbid  any  sytem  of  treatment  which  does  violence  to  obvious 
laws  of  health,  or  of  healthful  action  of  mind  or  body,  within  prison 
limits,  or  to  the  admitted  laws  of  human  improvement.  A  man  dis- 
eased, or  a  man  filled  with  dogged  anger,  or  made  morbid  by  solitary 
confinement,  or  wounded  in  his  self-esteem  by  harsh  or  brutal  treatment, 
is  in  a  poor  frame  of  mind  to  receive  kindly,  or  to  be  impressed  by,  any 
formal  instructions  or  admonitions.  Indeed,  under  such  circumstances, 
it  is  safe  and  logical  to  assume  that  all  efforts  for  moral  improvement 
of  the  convict  are  simply  wasted.  The  great  law  of  kindness,  of  humane 
interest  and  intelligent  sympathy,  can  alone  temper  authority  with  in- 
struction in  such  manner  as  to  guarantee  the  best  results.  This  is  the 
constant  experience  of  intelligent  beings  in  all  the  relations  of  daily 
life.  Why,  then,  shall  not  these  benign  principles  be  admitted  within 
the  prison  walls  ?  If  improvement  is  to  be  the  result  of  punishment,  they 
may  not,  must  not  be  excluded.  If,  indeed,  the  object  of  society  is  to 
transform  our  penitentiaries  into  moral  pest-houses,  and  to  add  fuel  to  the 
base  passions  of  their  inmates,  then  eliminate  these  God-like  and  mer- 
ciful principles,  and  leave  cold,  harsh,  untempered,  naked  authority  to 
rule  and  ruin.  Butit  is  not  thus  that  the  wise  and  good  should  desire,  or 
can  afford,  to  govern  the  bad.  The  primary  object  of  all  punitive  dis- 
cipline, after  confinement  at  healthful,  useful,  and  regular  labor,  should 
be  the  reformation  of  the  criminal.  This  is  required  by  the  highest  in- 
terests of  society,  by  the  dictates  of  the  truest  civilization,  by  the  best 
teachings  of  religion,  and  by  the  unconscious  appeals  of  the  poor,  igno- 
rant, or  stolidly  wicked  violators  of  law.  The  silent  supplication  of 
sinful  and  fallen  humanity  to  its  rulers  is  for  light  and  strength,  for 
education  of  the  head  and  heart,  for  the  cultivation  of  latent  virtue, 
for  the  revival  of  neglected  and  abused  manhood,  and  for  the  restora- 
tion of  self-respect,  to  the  end  that,  when  the  State  shall  bid  the  convict 
resume  his  personal  liberty,  he  may  also  possess  the  morality,  courage, 
and  intelligence  necessary  for  self-government.  The  intrinsic  excellence 
of  a  system  which  secures  these  results  in  any  substantial  degree  is 
above  all  comparison  with  any  system  of  mere  authority.  It  may  ^ 
said  that  these  results  are  not  attainable  in  all  cases.  I  admit  it ;  but 
even  the  most  desperate  offenders  are  not  insensible  to  the  influences  of 
kindness,  justice,  and  good  example.  These  elements,  whenev^er  illus- 
trated in  prison  government  by  the  olhcers,  will  surely  command  the 
respect  of  the  inmates,  however  bad  they  may  be,  and  will  therefore 
certainly  exercise  a  more  reformatory  influence  than  the  policy  of  force, 
or  fear,  or  the  lash.  I  would  not  have  these  principles  carried  out  in 
prison  government  from  any  mere  maudlin  or  humanitarian  sentiment 
of  symi)athy  with  criminals,  the  enemies  of  society  and  law,  but  rather 
out  of  a  di'sire  to  promote  tlie  highest  aims  and  noblest  objects  of  both 
society  and  law.  J>y  such  treatment  of  the  bad  I  would  increase  the 
essential  w«'lfarc  and  security  of  the  good.  Then  such  discipline  of  the 
wi(;ked  would  iea(;t  upon  tlieir  associates  in  society,  and  become  an 
additional  aid  in  the  ]nevention  of  crime. 

J)o  you  ask  me  wliat  our  country  now  most  needs  to  give  impetus  and 
power  to  true  and  ]K'rmanent  penitentiary  i-eform  ?  1  answer  that,  in 
my  JM(lg?nent,  it  is  tin;  oigani/ation  ol"  our  ])iison  governments  in  the 
p(!i',soiis  of  honest,  practical,  well -poised,  ciilti\ated,  humane, and  earnest 
men  ;  not  mere  (loctrhuiircs  or  dreanu'rs,  not  devotees  of  pe(;uliar  system,"* 
or  special  crotchets;  but  i»iactical  iiieii,  men  of  affairs,  of  courage,  of 
education,  of  a  liigh  giadcol  niiinhood.and  of  generous  impulses  as  well  as 


MK.  hageman's  remakks.  3  ]  7 

incorruptible  integrity.  Here,  then,  is  a  new  field  and  a  good  one, 
much  neglected  heretofore,  for  useful  and  beuoiicent  civil  service  reform. 
I  hope  you  will,  with  emphasis,  call  the  attention  of  our  law  makers  and 
api^ointing  powers  throughout  the  States  to  its  importance,  and  invoke 
their  intelligent  aid  in  its  accomplishment.  Bad  or  corrupt  men,  placed 
in  control  of  convicts,  speedily  become  worse  themselves,  and  are  quite 
powerless  to  improve  others.  The  relation  affords  a  severe  test  of  char- 
acter even  in  the  best.  Good  and  true  and  brave  men  alone  should  be 
given  such  a  command.  The  influence  of  strong  will,  just  character, 
and  high  moral  tone  in  officers,  is  at  once  apparent  upon  the  offenders. 
The  latter  are  seldom  so  base  as  not  to  appreciate  and  respect  such  ofU- 
cers,  and  be  beneficially  influenced  by  their  supervision,  example,  and 
instruction.  The  importance  of  having  such  officers  cannot  be  over- 
estimated. 

Prison  discipline,  to  be  most  effective  and  fruitful  of  good,  should 
always  have  a  discriminating  relation  to  the  antecedents,  the  personal 
qualitiCvS,  the  mental  capacity,  and  the  moral  development  of  the  indi- 
vidual offenders.  Otherwise  there  will  be  little  ground  for  hope  of  true 
and  tasting  reform.  Therefore  the  law  should  require  prison  officers  to 
be  supplied  with  faithful  reports  of  whatever  is  known,  touching  the 
careers  of  convicts.  Then  officers  will  be  enabled  to  make  more  judi- 
cious classifications,  to  apply  discipline  and  instruction  with  intelligent 
reference  to  individual  needs  and  conditions,  and  to  protect  prisoners 
from  the  evil  results  of  unsuitable  or  improper  associations.  How  in- 
dispensable it  is  for  the  attainment  of  all  these  good  and  worthy  aims, 
that  oil  prison  officers  be  absolutely  trustworthy  and  suitable  men.  If 
they  are  not,  no  amount  of  wisdom  in  the  law  makers,  or  in  the  mere 
letter  of  the  statute,  can  accomplish  the  desired  results.  If  they  are, 
they  will  not  fail  to  accomplish  very  great  good  even  under  imperfect 
and  vicious  laws,  for  they  will  be  wiserandbetter  than  the  statute,  and, 
without  violating  it,  they  will  obey  the  better  impulses  and  requirements 
of  enlightened  humanity.  The  friends  of  prison  reform  may,  therefore, 
do  great  good  by  earnest  agitation  in  favor  of  the  appointment  of  better 
and  more  suitable  men  for  prison  rulers. 

It  is  most  ungenerous  trifling  with  the  best  interests  of  society  and  of 
unfortunate  human  beings  to  select  prison  ofiicers  from  political  or  par- 
tisan motives.  Personal  fitness  and  qualifications  alone  should  be  the 
test.  Party  politics  have  no  business  in  penitentiaries  any  more  than 
in  Sabbath- schools  or  insane  asylums.  They  are  bad  enough  in  Con- 
gress. I  don't  mean  this  congress,  but  that  more  pretentious  institution 
over  at  Washington.  If  you  would  establish  a  new  claim,  therefore, 
upon  the  public  gratitude,  see  to  it  that  politics  be  kept  out  of  prison 
government.  The  higher  motives  and  precepts  of  unselfish  philan- 
thropy and  Christian  charity  should  preside  in  such  institutions. 

3IR.   HAGEMAN'S   REMARKS. 

The  president  called  on  Mr.  John  F.  Hageman,  of  New  Jersey,  for 
remarks,  who  said  that  he  did  not  know  why  he  had  been  thus  distin- 
guished, unless  it  was  that  he  came  from  New  Jersey,  a  State  which  ex- 
ecutes her  laws,  and  where  there  is  no  connivance  between  courts  and 
juries,  and  where  juries  do  not  hesitate  to  convict  when  the  facts  warrant 
such  a  verdict.  Yet,  for  all  that,  New  Jersey  believed  in  prison  reform 
and  a  reformatory  prison  discipline,  and  was  in  full  sympathy  with  the 
objects  and  work  of  this  congress,  and  of  the  National  Prison  Associa- 
tion, at  whose  call  it  had  been  convened.     He  said  that  religious  in- 


318  NATIONAL    PRISON    REFORM    CONGRESS    OF    J  873. 

struction  and  church  services  were  employed  with  the  best  results  iu 
the  prisons  of  his  State.  Industrial  labor  was  also  found  a  highly  re- 
formative agency.  He  might  be  wrong,  but  he  did  not  approve  of  the 
system  of  unbroken  silence  observed,  theoretically  at  least,  in  most  of 
the  prisons.  Talking  did  men  a  great  deal  of  good.  Outside  workers. 
Christian  men  and  women  of  judgDieut  and  piety,  must  be  admitted, 
under  proper  restrictions,  into  our  i^risoos;  secular  schools  and  Sunday- 
schools  should  be  established  in  them.  Our  reformatory  agencies  must 
be  enlarged  and  made  more  comprehensive. 

APPOINTMENT   OF   COMMITTEES. 

The  following  standing  committees  were  then,  on  motion,  appointed 
by  the  chair : 

Committee  on  Fermanent  Organization. — Hon.  P.  T.  Miller,  of  Missouri; 
Kev.  T.  K.  Fessenden,  of  Connecticut;  J.  Merrefield,  of  Maryland;  Col- 
onel Burr,  of  Ohio;  J.  M.  Talcott,  of  Rhode  Island;  Dr.  Wright,  of 
Tennessee ;  and  Mr.  Powell,  of  jSTew  York. 

Business  Committee. — Hon.  0.  I.  Walker,  of  Michigan;  Dr.  Wines,  of 
Xew  York ;  Eev.  A.  Woodbury,  of  Rhode  Island ;  Dr.  E.  W.  Hatch,  of 
Connecticut;  G.  S.  Griffith,  of  Maryland;  Samuel  Allinson,  of  New 
Jersey  ;  and  H.  Thane  Miller,  of  Ohio. 

Committee  on  Finance. — Murray  Shipley,  of  Ohio ;  Hon.  Edward  Earle, 
of  Massachusetts ;  John  E.  Develin,  esq.,  of  New  York ;  W.  R.  Lin- 
coln, of  Maryland;  Hon.  G.  W.  Hall,  of  Pennsylvania;  Hon.  Frederick 
Smyth,  of  New  Hampshire;  and  Hon.  Cyrus  ]\Iendeuhall,  of  Kentucky 

Committee  on  Credentials. — Win.  A.  Wisong  and  J.  H.  Brown,  of  Mary- 
laud;  and  Rev.  J.  L.  Milligan,  of  Pennsylvania. 

OEaANIZATION  OF   THE   CONGRESS. 

The  Committee  on  Permanent  Organizations  subsequently  reported, 
and  the  congress  was  organized  with  the  following  ofiticers: 

Fresident. — Hon.  Horatio  Seymour,  New  York. 

Vice-Fresidents. — Dr.  E.  W.  Hatch,  Connecticut;  Charles  E.  Felton, 
Illinois;  Hon.  M.  C.  Kerr,  Indiana;  S.  H.  Craig,  Iowa ;  Hon.  K.  F.  Pritch- 
ard,  Kentucky;  G.  S,  Grillith,  Maryland;  Hon.  Edward  Earle,  Massa- 
chusetts; Hon.  C.  I.  Walker,  Michigan;  Professor  W.  F.  Phelps,  Min- 
n<*sota  ;  General  B.  B.  Eggleston,  Mississippi ;  General  James  L.  Miner, 
3Iissouri ;  Hon.  Frederick  Smyth,  New  Hampshire;  John  F.  Hageman, 
esq..  New  Jersey;  II.  W.  Bellows,  D.  D.,  New  York  ;  Colonel  Raymond 
Burr,  Ohio;  Hon.  Richard  Vaux,  Pennsylvania;  General  N.  Viall, 
Rhode  Island;  General  C.  J.  Stolbrand,  South  Carolina;  Dr.  W.  M. 
Wright,  Tennessee ;  S.  J.  Baird,  D.  J).,  N'irginia;  Hon.  Tliomas  Swee- 
ney, West  Virginia  ;  Hon.  Alexander  Mitchell,  Wisconsin  ;  F.  W.  Howe, 
Distiir-t  of  (Columbia;  A.  l\  Rockwood,  Utah. 

Secretaries. —  If.  A.  Monfort,  Ohio;  Dr.  J.  C.  Carpenter,  District  of  Col- 
umbia;   Itev.  William  (,)uinn.  New  York. 

Treasurer. — .Murray  Shipley,  Ohio. 

Official  Reporter. — Rev.  Wm.  H.  Tiftauy,  New  York. 

EOLL   OF   MKMIiERS. 

The  (lommittee  on  (Jredentials  subsequently  reported  the  following 
roll  of  nuMubers : 

Ai.AHAMA. — Not  represented. 
Arkansas. — Not  represented. 


ORGANIZATION ROLL  OF  MEMBERS.  319 

California. — Not  represented. 

Connecticut. — Dr.  E.  W.  Hatch,  superiDtendent  State  reform  school, 
West  Meriden  ;  David  P.  Nichols,  president  of  board  of  trustees  State 
reform  school,  Danbury  ;  George  Langdon,  trustee  State  reform  school, 
Plymouth ;  Hiram  Foster,  secretary  of  board  of  trustees  State  reform 
school,  West  Meriden  ;  Eev.  Geo.  W.  Wooding,  chaplain  of  state  prison, 
Wethersfield ;  Eev.  I.  H.  Bradford,  superintendent  of  girls'  industrial 
reform  school,  Middletown  ;  H.  D.  Smith,  trustee  of  girls'  industrial  re- 
form school,  Plantsville;  Kev.  Thos.  K.  Fessenden,  (executive  ai^point- 
meut,)  Farmington ;  Hon.  Henry  Barnard,  Hartford. 

Delaware. — Not  represented. 

Florida. — Not  represented. 

Georgia. — Not  represented. 

Illinois. — Charles  E.  Felton,  superintendent  of  house  of  correction, 
Chicago. 

Indiana. — Hon.  Michael  C.  Kerr,  M.  C,  New  Albany. 

Iowa. — S.  H.  Craig,  warden  of  state  prison,  Fort  Madison. 

Kansas. — Not  represented. 

Kentucky. — Hon,  K.  F.  Pritchard,  (executive  appointment,)  Cattles- 
burg;  Dr.  J.  F.  South,  (executive  appointment,)  Bowling  Green;  Hon. 
J.  T.  Gray,  (executive  appoiutment,)  Louisville;  Cyrus  Mendenhall, 
Newport;  Hon.  K.  K.  White,  manager  of  house  of  refuge,  Louisville. 

Louisiana. — Not  represented. 

Maine. — Not  represented. 

Massachusetts. — Eev.  jMarcus  Ames,  superintendent  of  industrial 
school  for  girls,  Lancaster;  Hon.  Edward  L.  Pierce,  secretary  of  board 
of  State  charities,  Boston  ;  Hon.  Edward  Earle,  member  board  of  State 
charities,  Worcester;  Hon.  Benj.  Evans,  superintendent  State  reform 
school,  Westborough. 

Maryland. — G.  S.  Griffith,  president  prisoners'  aid  society,  Balti- 
more ;  Eev.  Penford  Doll,  agent  i^risoners'  aid  society,  Baltimore ; 
Professor  T.  D.  Baird,  Samuel  Townsend,  Eichard  Janney,  Chas.  W. 
Slagle,  J.  Harman  Brown,  Wm.  A.  Wisong,  Ira  C.  Canfield,  Jos.  Merre- 
field,  members  prisoners'  aid  society,  Baltimore ;  Thos.  S.  Wilkinson, 
warden  of  iDeuitentiary,  Baltimore ;  Henry  Seim,  director  of  peniten- 
tiary board,  Baltimore;  E.  V.  Page,  clerk  of  jjenitentiary  board,  Bal- 
timore; J.  H.  Irvin,  warden  of  city  jail,  Baltimore;  A.  W.  Duke,  visi- 
tor of  city  jail,  Baltimore  ;  W.  E.  Lincoln,  superintendent  of  house  of 
refuge,  Baltimore;  L.  A.  Byerly,  director  of  house  of  refuge,  Balti- 
more ;  J.  S.  Liucoln,  superintendent  of  boys'  home,  Baltimore ;  Wil- 
liam Palmer,  agent  of  the  Henry  Watson  children's  aid  society,  Balti- 
more; Mrs.  Penfleld  Doll,  assistant  agent  of  prisoners'  aid  society, 
Baltimore. 

Mississippi. — General  B.  B.  Eggleston. 

Missouri. — General  Jas.  L.  Miner,  (executive  appointment,)  Jefferson 
City;  Hon.  P.  T.  Miller,  (executive  ap])ointment,)  Jefferson  City;  Miss 
Linda  Gilbert,  Saint  Louis ;  Mrs.  A.  W.  Eichardson,  Saint  Louis. 

Michigan. — Hon.  C.  I.  Walker,  chairman  board  commissioners  penal 
and  charitable  institutions,  Detroit;  Eev.  Chas.  Johnson,  superinten- 
dent of  reform  school,  Lansing;  Hon.  J.  I.  Mead,  member  of  board  of 
reform  school,  Lansing. 

Minnesota. — Professor  Wm.  P.  Phelps,  president  State  normal  school, 
Winona;  Hon.  E.G.Butts,  inspector  State  prison,  Stillwater;  H.  A. 
Jackman,  warden  State  prison,  Stillwater;  Mrs.  S.  B.  Jackman,  Still- 
water. 

Nebraska. — Not  represented. 

Nevada. — Not  represented. 


320  NATIONAL    PRISON    REFORM    CONGRESS    OF    1873. 

'Se\y  Hampshire. — Hon.  F.  Smytli,  ex-governor  and  president  pris- 
oners' aid  association,  Manchester;  Allen  Folger,  member  prisoners' 
aid  association,  Concord. 

New  Jersey. — John  F.  Hageman,  esq.,  district  attorney,  Princeton  j 
L.  H.  Sbelden,  snperintendent  State  reform  school,  Jamesburg;  Mrs.  L. 
E.  Dodge,  matron  of  girls'  industrial  school,  Trenton;  Samuel  Allinsou, 
member  of  board  of  State  reform  and  girls'  industrial  schools,  Yardville. 

North  Carolina. — Not  represented. 

New  York. — Rev.  Dr.  H.  W.  Bellows,  vice-president  national  prison 
association.  New  York ;  Rev.  Dr.  Wines,  secretary  national  prison  asso- 
ciation. New  York;  Mrs.  Wines;  Rev.  W.  H.  Tiffany,  official  reporter, 
Ston}^  Creek ;  Aaron  M.  Powell,  national  temperance  society  and  pub- 
lication house,  New  York ;  Hon.  John  E.  Develin,  member  board  man- 
agers of  Catholic  protectory,  New  York  ;  Rev.  William  Quinn,  advisory 
chaplain  of  Catholic  protectory,  New  York ;  Brother  Teliow,  rector  of 
Catholic  protectory,  New  Y^ork ;  George  B.  Cline,  Roselyn. 

Ohio. — Col.  Raymond  Burr,  warden  of  penitentiary,  Columbus  ;  H. 
S.  Monfort,  superintendent  of  house  of  refuge,  Cincinnati ;  H.  Thane 
Miller,  esq.,  director  of  house  of  refuge,  Cincinnati ;  Murray  Shipley, 
director  of  house  of  refuge,  Cincinnati. 

Oregon. — Not  represented. 

Pennsylvania. — Hon.  Richard  Vaux,  president  of  board  of  inspec- 
tors, eastern  penitentiary,  Philadelphia  ;  George  W.  Hall,  member  of 
Philadelphia  prison  society,  Philadelphia  ;  Edward  H.  Coates,  member 
of  Philadelphia  prison  society,  Philadelphia;  Thomas  A.  Robinson, 
Philadelphia  Magdalen  society,  Philadelphia;  Dr.  Joseph  Parrish, 
I)resident  of  association  for  the  cure  of  inebriates.  Media ;  T.  J.  Big- 
ham,  president  of  reform  school  board,  Pittsburgh;  Rev.  J.  L.  Milligan, 
chaplain  of  western  penitentiary,  Allegheny  ;  George  Albree,  director  of 
Allegheny  County  workhouse,  Pittsburgh  ;  J.  D.  Carlisle,  Allegheny 
County  prison  society,  Pittsburgh  ;  Rev.  W.  A.  Fuller,  chaplain  of  Al- 
legheny County  workhouse,  Claremout;  J.  P.  Fleming,  director  Alle- 
gheny County  workhouse,  Pittsburgh  ;  George  R.  White,  director  Alle- 
gheny County  workhouse,  Pittsburgh. 

Rhode  Island. — Gtuieral  N.  Viall,  warden  of  state  prison.  Provi- 
dence; Rev.  Augustus  Woodbury,  president  board  of  state  prison  in- 
sj)ectors,  Providence ;  James  M.  Talcott,  superintendent  of  reform 
school,  l^rovidence. 

South  Carolina. — General  C.  J.  Stolbrand,  warden  of  State  prison, 
(executive  appointment,)  Columbia. 

Tennessee. — Dr.  ^V.  M.  Wright,  inspector  of  state  prison  and 
branches,  Nashville. 

Texas. — Not  represented. 

Vermont. — Not  rei)resented. 

Virginia. — Rev.  Dr.  S.  J.  Baird,  Waynesborough. 

West  Virginia. — Hon.  Thomas  Sweeney,  Wheeling;  Thomas  P. 
Shalh^ros.s,  wanlon  of  state  ]»ris()n,  .Aloundsville. 

Wisco.NSj.N. — Not  rei)resent('(l. 

TIORIMTOIMIOS. 

Dis'i'incT  ()!•"  ('olcmiua. —  i'\  W.  IIowo,  sujuMintendent  reform  school, 
Wa.sliington  ;  Dr.  .1.  JO.  Carpenter,  trustee  ot  reform  school,  Washing- 
ton. 

Utah. — A.  r.  IfocUwood,  warden  of  penitentiary,  Salt  Lake  City. 

foreign  countries. 
Finland.— Dr.  Felix  Heckle,  Helingsfors. 


ANNUAL    EEPOKT    OP^    EXECUTIVE    COMMITTEE.  321 

II.— ANNUAL  REPORTS  OF  SECRETARY  AND  STANDING  COM- 
MITTEES OF  THE  NATIONxlL  PRISON  ASSOCIATION. 

1.  Report  of  the  secretary. 

The  undersigued  respectfully  offers  for  his  second  annual  report  as 
Secretary  of  the  National  Prison  Association,  the  report  which  he  had  the 
honor  to  submit  to  the  President  of  the  United  States  as  commissioner 
of  the  Government  to  the  International  Penitentiary  Congress  of  Lon- 
don, and  which  is  printed  in  the  preceding  part  of  the  present  volume. 

E.  C.  WINES, 
Secretarij. 

2.  Report  of  the  executive  committee. 

The  aim  of  the  executive  committee  in  the  present  report  is  to  set  be- 
fore the  national  prison  association  and  the  people  of  the  United  States 
certain  views  relating  to  prison  management,  whose  prevalence  in 
society  they  deem  of  the  highest  importance — views  which  must  take 
hold  of  the  general  public  before  any  practical  application  of  them 
will  be  allowed  in  our  prison  administration.  These  principles  are  doubt- 
less familiar  to  the  delegates  to  this  congress,  but  not  too  familiar,  and 
certainly  not  too  operative  even  with  them  ;  and  we  know  they  will  ex- 
cuse some  reiteration  of  commonplaces,  for  the  sake  of  the  end  in 
view,  which  is  the  unfolding  of  those  principles  of  human  nature,  in  the 
light  of  which  prison  science  can  alone  safely  and  steadily  advance. 
We  offer,  then,  nothing  local,  circumstantial,  or  historical;  nothing 
specifically  American  ;  and  nothing  directly  connected  with  the  work  of 
the  past  year,  but  only  an  unfolding  of  certain  ideas  and  principles 
deemed  vital  to  our  cause. 

Some  twenty  years  ago  Captain  Alexander  Maconochie,  an  English 
naval  officer,  and  a  man  of  exceptional  insight  into  the  laws  of  human 
nature,  with  a  transcendent  desire  to  aid  its  worst  specimens  to  conquer 
their  vices  and  weaknesses,  conceived  and  carried  out  a  scheme  for  the 
reform  of  prisoners  and  convicts,  in  the  penal  colony  at  Norfolk  Island, 
Australia,  and  subsequently  of  the  juvenile  prisoners  in  Birmingham 
jail,  England,  which,  although  well  known  among  students  of  prison 
discipline,  is  just  beginning  to  attract  the  attention  of  the  general  pub- 
lic. Sir  Walter  Crofton  adopted  and  improved  upon  Macouochie's  sug- 
gestions, and  inaugurated  a  similar  system  in  Ireland,  where  ir  has 
become  the  admiration,  example,  and  chief  hope  of  all  practical  stu- 
dents of  the  new  social  science  of  prison  discipline. 

There  was  published,  in  thf^  annual  report  of  the  association  for  1871, 
a  resume  oi  the  principles  of  Macouochie's  system,  made  by  Dr.  Wines, 
the  learned,  devoted,  and  persistent  leader  of  American  reformers  in 
prison  discipline.  This  admirable  essay  contains  more  to  instruct  and 
encourage  the  friends  of  criminals,  and  the  hopes  for  an  improved 
human  society,  than  anything  elsewhere  to  be  found,  excepting  the 
original  papers  which  furnished  the  ground-work  of  it.  Before  statiug 
what  those  principles  are,  when  traced  to  the  root  from  which  they 
spring,  we  wish  to  draw  attention  to  a  less  usual  view  of  the  importance 
of  the  study  of  prison  discipline,  as  a  general  study  of  human  nature^ 
reflecting  immense  light,  not  easily  obtained  by  any  other  process,  upon 
the  whole  science  of  education,  domestic  discipline,  training  for  life, 
and  even  the  administration  of  religion.  Students  in  medicine  know 
the  vast  importance  of  the  opportunities  afforded  by  public  hospit*^ 
H.  Ex.  185 21 


322  NATIONAL    PRISON    REFORM    CONGRESS    OF    1873, 

for  the  study  of  the  laws  of  health,  and  the  conditions  of  cure  in  general 
practice.  Morbid  anatomy,  too,  throws  valuable  light  upon  the  organs 
and  functions  of  health.  Insane  asylums  have  become  schools  of  study 
for  psychologists;  and  the  laws  of  reason  and  the  discipline  of  intelli- 
gence and  will  are  better  understood  by  the  careful  study  of  abnormal 
fancies  and  deranged  minds.  In  like  manner,  a  profound  consideration 
of  the  dispositions  and  tendencies  that  lead  to  crime,  made  in  reforma- 
tories and  prisons,  reveals  the  errors  of  our  domestic  training,  exhibits 
the  prevalent  faults  of  our  school  discipline,  and  throws  a  clear  light  on 
the  defects  of  our  social  system.  A  study  of  the  crude  character,  low 
tendencies,  paralysis  of  will,  morbid  imagination,  stupefied  conscience, 
and  gross  sensuality  of  the  criminal  class,  brought  under  prison  restraint, 
opens  a  profound  view  into  the  working  of  our  whole  social  system, 
I)oints  to  the  weak  spots  in  our  common  nature,  exhibits  the  defects  in 
the  laws  and  administration  of  our  system  of  government,  and  shows 
how  ill-formed  is  the  public  opinion  that  rules  communities. 

Without  formally  arraigning  society,  or  beating  the  air  with  com- 
plaints that  have  no  definite  end,  in  the  attempt  to  remove  difficulties 
connected  with  the  condition  of  prisoners,  principles  are  developed, 
rights  brought  out,  and  facts  disclosed,  which  must  inevitably,  sooner 
or  later,  produce  wide  changes  in  the  whole  conception  of  this  subject — 
changes  which  will  prepare  for  radical  reforms  in  general  education, 
family  discipline,  and  the  whole  life  of  society. 

We  do  not  propose  to  state  Captain  Maconochie's  principles — which 
may  now  be  considered  the  accepted  principles  of  all  comijetent  dealers 
with  the  subject  of  prison  discipline — in  his  own  words,  nor  in  the 
multifoim  division  into  which  they  fall  in  Dr.  Wines's  essay.  We  wish 
rather  to  strike  at  the  root-principle  of  them  all,  and  then  to  follow  the 
trunk  up  to  its  few  chief  branches.  AVe  must  keep  principles  and 
methods  distinct,  and  it  is  a  defect  of  Captain  Macojiochie's  mind,  and 
perhaps  a  necessity  of  Dr.  W^ines's  purpose,  that  this  is  not  done  by 
either.  The  principles  and  the  methods  are  both  apparent  enough  in 
the  account.  But  methods  are  constantly  put  in  place  of  principles ; 
and,  indeed.  Dr.  Wines's  title  is  a  little  misleading,  and  would  be 
amended  by  calling  his  essay  Maconochie's  method  of  prison  discip- 
line. For  instance,  the  mark  or  credit  plan,  «vhich  is  his  first  principle, 
is  really  only  a  method  founded  on  a  principle.  The  jninciple  is  this, 
that  hope  is  just  as  essentially  and  vitally  at  the  root  of  all  true  prison 
discipline  as  at  the  root  of  all  Iree  human  lifer.  Extinguish  hope  in 
human  society  or  in  asingle  human  bosom,  and  you  strike  a  death- 
blow at  the  will,  the  conscience,  and  the  understanding.  Nothing  so 
fatal  in  the  action  of  government  or  in  the  political,  social,  economic 
conditions  of  a  peo])le,  as  the  depression  or  extinction  of  hope.  Gov- 
ernments and  social  organizations  may  be  measured  and  graded,  as 
regards  their  merits,  by  the  degree  in  which  hope  exists  among  the 
peoj)lc  ;it  large.  It  is  the  quality  Avhich  exerts  the  largest,  most  con- 
stant, most  slimuliiting  and  sustaining  inlluence  n])on  the  one  universal 
humnnity.  What  light  an<l  heat  are  to  the  vegetalWe  world,  and  what 
tli(^  opportunity  is  to  ])lants  to  rise  freely  in  the  wooing  air,  hoi)e  is  to 
human  ull'cctions,  faculties,  and  will.  It  is  the  absence  of  hope,  indeed, 
which,  nioH',  hugely  tluui  anything  else,  makes  criminals;  for  the  im- 
mense obstacles  which  opi)ressive  or  uncfiual  social  and  ])olitical  insti- 
tutions create  to  the  ioilowingof  honest  i)atlis  of  remunerative  industry, 
«lrive  tlu'  irresolute,  the  self-in<lulgent,  ;iiid  the  less  moral  to  what  they 
mistfike  for  the  more  open  and  immediately  juomising  career  of  crime. 

It  being  established  that  the  old  principle  adopted  from  the  entrance 


ANNUAL  REPORT  OF  EXECUTIVE  COMMITTEE.       323 

to  Daute's  Inferno,  "  Let  all  who  enter  here  abandon  h6pe,"  which  for 
ages  had  stood  over  the  gate  of  the  prison,  is  contrary  to  every  law  of 
human  progress  and  elevation,  Captain  Maconochie,  in  effect,  put  in  its 
place,  "And  now  abideth  hope"  for  j^risoners  and  convicts,  as  well  as 
for  all  God's  creatures.  This  is  really  his  fundamental  principle,  and  it 
is  worthy  of  its  place  at  the  root  of  his  glorious  scheme. 

But  in  adopting  this  principle,  of  course  the  old  idea  of  vindictive 
or  even  exemplary  punishment,  as  the  first  end  of  penal  law  and  prac- 
tice, is  at  once  torn  from  its  supremacy.  Of  course,  also,  the  immediate 
safety  of  free  society  being  the  sole  object  of  criminal  law,  jails  and 
prisons  were  originally  built  to  disarm  dangerous  members  of  society  of 
the  power  to  harm  it.  Safely  lodged  there,  they  were  to  be  punished 
vindictively  for  the  injuries  they  had  caused :  first,  because  they  deserved 
it,  and  justice  was  supposed  to  be  thus  promoted  ;  and,  second,  to  warn 
and  deter  others  from  following  their  examiile.  It  was  at  last  discov- 
ered— and  strange  it  is  that  it  took  so  long  to  find  it  out — that  the  main 
object  sought,  the  safety  of  free  society,  was  not  effectually  secured  by 
this  method;  that  its  cruelty  and  selfishness  aroused  a  bitter  hatred 
between  the  class  most  exposed  to  become  criminals  and  society  itself; 
that  it  made  laws,  and  courts,  and  police  merely  objects  of  disgust -and 
terror ;  took  away  the  whole  sense  of  anything  friendly,  protective,  and  in 
the  interest  of  the  exposed  classes  from  the  aspect  of  organized  society 
and  government,  and  really  tended  to  create  the  criminals  it  punished.  It 
was  the  crime-creating  power  of  the  gallows  and  of  the  vindictive  punish- 
ments of  jails  and  prisons,  the  dangers  involved  for  society,  and  the  litte 
deterring  power  which  fear  was  discovered  to  have  over  brutal  natures, 
that  first  drew  attention  to  the  fact  that,  if  only  the  interests  of  society 
were  to  be  considered,  the  reformation  of  the  convict  must  be  i)laced  first 
and  made  the  ground-idea  in  his  penal  treatment.  It  was  not  a  mawkish 
concern  for  him,  nor  chiefly  a  feeling  of  moral  obligation  to  reform  him, 
that  first  opened  the  way  to  the  new  principle,  but  a  broader  view  of 
what  the  safety  of  society  itself  required.  The  safety  of  society  de- 
manded that  law  and  justice  should  not  present  to  the  people  of  any 
country,  as  their  first  impression,  that  of  a  power  inimical  to,  or  distinct 
from,  or  merely  restrictive  of,  their  freedom.  It  should  wear  distinct- 
ively the  aspect  of  a  friend,  well-wisher,  helper.  It  should  appear  as 
much  the  protector,  ally,  inspirer  and  encourager  of  their  industry, 
order,  virtue,  and  hapi^iness,  as  the  restrainer  of  their  violence  and  vice. 
''For  their  good  always,"  shoidd  be  its  characteristic  expression.  Thus 
laws,  police,  courts,  prisons,  punishments,  legislators,  parliaments, 
presidents,  and  kings  become  the  recognized  friends  and  helpers  of  the 
people — sources  of  hope  and  refuge  in  trouble. 

In  this  new  state  of  things  the  criminal  classes,  offending  against 
only  just  and  mild  restraints  and  laws  universally  conceded  to  be  neces- 
sary and  for  the  good  of  all,  rapidly  lose  the  sympathy  of  those  nearest 
to  them  in  condition  and  prospects.  Then  criminals  cease  to  be  heroes 
and  martyrs ;  society  ceases  to  be  regarded  as  a  tyrant,  and  penal  law 
and  police  to  be  objects  of  the  hatred  and  evasion  of  all  the  lower  half 
of  the  social  system.  The  necessity  of  reforming  the  convict  for  the 
safety  of  society  having  been  adopted  as  a  first  principle  of  prison  dis- 
cipline, it  soon  became  plain  that  he  could  not  be  reformed  except  he 
were  reformed  for  his  own  sake  also.  In  short,  it  became  apparent  that 
his  own  consent  must  be  obtained,  if  not  to  his  imprisonment,  at  least  to 
his  reformation,  and  that  this  could  only  be  effected  by  carrying  out 
toward  men  in  prison  precisely  the  principles  adopted  in  keeping  men  out 
of  prison.    If  the  friendliness  of  the  law  be  the  principle  which  makes 


324  NATIONAL   PRISON-  EEFORM    CONGRESS    OF    1873. 

free  men  most  observant  of  laws  and  least  disposed  to  break  them,  and 
so  tends  to  diminish  the  criminal  class,  by  what  other  principle  shall 
those  ahead}'  become  criminals  and  convicts  be  cured  of  criminal  pro- 
pensities and  returned  to  society  with  the  least  danger  to  its  safety  ? 

Accordingly,  the  reformation  of  the  prisoner  being  conceded  to  be 
the  best  and  most  necessary  service  to  the  public  safety,  and  his  refor- 
mation* being  impossible  without  his  own  free  agency  and  consent,  the 
problem  was.  Low  to  secure  this  consent,  and,  as  a  consequence,  his  co- 
operation. 

Captain  Maconochie  cannot  have  been  the  first  to  see  that  hope  is  the 
only  sufficient  motive  that  cau  be  applied  to  secure  this  object ;  but  he 
certainly  was  the  first  to  feel  that  absolute  confidence  in  it  which  was 
necessary  to  make  it  the  cardinal  working  principle  of  a  method  of 
prison  discipline.  He  said  to  himself.  What  is  the  fundamental  i>rinci- 
ple  that  in  free  society  stimulates  the  human  race  to  order,  industry, 
virtue,  and  piety  ?  It  is  hope ;  hope  of  living ;  hope  of  infiueuce  and 
power;  hope  of  ease  in  old  age;  hope  of  the  esteem  and  love  of  those 
about  us;  hope  of  forgiveness  ;  hope  of  heaven. 

What  is  the  ordinary  form  which  this  hope  takes  in  respect  of 
all  social  interests  ?  It  is  wages  or  money,  that  roughly  represents  the 
reward,  in  view  of  which  hope  labors.  Take  away  the  hope  of  this  re- 
ward from  industry,  character,  talenj:s,  ingenuity',  patience,  persistency, 
self-control,  and  self-denial,  and  you  strike  away  the  crutch  from  the 
lame,  and  they  fall  to  the  ground.  Now,  how  can  hope  be  made  in  pris- 
ons just  as  operative  a  princii^le  within  the  narrow  limits  of  its  sphere, 
as  it  is  in  common  free  life "?  Why,  only  by  adopting  in  spirit  the  very 
idea  of  wages.  It  does  not  so  much  matter  what  these  wages  are,  how 
large,  or  in  what  form  ;  for  among  people  whose  very  condition  of  im- 
prisonment reduces  them  to  a  low  pjane  of  expectation,  a  very  small 
inducement,  steadily  applied  and  gradually  increased,  produces  as  much 
effect  as  only  a  very  large  one  does  upon  people  in  free  life.  A  crack 
admitting  the  least  light  to  a  dungeon  would  be  as  precious  to  a  convict 
as  the  whole  dawn  is  to  a  free  man.  A  penny  a  day  to  one  who  can 
otherwise  earn  nothing  would  be  as  influential  as  a  shilling  to  those  who 
find  free  occupation. 

Set  hope  at  work,  and  keep  it  at  work,  upon  ever  so  low  a  grade  ; 
if  it  is  working  steadily  and  habitually,  you  have  got  your  principle 
of  motion  and  your  fact  of  motion,  and  you  can  now  direct  the  vessel 
because  she  is  under  way,  whereas  you  could  do  nothing  to  guide  her 
Avhile  she  stood  still.  Captain  Maconochie's  method  of  setting  this 
principle  universally  at  work  at  the  least  cost  to  the  state  and  the 
greatest  good  to  the  convict,  which  is  also  the  greatest  good  of  the  na- 
tion, was  to  establish  for  prisoners  a  system  of  marhs,  each  of  which 
represented  a  value,  say  of  one  ]»enny.  The  convict,  instead  of  being 
c(>n(l«  inncd  to  a  certain  and  llxed  number  of  years  of  imi)risomnent, 
was  to  li(^  (;oiMletnn(!<l  to  remain  in  ]>ris()n  until  he  had  earned  and  had 
put  to  liis  credit  a  certain  niimher  of  oiKirks — say  1,000,  U,0***N  •'"^^^'•^^N  or 
10,(100,  jiceordiiig  to  iiiseriine;  but  it  is  to  be  iu)ted  that  only  the  sur- 
phiH  of  niaii<s,  ;itter  certain  material  de(hu'ti<uis,  could  go  toward  his 
liberation.  1'lie.  marks  in  (Japtain  Maeoiiocliie's  system  had  a  money 
value;  and  the  prisoner  was  lirst  to  pay,  in  that  eancncy,  for  his  food, 
clothing,  bed,  schooling,  «Sic.;  and  it  was  the  suipbis  earned  by  him  that 
alone  c<iunted  towjiid  his  release.  This  made  the  prison  an  image 
of  real  lite,  and  bron};ht,  into  play,  and  enlisted  on  the  side  of  reforma- 
tion, all  the  motives  which  act  oil  men  in  free  society  as  stimulants  to 
industiy,  oKler,  and    good    morals.     His  system  goes  still  further,  and 


ANNUAL  REPORT  OF  EXECUTIVP:  COMMITTEE.       325 

allows  the  prisoner,  if  he  so  elect,  to  remain  after  he  has  become  en- 
titled to  his  freedom,  and  earn  marks  the  same  as  before.  In  that  case 
the  snrplns  of  marks,  after  the  payment  above  specified,  have  a  real  money 
value,  and  are  paid  to  him  in  hard  cash  whenever  he  takes  his  depart- 
ure from  the  prison. 

Every  one  of  his  prison  duties — good  conduct,  industry  in  labor,  docil- 
ity at  school — could  each  day  earn  for  him,  let  us  say,  at  its  maximum, 
three  marks  for  each  department,  or  nine  in  all.  It  is  easily  seen  how 
he  might  lengthen  out  his  imprisonment  by  disobedience,  sloth,  and  in- 
docility ;  how  shorten  it  by  good  conduct,  industry,  and  aptness  at  learn- 
ing ;  and  what  a  steady  pressure  hope  would  exercise  upon  him  under 
such  a  system.  But  this  mark  system  had  other  advantages.  The  dis- 
cipline of  the  prison  was  arranged,  and  this  is  especially  the  case  as  ap- 
plied in  the  Crofton  system,  so  as  to  graduate  the  severity  of  the  con- 
vict's condition  according  to  his  marks.  First,  for  the  opportunity  of 
tastingthe  bitterness  of  his  crime  and  retlecting  uponhis  past  folly,  he  was 
solitarily  confined  and  put  on  a  very  low  diet,  it  might  be,  for  six  months 
at  its  maximum  and  four  at  its  minimum,  and  there  was  always  before 
him  the  hope  of  shortening  this  fearful  solitude  and  low  fare  by  quie- 
tude, by  observance  of  all  prison  rules,  by  docility  to  the  chaplain  and 
keeper.  Then  came  labor  out  of  his  cell,  a  great  relief;  but  at  first 
labor  only  of  the  most  distasteful  or  arduous  kind,  "with  a  slightly  im- 
proved diet,  in  which  second  stage  the  j)risoner  by  good  conduct,  indus- 
try, and  docility,  could  shorten  also  his  term  in  this  lowest  of  the  im- 
proved stages  by  a  few  weeks  or  months,  and  then  be  promoted  into  a 
better  class,  whose  privileges  were  slightly  raised,  by  less  supervision, 
more  variety,  better  food  ;  and  this  again,  if  faithfully  used,  gave  place 
to  a  still  freer  prison  life,  with  greater  advantages  and  more  attrac- 
tions. Thus  hope  was  always  beckoning  the  convict  on,  supplying  him 
with  inducements  to  do  his  best,  and  giving  him,  as  nearly  as  his  con- 
dition allowed,  the  motives  that  stimulate  free  citizens  to  toil,  decency, 
and  self-improvement. 

What  branches  this  main  principle  divided  into  and  gave  support  to, 
we  shall  now  consider. 

The  admission  of  the  fundamental  jirinciple  of  hope  into  prison- 
life,  on  the  score  of  its  being  the  chief  inspiration  of  free  or  ordinary 
life,  instantly  suggests  that  the  fundamental  fact  in  dealing  with  all 
human  beings  is,  that  they  partake  a  common  human  nature,  and, 
^^  mutatis  mutanclis^^''  that  the  same  essential  motives,  rules,  laws,  con- 
ditions under  which  they  flourish,  in  one  set  of  circumstances,  are 
applicable  to  all.  The  essential  conditions  of  growth,  j^rogress,  refor- 
mation, are  not  changed  by  the  most  diverse  circumstances.  The 
wildest  tribe  of  Indians  falls  under  the  laws  of  human  nature  as  well 
as  the  most  cultivated  nations  of  the  Saxon  race;  and  progress,  order, 
safety,  industry,  self-respect  depend  in  both  upon  the  same  principles. 
It  is  not  in  essence,  but  simply  iu  form,  that  the  principles  of  action  are 
changed.  A  prison  is  not  so  unlike  the  world  outside  its  walls  that 
the  presence  of  men  and  women  there  do  not  make  it  more  similar  to 
free  society  in  its  wants  and  conditions  of  usefulness  than  its  restraints 
and  isolation  make  it  ditferent  from  such  society.  The  world,  under 
Divine  Providence,  is,  iu  some  sort,  a  prison  ;  and  the  prison  is,  in  some 
sort,  a  world.  There  is  confinement,  restraint,  bondage  in  the  free 
world  ;  and  there  is  freedom,  opportunity,  variety  in  the  closest  prison. 
You  cannot  free  the  most  fortunate  and  unrestrained  citizen  from 
many  restrictive  rules  and  circumstances,  and  you  cannot  rob  the 
chained    convict  of   his   freedom   of  thought   and   his  excursions  of 


326  NATIONAL    PRISON    EEFORM    CONGRESS    OF    1873. 

feeling  and  fancy.  Indeed,  freedom,  in  proportion  to  its  political 
completeness,  lias  its  moral  restrictions  and  its  self-restraints  intensified. 
Under  the  highest  civilization,  man,  in  becoming  a  law  to  himself,  is 
attended  by  the  most  vigilant  of  police  officers  and  the  most  implacable 
of  task  masters.  There  is  no  prison  so  impassible  as  that  with  which  the 
Obligations  of  dnty  surround  the  tender  conscience,  or  the  laws  of  rea- 
l^on  the  active  intelligence,  or  the  requirements  of  the  affections  the 
largest  and  most  liberal  heart.  Those  who  fancy  that  free  society,  in 
proportion  to  its  freedom,  encourages  or  admits  license,  caprice,  self- 
will,  mistake  the  nature  of  the  most  operative  restraints  in  the  human 
soul.  In  the  freest  society,  education,  enlightenment,  cultivated  sensi- 
bility, conscientiousness,  aspiration,  piety,  not  only  take  the  place  of 
police  supervision  and  criminal  law,  but  they  do  their  work  a  thousand 
times  more  rigidly  and  effectively. 

But  taking  free  society  in  its  present  average  state,  no  mistake  is 
wilder  and  more  betraying  than  that  which  supposes  its  usual  restraints 
and  penalties  to  be  light  and  inoperative.  The  restraints  it  imposes, 
the  penalties  it  exacts,  the  burdens  it  lays  on  the  backs  of  its  children, 
are  infinitely  greater,  more  general,  and  more  constant  than  statutory 
law  can  inflict.  Burke  says:  "The  laws  reach  but  a  very  little  way. 
Constitute  government  how  you  please,  infinitely  the  greater  part  of  it 
must  depend  on  the  exercise  of  the  powers  which  are  left  at  large,  to  the 
prudence  and  uprightness  of  ministers  of  state."  And  we  may  add  all  arti- 
ficial restraints  and  contrivances,  social  or  political,  fall  immeasurably 
short  in  their  efficiency  of  those  natural,  self-enforcing  penalties,  re- 
straints, and  incitements  which  come  from  the  very  constitution  of  our 
nature  and  the  world  we  live  in.  What  motive  could  take  the  place  of 
hunger,  sympathy,  paternal  instinct,  the  love  of  power,  the  dread  of 
pain,  the  fear  of  death,  the  hope  of  heaven  ?  What  device  could 
fulfill  the  gnardian-angelship  of  natural  modesty  and  divine  shame"? 
What  restrain  like  the  natural  sense  of  justice,  the  natural  desire  for  the 
good  opinion  of  others,  and  the  natural  dread  of  consequences  "?  Oar 
constitution,  the  laws  of  our  physical,  intellectual,  moral,  social  nature 
are  the  tremendous  barriers  which  our  Maker  has  opposed  to  license  and 
disobedience.  We  are  in  prison  to  them — a  prison  we  may  break,  but 
never  without  penalty.  They  set  a  prison  guard  about  us  more  vigilant 
and  with  more  fatal  weapons  than  can  surround  a  jail  full  of  murderers. 
The  criminal  laws  of  man,  few,  loose,  inapt,  bungling,  uncertain,  easily 
evaded,  are  directed  mainly  to  the  restraint  of  exceptionally  low  and  vul- 
gar natures;  to  the  prevention  of  the  evils  that  are  least  common,  and 
which  furnish  no  temptation  to  average  humanity.  But  the  laws  of 
nature  and  the  self-develo])ing  and  self-acting  laws  of  human  society,  are 
absolute  in  their  strength  and  efficacy.  They  provoke  little  opposition 
and  no  sense  of  injustice.  They  are  impartial  and  they  are  sleepless. 
But  in  the  severity,  constancy,  and  even  ])cnal  character  of  those  laws, 
we  discover  how  it  is  (lod  that  governs  the  world. 

If  we,  would  imjnove  our  laws,  our  schools,  our  homos,  ourselves,  we 
must  follow  (l()(i\s  method;  leave  natural  luinciplcs  undisturbed,  fall 
back  on  the,  essential  motive  powers ;  keej)  hojx',  always  at  work,  and 
liing  every  nieinl)er  of  society  to  tiie  utmost  extent  ]>ossibIe,  consistent 
with  safety  to  tiie  rest,  ui)oii  an  «'uliglitened  sense  of  his  own  interest, 
on  the  Hiwanls  tiiat  attend  and  follow  obedieiu;e  to  justice,  truth,  and 
duty,  and  the  stiiuubis  that  i)r<)cee<ls  from  that  hope  which  perfectly 
equal  laws,  political  and  ])ersonal  freedom,  and  an  encouraging  faith 
in  God's  goodness  and  in  the  benignity  of  religion,  do  so  much  to  pro- 
mote. 


ANNUAL  EEPORT  OF  EXECUTIVE  COMMITTEE.      327 

The  most  constant  of  the  la^s  of  Providence,  in  free  society,  is  the 
necessity  of  labor;  and  it  is  the  most  benignant  and  most  educational 
and  disciplinary  of  all  human  necessities.  Whatever  theory  of  its  origin 
we  may  adopt,  we  have  no  conception  of  any  possible  growth  of  human- 
ity separated  from  the  use  and  working  of  its  faculties,  and  we  have  no 
experience  of  any  adequate  use  of  those  faculties  except  under  the 
steady  spur  of  necessity.  Labor,  which  alone  regulates  the  restless 
love  of  liberty,  the  unciviliziug  change  of  place,  the  native  indolence  of 
man  in  most  climates,  is  provided  for  by  the  constant  pressure  of  hun- 
ger— a  want  which  is  ou\y  greater  than  that  of  clothing — which  is  itself 
perhaps  the  more  directly  civilizing  necessity,  as  it  is  less  sensual  than 
the  want  of  food.  All  the  other  Mants  of  society  are  modifications, 
developments,  and  refinements  of  these,  shelter  being  only  another  sort 
of  clothing,  and  architecture  another  form  of  shelter.  The  sense  of 
property  and  its  rights,  and  the  public  opinion  which  guards  them 
better  than  law,  are  natural  outgrowths  of  the  value  which  labor  j)uts 
upon  its  own  conscious  pains.  But  labor  is  animated  not  only  by  neces- 
sity, but  by  the  discoveTy  of  its  rewards,  and  the  cumulative  and  ever- 
increasing  preciousness  of  its  results,  as  more  of  the  powers  of  humanity 
and  especially  its  higher  faculties  are  mingled  with  it.  There  is  no  essen- 
tial difference  between  the  pains  of  thinking  and  the  strain  of  the  muscles ; 
between  work,  whether  considered  as  mental  or  physical.  Both  are 
induced  and  sustained  by  the  same  essential  stimulus.  As  human  nature 
refines  its  wants,  the  motive  changes  its  form,  but  not  its  spirit,  accord- 
ingly. The  hunger  for  luxury  may  become  as  eager  as  that  for  food ;  the 
thirst  for  influence,  fame,  virtue,  excellence,  as  imperative  as  that  for 
shelter.  Man's  nature  cannot  be  developed  without  its  wants  becoming 
ever  more  varied  and  more  urgent,  but  the  principle  is  always  the  same. 
What  we  want,  we  must  labor  to  get ;  and  if  is  only  by  labor  that  we 
can  make  even  our  gratifications  satisfying.  Thus  protectors  may 
furnish  food,  but  what  but  labor  in  some  form  can  furnish  appetite? 
You  may  supply  the  indolent  with  books,  but  what  but  his  own  labori- 
ous self-cultivation  can  supply  the  skill  to  read,  the  taste  to  enjoy,  the 
mental  discipline  to  understand  them?  You  may  surround  a  prince 
with  statues  and  pictures,  but  can  anything  short  of  the  laborious  cul- 
tivation of  his  knowledge  and  taste  give  him  the  power  to  enjoy  them? 
Wealth,  inherited,  has  few  of  the  satisfactions  of  wealth  created.  Posi- 
tion, born-to,  has  none  of  the  charms  of  position  won.  Plenty  bestowed 
has  none  of  the  sweetness  of  plenty  earned.  It  is  impossible,  in  short, 
by  any  circumstances  to  overcome  the  necessity  of  developing,  by  labor, 
those  feelings,  tastes,  habits,  that  conditio'n  of  the  man  himself  which 
is  the  other  and  more  important  factor  in  the  felicitating  result  which 
is  aimed  at.  This  would  be  more  universally  conceded  if  labor  were  not 
so  commonly  regarded  purely  in  its  lower,  more  common,  and  more  ex- 
ternal forms. 

But  while  man,  in  free  society,  has  a  providential  necessity  for  labor, 
which  can  never  be  set  aside  or  outwitted  without  penalties,  he  has  also 
an  instinct  for  freedom,  a  dread  of  labor,  a  desire  to  change  its  form, 
to  escape  its  outward  signs,  and  to  get  above  its  visible  necessities. 
Those  who  lack  this  feeling  become  drudges  or  drones.  Those  who 
have  it  in  excess  impress  the  labor  of  others  and  become  tyrants  by 
force  of  will,  genius,  or  strength.  Make  labor  a  double  necessity,  first 
of  hunger  and  then  of  artificial  compulsion,  and  you  make  serfs  and 
slaves.  Enact  unjust  laws,  or  perpetuate  by  la^  the  injustice,  greed, 
and  ambition  of  earlier  society — allow  the  land  to  pass  into  few  hands- 
continue  a  feudal  state  of  things — and  you  degrade  the  bulk  of  any  na- 


328  NATIONAL    TRISON    REFORM    CONGRESS    OF    167:5. 

tiou  into  mere  day-laborers,  whose  aspirations  and  hopes  are  limited  to 
their  daily  bread."  But  just  in  proportion  as  political  institutions  are 
equal  and  just,  you  offer  to  all  men  under  their  bland  influence  the 
highest  balance  of  a  general  necessity  for  hibor,  with  the  greatest  in- 
ducement to  the  cultivation  and  use  of  their  best  faculties,  that  their 
labor  may  be  refined  and  rewarded  in  higher  ways,  according  as  their 
powers  and  aptitudes  may  allow.  But  let  none  tbink  that  Providence 
ceases  to  exact  the  strictest  payments  for  its  gifts  in  the  shape  of  toil, 
self-control,  and  the  highest  and  most  painful  self-culture,  irom  those 
who  seem  to  escape  most  completely  from  the  ordinary  necessities  of 
humanity.  Genius  is  a  fearful  taskmaster.  Power  is  a  prodigious 
worker.  Elevation  is  often  solitary  confinement,  and  the  vaster  the 
sway  and  the  mightier  the  forces  controlled,  the  stiffer  the  hands  that 
hold  the  reins  and  the  more  weary  and  worn  the  charioteer.  In  a  word, 
labor  as  a  necessity — now  physical,  now  mental— permanently  describes 
human  condition  in  free  society ;  and  freedom  in  the  discharge  of  this 
necessity  is  merely  the  change  of  the  necessity  from  the  belly  to  the 
will.  The  more  free  you  can  make  this  labor,  by  taking  it  off  the  back 
and  putting  it  upon  the  brain — the  more  you  can  bring  its  compulsion 
out  of  the  heart,  conscience,  taste,  intellect,  and  the  less  out  of  the 
stomach — the  more  do  you  make  it  favorable  to  human  dignity  and  aspi- 
ration. Political  freedom,  free  trade,  common-school  education,  reli- 
gious bearing,  immortal  hopes,  equal  laws,  protection  of  property  and 
rights,  all  aid  in,  and  are  measured  off  by,  this  result.  Men  must  work 
with  hand,  or  head,  or  heart.  Get  their  free  consent  to  this  work  by 
making  them  feel  its  blessedness  as  a  law  of  Providence,  and  not  merely 
a  blunt  necessity  of  fortuitous  circumstances,  a  misfortune  of  their  lot; 
let  them  see  that  so  they  are  built  up  and  dignified,  and  so  society  is 
exalted,  that  the  God  who  made  them  is  their  friend  as  well  as  their 
prison  keeper  and  governor,  and  that  all  things  in  His  providence  and 
our  nature  Mork  together  for  good,  if  we  observe  His  statutes  and  laws 
written  in  that  nature  and  our  lot,  and  you  achieve  the  highest  possible 
results  of  social  existence,  as  well  as  secure  the  largest  returns  of  indi- 
vidual hai)piness  and  excellency. 

It  is  these  principles  which  the  new  science  of  prison  discipline,  based 
on  Maconochie's  method,  is  seeking  to  apply  to  the  treatment  and  eleva- 
tion of  prisoners.  Hope  being  the  root  of  the  jninciple,  labor  and  free- 
dom are  its  two  chief  branches.  The  ])risoiier  must  be  kei)t  at  labor, 
because  labor  is  the  great  burden  and  nei-essity  of  all  free  life,  and  its 
chief  educating  opi)ortunity.  Solitary  confinement,  deprivation  of  occu- 
pation, beyond  a  very  limited  i)eriod,  in  the  way  of  punishment,  at  the 
outset  of  the  convict's  imi)risonment,  are  found  Avhoily  lacking  in  any 
power  to  reiujvate  and  refoi m.  They  do  afford  an  opportunity  for  reflec- 
tion, and  they  humble  and  break  down  tlie  prisoner's  false  pride  and 
sense  of  jiower  to  defy  the  law.  But  the  very  feelings  thus  usefully 
started  arc  jjaialyzed,  if  not  put  to  a  speedy  use;  and  a  dungeon  or  cell 
becomes,  after  a  while,  a  i)lace  of  sleej),  apathy,  idle  thoughts,  or  pruri- 
ent fancies.  JJcsides,  tlie  i»risoner  who  is  led  at  the  i)ublic  cost,  usually 
quite  as  abundantly  or  more  so  tiian  jx'oph'  at  liberty  in  his  own  social 
chiss  are  f('<l  by  tiii'ir  lal)or,  olten  feels  that  he  is  compelling  society  to 
suj)p()rt  him,  and  siiceessfiilly  evjuling  tlie  law  that,  in  the  sweat  of  his 
brow,  lie  shall  e;irn  his  bread.  Keep  him  for  years  in  this  idleness,  and 
lie  goes  outofjiiil  iitlei'ly  ruined  as  a  laboicr,  and  often  sjx'edily  returns 
to  prisoji,  sometimes  by  an  act  [)iirpose!y  (sommittcd  to  secure  that  end. 
A  life  of  full  fed  idleness  in  i)rison  is  sweeter  to  degraded  natures  than 
a  life  of  ill  paid  and  ill-fed  labor  out  of  it.     As  soon,  therefore,  as  the 


ANNUAL    REPORT    OF    EXECUTIVE    COMMITTEE.  oZd 

couvict  has  passed  through  his  short  season  of  solitary  confinement,  he 
Is  put  to  hard  labor,  on  poor  diet;  but,  Avith  the  feeling  that  he  is  now 
earning  his  own  bread,  he  returns  in  part  to  the  ordinary  wholesome 
state  of  free  life.  But  his  labor  is  soon  made  less  bitter,  if  it  is  not 
made  sweet,  by  the  aunouncement  that  he  can  slightly  improve  his  fare 
by  diligence,  co-operation,  quiet  behavior,  and  the  caieful  observance  of 
all  prison  rules.  A  few  months  of  the  least  attractive  form  of  labor,  if 
the  prisoner  earns  the  privilege  by  good  conduct,  are  rewarded  by  a 
choice  of  occupations.  lie  is  put  to  the  trade  for  which  he  has  an  apti- 
tude or  preference.     Xow,  again,  his  diet  is  bettered. 

By  degrees  the  social  nature,  which  is  so  important  apart  of  man,  and  so 
educating  and  invigorating,  is  allowed  to  take  its  part  in  his  elevation. 
The  prisoners  are  separated  into  small  squads,  and  permitted  to  carry 
on  their  work  together,  to  help  each  other,  and  finally  even  to  live  to- 
gether in  huts  or  cabins,  always,  of  course,  under  necessary  restrictions 
and  supervision,  but  with  a  steady  eye  to  imitating,  as  far  as  possible, 
the  workings  of  free  society,  accustoming  them  to  social  influence  and 
to  membership  one  of  another.  As  much  room  as  is  compatible  with 
security  and  their  safe-keeping  is  given  to  their  free  will.  They  are  con- 
tinually encouraged  to  work  from  inward  motives,  from  a  sense  of  ben- 
efit to  themselves,  from  hope  of  reward,  and  from  a  consciousness  that 
both  their  labor  and  their  indulgences  are  regulated  with  an  eye  to 
their  personal  reformation  and  their  preparation  for  future  self-support 
in  the  ways  of  order  and  virtue. 

But  what  has  become  of  punishment  under  this  hopeful  system  of 
reformation  ?  Is  not  the  sense  of  confinement,  the  necessar^^  associa- 
tion with  convicts,  the  brand  of  the  public  prison,  isolation  from 
the  world,  and  the  suspension  of  the  freedom  to  go  and  come,  and 
do  and  not  do,  which  belong  to  the  innocent,  punishment  enough  ? 
But  that  is  not  the  true  answer;  the  severity  of  punishment  is  in 
no  degree  to  be  measured  by  its  external  amount  or  its  cruelty  of 
form,  but  by  the  degree  in  which  it  is  felt.  If  you  kill  sensibility  you 
destroy  the  power  of  suffering.  You  may  whip  a  prisoner  till  he  ceases 
to  feel  the  blows.  You  may  extinguish  the  sense  of  freedom  until  the  prison 
ceases  to  be  an  object  of  horror  or  offense.  You  may  dull  the  conscience 
until  no  appeal  starts  a  responsive  pang.  You  may  accustom  man 
to  hardship  until  hardship  ceases  to  have  any  sense  of  trial  connected 
with  it.  The  true  method  of  making  punishment  elective  is  to  make 
the  object  of  it  sensitive  to  its  stroke.  You  must  not  toughen  either  the 
outer  cuticle  or  the  true  skin  of  the  heart,  if  j^ou  expect  your  blow  upon 
either  to  tell.  A  gentleman  feels  a  slight  imputation  on  his  honor  more 
than  a  ruffian  does  a  stab.  A  breath  of  calumny  afflicts  an  innocent 
and  modest  woman  more  than  a  public  trial  does  a  lewd  sister.  Even 
then,  if  i)unishment  is  to  be  made  dreadful,  it  is  only  within  the  bound- 
aries of  two  principles  that  it  can  keep  its  efficacy.  You  must  not  ex- 
tinguish or  lessen  sensibility  by  the  hardening  process  of  frequent,  per- 
sistent, and  cruel  penalties.  To  make  a  soldier  familiar  with  the  lash  is 
to  destroy  its  dread.  To  make  a  ])risoner  familia  r  with  solitude,  with 
hunger,  with  stolid  neglect,  with  dull  routine,  is  to  destroy  or  annul 
their  penal  influence,  their  deterring  power,  their  chastening  or  their 
moral  influence. 

All  punishments  the  vrorlcT  can  render 
Serve  only  to  provoke  th'  offender ; 
The  will  gains  strength  from  treatment  horrid, 
As  hides  grow  harder  when  they  are  curried. 

— TrumhulVs  McF'mgal. 


330  NATIONAL    PRISON    EEFORM    CONGRESS    OF    1873. 

Punishment  is  not  lessened  in  its  power  by  external  mildness,  by  care- 
ful graduation,  by  considerate  and  infrequent  application.  Even  suffer-*^ 
ing,  which  it  must  be  recollected  is  at  last  a  personal  feeliug,  is  not  mor- 
ally diminished  by  any  process  which  increases  sensibility  faster  than  it 
diminishes  violence.  The  probability  is  that  it  is  the  best  and  most  im- 
proving prisoners,  those  who  have  the  most  privileges  aud  the  nearest 
approach  to  free  life,  who  feel  their  sufferings  and  their  punishment  most 
acutely.  For  they  still  have  the  love  of  liberty,  the  elements  of  self- 
respect,  and  the  consciousness  of  power  to  be  good  citizens  tugging  at 
their  heart-strings.  They  have  the  reproaches  of  conscience,  the  mem- 
ory of  an  innocence  they  have  lost,  the  longing  for  an  opportunity  to  try 
their  good  resolutions,  all  intensified  by  the  shame  of  their  situation. 
Brutal,  hardened,  self-abandoned  men,  accustomed  to  daily  severity, 
hopeless,  aud  without  interest  in  themselves  or  their  future,  are  not 
great  sufferers  ;  they  are  fast  becoming  insensible  stocks  and  stones. 

It  is  a  radical  error,  then,  to  assume  that  making  more  of  the  reform- 
atory aim  makes  less  of  the  penal.  That  is  really  more  when  put  ia  the 
second  place,  than  it  could  be  if  left  in  the  first.  Do  you  suppose  that  a 
prisoner  of  average  sensibility  feels  most  a  blow,  or  a  word  of  reproof 
and  expostulation,  of  kindness  and  sympathy  !  Many  whom  stripes 
cannot  touch  are  deeply  moved  to  suffering  by  a  sympathy  new  to  their 
hearts,  which  opens  the  closed  flood-gates  of  remorse. 

The  new  processes  of  milder  and  more  reformatory  methods  are 
not  designed  to  make  the  prisoner  dread  the  jail  less  or  feel  more 
comfortable  there,  nor  do  they  have  that  effect.  They  are  designed 
to  bring  the  more  sensitive  parts  of  his  nature  under  the  influ- 
ence of  punishment,  and  to  make  that  punishment  elevating  and 
reformatory',  instead  of  being  merely  degrading  aud  brutaliziug.  You 
may  ferule  a  boy  until  his  hands  are  too  tough  to  suffer,  yet  he  has  sen- 
sibility still  left  somewhere  on  his  skin.  You  may  apply  severe  punish- 
ments only  in  one  way,  and  with  so  much  routine  aud  narrowness  of 
application  that  they  lose  all  responsiveness  from  the  nature  they  aim  to 
reach.  The  more  of  the  man  you  can  keep  open  and  exposed,  the  more 
of  thought,  feeling,  conscience,  affection,  hope,  you  bring  under  your 
penal  a])plication,  the  larger  and  more  effective  is  your  weapon ;  there- 
fore, whatever  free-Mill,  whatever  freedom  of  action,  whatever  educa- 
tion, whatever  moral  infiuence,  whatever  affection,  whatever  else  tends 
to  increase  the  area  and  sensibility  of  the  criminal's  humanity,  ofl'er  you 
new  chances  of  punishment  with  new  chances  of  reformation. 

It  is  with  the  convict  under  cruel,  or  brutal,  or  persistent  penalties 
as  it  is  with  society  under  oppressive  and  intrusive  or  viiulictive  laws. 
To  make  shoj)-lifting  a  hanging  offense  does  not  tend  to  diminish  crimes 
of  violence.  "As  well  be  hung  for  a  sliccp  as  a  lamb,"  says  the  thief; 
one  criim;  is  as  bad  as  another.  Thus  moral  distinctions  are  blurred, 
the  wis<l()m  and  justice  of  society  are  arraigned,  and  the  lower  portion 
of  the  woiid  becomes  insensible  to  tlie  nuu-al  considerations  most  potent 
over  the  Ix-ginnings  of  vice  and  crimen  Jf  you  make  vexatious  and  in- 
trusiv(^  tariff  laws,  and  adix;  unreasonable  <luties,  you  harden  the 
mcrcanlih',  conscience,  and  convert  even  the  belter  class  of  women  into 
])(!tty  smnggleiH.  J''ew  laws,  mild  laws,  impartial  laws  make  sensitive 
citi/Citis,  enlist  the  good  will  of  the  public,  favor  their  own  certain  en- 
forcement, and  bring  in(,o  play  those  privat<i  forces  of  personal  self-con- 
trol and  (conscientiousness  which  are  the  chief  au<l  final  hope  of  order 
and  Justice, 

Trisoners  are  men  ;  criiniMals  ;ire  men  ;  jails  are  in  and  a  part  of  tlie 
Hocial  system;  and  the  identical  prinitijdes,  and  as  near  an  approach  as 


ANNUAL    REPORT    ON   PRISON   DISCIPLINE.  331 

possible  to  the  methods  of  ordinary  life,  are  both  more  penal  and  more 
reformatory  than  any  others.  It  is  found  that  the  rules  of  sick-rooms 
in  private  homes  are  the  best  rules  for  public  hospitals  ;  of  course  they 
cannot  there  be  carried  out  in  perfection,  but  they  must  be  reached  for- 
ward to  with  all  pains.  So  the  insane  are  now  governed  as  nearly  as 
possible  by  reason,  and  as  much  as  possible  like  the  sane.  The  old  plan 
was  to  forget  that  insanity  is  a  disease  of  sanity,  just  as  the  old  medi- 
cal practice  forgot  that  bodily  disease  was  the  disturbance  of  forces 
which  in  equilibrium  we  call  health,  and  that  the  laws  of  health,  and 
not  the  laws  of  disease,  are  the  great  foundation  of  true  therapeutics. 
Until  crime  is  regarded  as  a  disease  of  society,  that  must  be  cured  on 
social  principles,  and  in  accordance  with  social  laws;  until  criminals  are 
considered  as  belonging  to  the  humau  species,  and  still  mainly  to  be 
governed  and  cured  by  universal  human  motives  and  human  sensibilities, 
we  shall  not  have  reached  the  very  key  to  the  whole  problem. 
For  the  committee  : 

H.  W.  BELLOWS. 

3.   REPORT  OF  THE  STANDING  COMMITTEE  ON  PRISON  DISCIPLINE. 

Prison  discipline,  as  a  subject  of  inquiry  by  this  committee,  includes 
the  exposed  classes  iu  society  and  the  criminals.  The  former  are  the 
friendless  poor,  the  uneducated,  the  immigrant  population,  and  those 
whp  are  born  into  such  surroundings  as  drunkenness,  license,  fraud, 
&c.,  or  who  unfortunately  inherit,  in  their  constitutions,  imbecility, 
vicious  impulses,  or  nervous  disease.  The  latter  are  those  who,  having 
committed  crime,  are  either  in  prison  or  at  large.  The  best  informa- 
tion to  be  had  warrants  the  estimate  of  40,000  as  the  number  of  actually 
imprisoned  criminals  in  the  United  States  at  a  given  time.  There  are  no 
reliable  data  on  which  to  found  a  statement  of  the  percentage  of  crim- 
inals who  evade  commitment  to  prison.  But  there  is  no  doubt  that  a 
large  jiroportign  do.  If  it  were  supposable  that  the  objective  causes  of 
criminal  acts,  and  the  causes  that  tend  to  repress  crime  and  contribute  to 
the  reformation  of  criminals,  were  about  evenly  balanced,  we  might  hope 
that  this  proportion,  whatever  it  be,  comprised  the  criminals  of  the 
country,  a  fact  sufficiently  alarming,  whether  viewed  in  its  financial 
relations  or  as  a  source  of  danger  to  life  and  property.  But,  doubtless, 
the  influence  of  the  criminals  at  large  upon  their  progeny,  upon  their 
associates,  and  upon  society  in  various  ways,  is  in  excess  of  the  govern- 
mental and  moral  means  for  repression,  and  no  general  reformatory 
results  are  reached  with  those  who  are  imprisoned ;  and  since  about  one- 
third  of  these  latter  are  annually  released  from  j)rison,  the  prison  popu- 
lation itself  becomes  a  center  of  crime-production. 

A  numerical  estimate  of  the  classes  especially  exposed  to  commit 
crime  can  scarcely  be  made  with  sufficient  accuracy  to  give  it  much 
value ;  and  since  this  report  proposes  to  treat  chiefly  of  the  criminals 
themselves,  it  will  not  be  attempted.  It  is  safe  to  affirm,  however,  that 
there  is  a  migratory  population,  without  accumulated  meaus  and  with 
few  social  ties,  who  earn  irregularly  and  spend  prodigally;  that. there 
are  others  who  are  penniless  and  improvident,  though  having  a  fixed 
domicile;  and  that  there  is  a  large  class  who,  from  one  cause  or  another, 
depend  on  public  or  private  charity.  There  are  others  still,  whose 
occupation  and  associations  serve  to  develop  the  baser  passions  at  the 
sacrifice  of  the  benevolent  affections  and  moral  sentiments,  though  pos- 
sessed of  sufficient  pecuniary  resources.  These  several  classes  consti- 
tute, altogether,  an  uneducated  mass  of  beings,  with  some  virtues  doubt- 


332  NATIONAL    PRISON    REFORM     CONGRESS    OF    ]S7:L 

less,  but  nevertheless  specially  exposed  to  temptations.  So  there  are 
hundreds  of  thousands  fresh  from  foreign  countries,  possessing  but 
imperfect  knowledge  of  our  language,  our  laws,  and  our  social  customs, 
strangers  in  a  strange  laud,  the  prey  of  political  partisans  and  unprin- 
cipled sharpers,  who  are  crowded  into  the  cities  or  pushed  out  upon  the 
frontiers  of  civilization,  and  wholly  unaccustomed  to  the  freedom  which 
they  enjoy  here,  many  of  whom  are  likely  to  infringe  upon  the  rights  of 
property  and  person,  and  to  offend  against  the  peace  and  order  of 
society.  And  also,  beyond  question,  there  is  a  large  class,  possessing 
the  unfortunate  inheritance  of  deficient  mental  and  moral  faculties, 
with  ungovernable  auiinal  instincts  or  diseased  nervous  conditions, 
rendering  their  proper  behavior,  in  mixed  society,  a  practical  impossi- 
bility, without  the  restraints  of  the  law. 

We  have,  then,  as  the  subject  of  our  inquiries — 1.  Some  40,000  crim- 
inals actually  in  custody;  2.  An  nnknowu  quantity  of  the  same  class 
abroad  in  the  coniinunity  ;  and,  3.  An  indefinitely  large  population  pecu- 
liarly exposed  to  crimes. 

Prison  discipline,  in  the  broad  sense,  has  to  do  with  the  exposed 
classes  by  way  of  introducing  and  conducting  special  preventive  agen- 
cies, and  in  this  work  we  seem  to  be  limited  at  present  to  investigation 
and  recommendation,  for  the  people  are  so  jealous  of  any  apparent  in- 
fringement of  individual  rights  that  they  are  impatient  of  the  restraints 
and  obligations  necessary  to  this  end.  But  good  progress  has  been 
made  of  late  through  the  enactment  of  compulsory  education  and  strin- 
gent liquor-laws  in  some  States,  and,  though  these  laws  are  very  imper- 
fectl.y  enforced,  they  show  a  degree  of  attention  to  j)revention  and  an 
improved  sentiment  which  are  very  encouraging. 

The  State  of  Michigan  follows  Massachusetts  in  the  next  practical 
measure,  and  promises  to  improve  upon  the  Munson  establishment  in 
the  last  named  State.  There  is  now  in  progress  of  construction  by 
Michigan,  at  Coldwater,  a  State  public  school,  embodying  the  main  fea- 
tures of  both  the  family  and  the  congregate  ideas,  as  separately  applied 
throughout  the  country  in  its  reform  schools  or  houses  of  refuge.  The 
establishment  will  comprise  ten  cottages  for  families  of  thirty  each, 
Mith  suitable  buildings  for  meals,  for  school,  and  for  employment, the 
whole  to  be  attractive  in  architecture  and  general  arrangement ;  and  it 
is  designed  by  the  projectors  to  institute  the  very  best  school  facilities 
and  far  better  social  surroundings  for  the  scholars  than  are  generally 
provided  for  the  wards  of  a  State.  In  short,  the  design  is  to  qualify  the 
inmates  for  the  higlier  occupations  and  social  walks,  and  to  see  that 
they  are  duly  introduced  into  them  on  leaving  the  school.  The  act 
creating  this  institution  provides  that  "  there  shall  be  received  as  pupils 
in  such  school  those  children  that  are  over  four  and  undersixteen  years 
of  age,  that  are  in  suitable  condition  of  body  and  mind  to  iTceive  in- 
struction, who  are  neglected  and  dependent,  esi)ecially  those  who  are 
now  maintained  in  the  county  ])0{)r-h()us('s,  those  who  liave  been  aban- 
doned by  tlicir  parents,  or  are  ori)hans,  or  whose  parents  have  been  con- 
\icted  of  cjiiiic."  Doubtless  further  legislation  will  be  had  this  year, 
eidar^iirig  tlic  scoiic  of  tliis  S(;liool  so  as  to  embrace  all  the  really  neg- 
l(!ct(Ml  and  dcpciidciit  (Jiildrcn  of  the  State.  Jt  is  ho]ied  that  the  best 
('xpc(;t;it  ions  for  this  new  institution  maybe  moi(^  tlian  realized,  and 
that  other  Stales  will  establish  similar  oiu'S.  ft  is  unnecessary  to  occupy 
sjjace  in  this  report  in  calling  attention  to  the  numenHis  and  various 
]>rivato  charitu'S  suggestcMl,  established,  and  sustaiiu'd  by  the  jn'actical 
('hristian  sentirniuit  of  the  tiiruvs.  Yet  wo  may  be  indulged  in  otllering 
our  congratulations  at  the  humanitarian  and  religious  activities  indi- 


ANNUAL    KEPOET    ON    PEISON    DISCIPLINE.  333 

cated  by  these  and  other  means  to  improve  the  classes  of  society  under 
consideration.  It  is  hoped  also  that  the  influence  of  this  association  may 
be  applied  to  facilitate  a  similar  tendency  in  the  spirit  of  civil  legislation. 
When  the  adv^ocacy  and  support  of  the  various  schemes  and  measures 
presented  to  the  Federal  and  State  legislatures  are  conditioned  upon  their 
value  to  the  moredefenselessanddeticieut  classof  thepopulation,  instead 
of  the  more  influential  and  better-endowed  portions,  the  prosperity  of  the 
whole  will  be  best  promoted,  and  much  be  accomplished  toward  the 
more  etiectual  prevention  of  crime. 

The  actual  relation  between  criminals  in  conlinement  and  the  crime 
class  in  society,  and  the  i^roper  oflice  of  government  toward  each,  are 
questions  that  should  engage  the  attention  of  the  association  at  once, 
for  they  must  underlie  all  plans  for  practical  reforms.  It  is  coming  to 
be  understood  that  there  is  a  marked  difference  between  the  exposed 
class  and  the  criminal  class — that  an  individual  of  vicious  impulse  who 
is  restrained  by  his  own  will  or  saved  from  the  overt  act  of  crime  by  his 
favorable  social  surroundings  is  a  better  citizen  than  he  is  when  the 
Eubicon  of  crime  is  passed.  There  is  an  added  impulse  given  by  the 
overt  act,  the  hold  of  restraint  is  weakened,  and,  as  a  rule,  the  chances 
of  moral  reformation  are  greatly  diminished.  It  is  this  knowledge  that 
is  producing  the  conviction  in  many  thoughtful  minds  that  criminals 
(and  by  criminals  are  meant  all  those  who  commit  offenses  justifying 
their  public  punishment)  should  remain  under  governmental  guardian- 
ship so  long  as  is  required  either  for  the  protection  of  society  or  to  aid 
the  criminal  in  his  efforts  to  reform  by  the  moral  force  of  his  legal  lia- 
bilities and  relations. 

The  criminals  abroad  in  society  probabl.y  supply  the  prison  popula- 
tion to  a  much  larger  extent  than  is  generally  supposed.  Prisoners  who 
are  received  for  the  first  time  at  the  State  prisons  for  felonious  crime, 
have  in  many  cases  been  previously  imprisoned  in  jails,  municipal  prisons, 
or  houses  of  refuge,  for  lesser  offenses.  And  the  prisoners  of  the  latter 
class  are  notoriously  repeaters,  having  had  in  some  cases  the  experience 
of  imprisonment  in  the  prisons  of  several  States  or  cities. 

It  is  a  popular  fallacy  that  virtuous  citizens  often  suddenly  fall  into 
crime  and  are  committed  to  prison.  Such  instances  may  possibly  exist, 
but  they  form  the  exception  and  not  the  rule.  When  persons  have 
fallen  into  crime,  having  come  down  from  virtuous  and  respectable 
heights  of  character  and  social  position,  it  has  been  by  an  easy  descend- 
ing grade  of  slight  deflections  at  first,  then  moral  delinquencies  of  the 
milder  type,  until,  finally,  and  often  from  the  accumulated  pressure  of 
inward  impulse  and  outward  distress,  actual  crime  is  committed.  But 
they  who  have  actunUy  fallen  are  but  a  tithe  of  the  criminal  population. 
The  mass  are  hor7i  into  it,  or  are  trained  for  it,  with  or  without  their 
own  consent.     The  criminal  class  is  an  abnormal  social  growth. 

After  suitable  measures  to  repress  this  growth,  the  first  care  should  be 
for  the  discharged  criminals.  The  pittance  bestowed  on  their  release  from 
prison  and  the  scanty  wardrobe  supplied  even  when  accompanied  with  the 
"  good  advice"  of  the  warden  and  the  "  God  bless  you"  of  the  chaplain, 
are  of  little  worth  to  the  criminal,  and  much  less  to  society,  as  a  guar- 
antee of  his  future  right  conduct  5  and,  as  a  rule,  no  guarantee  whatever 
is  furnished  by  the  fact  of  his  imprisonment  uiuler  the  best  known  ex- 
isting i^rison  system  in  this  country.  So  that  society  is  in  the  plight 
(which  would  be  ridiculous  if  it  were  not  too  sad)  of  temporarily  restrain- 
ing dangerous  persons,  then  of  still  further  degrading  them  by  peniten- 
tiary treatment,  and,  finally,  of  turning  them  loose  again,  to  j)ly  their  evil 
calling,  without  the  least  supervisory  control. 


334  NATIONAL    PRISON    REFORM    CONGRESS    OF    1873. 

Protection  from  discharged  prisoners  and  the  requisite  aids  for  reforma- 
tion must  come  from  benevolent  societies,  relying  upon  the  prisoner's 
voluntary  acceptance  of  the  proifered  help  and  his  permanent  choice  of 
an  upright  and  virtuous  life,  or  from  governmental  guardianship  and  con- 
trol. Private  benevolence  can  never  meet  the  want,  for  it  is  in  its 
nature  fitful,  is  insufficient  in  its  means,  and  cannot  command  the 
beneficiary  class.  As  a  rule,  they  who  most  need  the  restraints  and 
helps  to  be  derived  from  this  source  are  the  last  to  choose  it;  their 
choice  is  rather  indolence,  excesses,  and  such  associations  as  belong 
thereto.  For  the  few  reformed  prisoners,  and  for  the  imbecile  of  body 
or  mind,  these  efforts  are  of  great  value ;  but  for  the  headstrong,  heed- 
less, hardened  crowd  who,  having  been  released  from  prisons,  are  now 
abroad  in  the  community,  some  authoritative  supervisory  control  must 
be  had,  and  is,  indeed,  the  best  thing  for  both.  This  surely  can  be  had, 
for,  however  jealously  we  may  guard  the  individual  rights  of  the 
humblest  citizen  who  keeps  himself  within  the  limits  of  the  law,  when 
he  becomes  a  criminal,  or  commits  offenses  requiring,  in  the  judgment 
of  competent  courts,  his  personal  restraint,  then  he  cannot  reasonably 
complain  if  restraint  is  continued  to  such  an  extent,  and  so  long  as  may 
be  necessary  to  protect  society  from  his  depredations,  and  to  protect  him- 
self from  himself.  Public  sentiment  on  this  subject  is  somewhat  divided. 
There  are  those  who  object  to  laws  conferring  governmental  control 
of  criminals  after  they  are  released  from  prison,  on  the  ground  that — (1) 
Such  control  cannot  be  accomplished.  (2)  That  it  would  create  a  crime 
class,  generally  known  to  be  such.  (3)  That  the  uutrammeled  free  action 
of  the  mind  is  necessary  to  self  improvement  and  reformation:  therefore 
this  control  would  tend  to  defeat  its  own  object.  Others  believe  that 
the  apparent  difficulty  of  operating  such  laws  may  be  overcome  by  the 
ingenious  mechanism  of  the  law,  and  by  experience  in  administering  it. 
They  believe  that  the  crime  class  is  created  already,  and  that  the  effect 
of  the  law  will  only  be  to  define  and  reveal  it,  which  possesses  for 
society,  certainly,  as  many  advantages  as  disadvantages. 

Unrestrained  action,  in  opposition  to  or  disregard  of  just  obligation, 
is  not  liberty  but  license.  The  peace  and  welfare  of  society  can  only 
comport  with  absolute  individual  freedom,  when  the  impulses  are  pure, 
the  reason  fairly  developed,  the  moral  sense  rightly  cultivated,  and  the 
whole  properly  balanced.  Not  one  of  us  but  lives  under  somewhat  of 
restraint :  none  can  safely  give  rein  to  all  the  impulses  of  his  nature. 
The  amount  of  restraint  should,  and  in  God's  moral  government  actually 
does,  depend  ui)on  the  moral  quality  of  the  mind  acted  ui)on.  Eightly 
consiilered,  sin  restricts  our  liberty  ;  so  untaught  and  rebellious  citizens 
sliould  be  hemnuMl  in  by  human  hiws,  and  allowed  onl^"  a  limited  range 
lor  tlio  exercise  of  free  choice. 

it  wouhl  seem  to  be  a  self-evident  proposition  that  the  unreformed 
criminals  in  the  community  can  gain  nothing  by  tlie  absence  of  restraints, 
l)Ut  Would  gain  iiiucli  that  wonhl  be  of  real,  thougli  unwelcome  value  to 
them,  by  HU(!li  continued  supcrvisoiy  control  as  is  here  suggested.  It 
is  liardly  necessary  to  add  that  projxM'  govcrnmfMital  supervision  of  dis- 
charged eiJMiinals  ean  be  liad  only  b^'  continuing  ind(^linitely  somewhat 
of  tlie  conti'oj  conferred  l>y  the  courts  at  the  time  of  convicttion.  Once 
restrained  of  liberty  for  violating  the  laws,  governmental  control  should 
nev«^r  ]>(-, fiilli/  relin(|uislied  until  the  prisoner  has  at  least  the  following 
i|uali(ications  for  citizenship:  (1)  JI(^  should  be  able  to  read,  write,  and 
ci[)her,  sullicienlly  at  least  to  keej)  account  of  his  receii)ts  and  exi)endi- 
lures,  and  the  mind  should  be  so  niolde«l  as  to  make  liis  judgment  in 
cotnTiion  allairs  reasonably  tiiie.     (U)  lli^  should  ]M)ssess  within  himself 


ANNUAL    REPORT    ON   PRISON    DISCIPLINE.  335 

the  experience  and  skill  necessary  to  earn  an  honest  living,  or  be  taken 
in  charo^e  by  others  who  are  able  and  willing  to  provide  for  him,  to 
which  they  shotild  be  pledged  by  a  bond.  (3)  Satisfactory  evidence 
shonld  appear,  not  only  that  the  prisoner  has  sufficient  education  and 
intelligence  to  care  for  himself,  and  possesses  the  ability  to  earn  his 
living,  or  has  friends  to  provide  for  him  in  respectability,  but  that  there 
is  a  reasonable  probability  that  he  will  use  his  faculties  and  resources 
aright ;  in  other  words,  that  there  have  been  effected  in  his  mind  such 
changes,  and  these  actually  and  practically  tested,  as  will  afford  a  guar- 
antee of  reasonably  right  choices  in  the  presence  of  different  motives. 

Of  course  this  involves  changes  in  the  prison  system,  but  it  involves 
much  more  than  this.  There  are  required  training  or  testing  estab- 
lishments; establishments  somewhat  technical  in  their  character,  spe- 
cially adapted  to  their  peculiar  work,  in  connection  with  which  probation- 
ary periods  of  enlarged  liberty  should  be  allowed.  They  should  embody 
the  following  principles,  at  least:  (1)  While  legal  control  is  retained, 
there  must  be  such  relaxation  of  present  personal  restraint  that  the  pris- 
oner is  consciously  free,  under  the  play  of  such  motives  as  ordinarily 
influence  individuals  in  society.  Of  course,  failure  to  choose  and  act 
right  within  his  sphere  would  be  evidence  of  unpreparedness  for  return 
to  society.  (2)  The  aim  should  be  to  fit  each  individual  for  the  highest 
social  condition  possible  for  him,  and  to  this  end  the  school  or  reform- 
atory must  embrace  instruction  in  employments,  from  the  humblest  me- 
chanic art  or  agricultural  pursuit,  to  the  higher  mechanical  employments 
and  the  fine  arts;  this  upon  the  principle  that  the  weak  and  wayward 
most  need  the  support  of  good  social  surroundings,  which  are  most 
likely  to  be  found  among  those  engaged  in  the  higher  employments. 
(3)  A  high  standard  of  honor  should  pervade  these  establishments, 
and  constitute  the  disciplinary  regime.  One  who  cannot  distinguish 
what  is  honorable  from  what  is  dishonorable  and  mean,  or  who,  thus 
distinguishing,  has  not  self-control  enough  to  restrain  himself,  should 
be  deemed  unfit  for  the  school  or  reformatory,  and,  after  due  delibera- 
tion, should  be  banished  to  a  lower  grade  of  the  series.  Such  a  sense 
of  honor  involves  moral  integrity  and  a  spirit  of  self-sacrifice,  two  qual- 
ities of  character  which,  when  dominant  in  the  mind,  are  good  guarantees 
of  right  citizenship.  (4)  The  principle  of  religion  must  surely  be  im- 
planted here — not  any  denominational  religious  system,  but  sincere 
recognition  and  reverent  love  and  worship  of  Almighty  God. 

Protection  for  society  from  discharged  prisoners  through  such  estab- 
lishments as  we  have  described,  involves,  of  course,  the  preparation  of 
prisoners  for  such  a  graduation  while  they  are  confined  in  the  other 
prisons  of  the  state.  In  other  words,  a  reformed  prison  system,  substan- 
tially as  described  in  the  Declaration  of  Principles  of  the  iSTational  Prison 
Congress  of  1870  and  of  the  International  Congress  of  1872 ;  a  system 
in  which  the  object  of  vindictive  punishment  is  left  out;  a  system  in 
which  indulgence  for  its  own  sake  is  left  out ;  in  short,  a  system,  which 
neither  relies  for  the  suppression  of  crimes  upon  the  repression  of  crim- 
inals, nor  mainly  upon  their  persuasion,  but  rather  upon  their  restraint, 
cultivation,  and  cure. 

That  the  present  wretched  apology  for  a  prison  system  in  our  country 
may,  through  proper  effort,  be  supplanted  by  a  truer  ideal,  which  shali 
accomplish  these  results,  the  committee  have  no  doubt.  That,  in  the 
progress  of  civilization,  this  will  he  done,  the  committee  fervently  hope. 

It  is  believed  that  this  association  ought  at  once  to  ascertain  in  which 
of  the  several  States  the  true  ideal  of  a  prison  system  may  best  be 
planted,  and  that  our  influence  should  be  brought  to  bear^to  accom- 


336  NATIONAL    PRISON    REFORM    CONGRESS    OF    1873. 

plish  it.  An  examiuation  of  the  laws  and  institutions  of  such  State 
shouhl  bo  had,  and  the  necessary  changes  therein  carefully  noted ;  indeed 
the  whole  work  of  the  proposed  experiment,  and  the  successive  steps 
leading  to  it,  should  be  by  us  mapped  out  in  detail,  so  that  it  would  only 
remain  for  the  State  authorities  to  adopt  or  reject.  A  carefully  selected 
committee  of  citizens  of  such  State  warmly  enlisted  in  carrying  it  out, 
and  the  expected  co-operation  of  the  State  authorities,  if  realized,  would 
be  likely  to  secure  the  trial,  when  we  could  present  to  other  States, 
and  the  world,  a  practical  demonstration  of  the  wisdom  of  the  plans  and 
principles  we  hold,  but  unfortunately  now  content  ourselves  with  only 
proclaiming  over  and  over  again  in  our  various  public  documents. 
For  the  committee: 

Z.  E.  BROCKWAY. 

4.   REPORT  OF  THE  STANDING  COMMITTEE  ON  DISCHARGED  PRISONERS. 

The  committee  on  discharged  prisoners  can  add  but  little  to  the  infor- 
mation contained  in  the  report  made  to  the  association  by  the  commit- 
tee of  last  year,  which  presented,  as  far  as  it  was  known,  what  organized 
eftbrt  had  been  made  in  the  various  States  of  our  Union  to  improve  the 
condition  of  this  class  of  persons. 

It  is  sad  to  look  over  our  vast  country  and  see  how  utterly  inade- 
quate are  the  means  put  forth  for  their  relief.  We  are  exhorted  by  the 
Apostle,  "  as  we  have  opportunity',  to  do  good  unto  all  men,"  (Gal.  G :  10 ;) 
and  it  is  one  of  the  obvious  duties  of  society,  for  its  own  sake  and  for 
th:it  of  its  liberated  convicts,  to  render  permanent  any  beneficial  influ- 
ences resulting  from  the  discipline  of  the  prison.  But  on  the  restoration 
to  liberty  of  many  thousands  of  convicts  annually,  little  care  is  taken, 
save  in  a  few  favored  localities,  to  give  them  the  hand  of  Christian 
sympathy,  to  encourage  them  in  good  resolutions,  and  to  "  set  them  in  a 
plain  path  because  of  their  enemies."     (Ps.  27 :  11.) 

It  is  very  easy  to  make  general  abstract  declarations  of  duty  or  resolu- 
tions of  action  in  the  premises.  A  widely  different  nnitter  is  it  to  decide 
wisely  what  ought  to  be  done  in  the  multiform  individual  cases  as  they 
arise,  and  to  do  it.  Whether  his  term  of  imprisonment  has  produced 
penitence  and  resolutions  for  virtuous  living,  or  whether  he  is  impeni- 
tent and  prepared  with  whetted  appetite  to  pursue  a  course  of  crime, 
the  time  of  the  release  for  each  convict  comes.  Perhaps,  a  harsh  keeper* 
who  lias  fed  and  worked,  restrained  and  i)unished  him,  who  h;is  looked 
upon  him  as  one  who  must  be  resolutely  "kept  down,"  a  dangerous 
man,  incapable;  of  improvement,  now  feels  that  in  parting  some  "  good 
advice"  Irom  himsell',  as  tlie  representative  of  the  State,  is  called  for, 
and  he  counsels  him  to  industry,  sobriety,  and  honesty.  But  such 
counsel  from  such  a  source  gives  liim  no  strength  for  the  stern  battle 
at  once  upon  Jiiiri.  The  grave  qiu'stions  :  Where  vshall  he  go  "i?  What 
shall  he  do?  With  wliom  slmli  lie  associate'^  It  maybe  the  sadder 
inquiry,  who  will  associate  with  litm'l  jiress  for  immediate  answer.  He 
feels  tl'iat  he  is  dcgiaded  and  disgraced.  Shall  he  seek  the  friends  whom 
he  has  grieved,  ]»(Mli;ips  wrongecl,  or  shall  he  go  among  strangers'? 

Does  5iriy  one  tliinU  that  society  has  no  interest  iir  the  solution  of  these 
(luestions'j  Is  it  beneath  Ww,  notice  of  the  conservators  of  the  public 
welf;irc  wliat  inlliicnces  slmll  determine  the  course  of  a  mair,  despised 
indeed,  but  yet  i»ossessed  of  powers  which  at  this  cr  itical  moment  of  his 


"  Many  keeperw,  it  niuHt  l»o  Hai»l,  are  not  liaisli,  but  (^entlo  and  geatleir.anly,  remem- 
bering the  gol(l<-ii  rule  in  (l(;ilin;i;  witli  tlmsc  under  tl;cir  care. 


ANNUAL    EEPORT    ON    DISCHAEGED    PRISONERS.  337 

life  may  be  directed  either  to  bless  or  to  curse  the  community?  Tempta- 
tions to  robbery,  arson,  murder  run  through  his  mind,  but  a  few  words 
l)rompted  by  a  kind  and  loving  heart,  the  offering  of  a  prospect  of 
honorable  and  useful  employment,  with  a  vista  of  better  days  temporally 
and  spiritually,  may  be  the  means  of  turning  his  feet  into  the  paths  of 
virtue.  By  the  rescue  of  such  an  one  from  the  toils  and  penalties  of 
crime  and  his  addition  to  the  ranks  of  honest  industry,  society  gains  by 
a  relief  from  his  depredations,  and  also  from  the  apprehension  of  them, 
as  well  as  by  the  actual  benefit  of  his  labors. 

Eelief  to  discharged  prisoners,  however,  requires  wise  consideration 
in  the  individual  cases  as  tliey  occur.  It  can,  perhaps,  hardly  be  accom- 
plished by  special  homes  or  manufactories,  as  has  sometimes  been  pro-  • 
posed.  The  most  hopeful  plan  appears  to  be  the  appointment  for  each 
considerable  prison  of  an  ofticer  whose  duty  it  shoidd  be  to  make  himself 
acquainted  with  the  prisoners,  especially  with  those  whose  confinement 
is  near  to  termination,  to  win  their  confidence  by  kindly  ministrations 
and  undissembled  interest  in  their  affairs,  to  learn  by  delicate  inquiry 
their  history,  character,  capabilities,  and  desires,  and  then  by  outside 
correspondence  to  secure,  if  possible,  for  each  departing  convict  a 
comfortable  home  with  employment  suited  to  his  needs,  to  which  he  can 
go  at  once,  without  being  subjected  to  the  temptations  of  contaminating 
associates.  He  should  be,  if  necessary,  accompanied  to  his  new  domi- 
cile. 

A  mere  mercenary  laborer  is  not  wanted  here.  The  agent  may  be 
a  plain  man,  but  he  should  be  possessed  of  some  rare  gifts  and 
grac-es.  He  must  be  warm-hearted,  generous,  and,  where  it  is  deserved, 
confiding,  of  quick  percei)tion  of  character,  of  undoubted  truthfulness 
and  integrity,  and  of  sound  practical  common  sense,  making  his  coun- 
sels valued  because  they  are  valuable.  He  should  feel  an  earnest  inter- 
est in  the  spiritua.1  and  temporal  welfare  of  his  wards,  and  manifest  it 
by  loving  watchfulness  over  their  subsequent  career,  holding  them  in 
the  bonds  of  respectful  attachment. 

Some  of  the  prisoners'  aid  societies  have,  happily  for  their  beneficia- 
ries, found  such  men.  Provision  for  the  appointment  of  one  or  more 
agents  should  be  made  by  law  in  every  State  where  it  cannot  be 
effected  by  voluntary  associations,  which,  with  needful  aid  from  the 
State,  are  greatly  preferable.  To  be  without  some  such  arrange- 
ment seems  a  folly  and  a  crime,  for  if  society  sins  by  its  neglect 
of  duty,  it  must  suffer  the  penalty.  Wardens  have  reported  of 
some  discharged  prisoners  that  they  have  loitered  about  the  i^rison 
for  hours,  utterly  at  a  loss  to  decide  where  to  go.  Some  .have  been  de- 
coyed into  vile  rum-holes  and  stripped  of  the  few  dollars  allowed  them 
on  their  discharge.  Others  have  been  liberated  at  their  own  request 
before  the  morning  light,  that  they  might  escape  the  seductions  of  old 
associates  whom  they  knew  would  be  lying  in  wait  for  them  during  the 
day.  Some,  refused  employment  or  discharged  as  soon  as  their  late  home 
was  known,  or  stung  by  the  averted  looks  and  cutting  words  of  old  ac- 
quaintance, have  become  utterly  disheartened,  and,  on  temptation,  have 
broken  sincere  resolutions  of  correct  life.  The  value  of  the  counsel  and 
assistance  of  a  wise  and  sympathizing  agent  in  such  cases  need  not  be 
shown.  This  officer  should  have  an  ofiice  in  the  j)rison  or  contiguous  to 
it,  where,  hy  jjublic  announcement,  he  could  receive  applications  for 
laborers. 

It  may  appear  a  solecism  to  say  that  the  care  of  discharged  prisoners 
should  commence  on  the  day  of  their  incarceration,  but  as  the  wished- 
for  end  is  their  effectual  separation  from  the  crimiual  classes,  it  is  obvi- 
H.  Ex.  185- — 22 


338  NATIONAL    PRISON    REFORM    CONGRESS    OF    1873. 

ous  tliat  legislative  enactments  and  tlie  discipline  of  the  prison  should 
be  such  as  to  promote  and,  so  far  as  possible,  to  secure  that  object.  The 
system  of  marks,  and  grades,  and  tests;  of  religious,  moral,  and  liter- 
ary instruction  combined  with  labor  ;  of  conditionally  promised  commu- 
tation and  pecuniary  reward — these  encourage  a  i)risoner  to  do  right, 
stimulate  him  to  overcome  his  evil  propensities,  and  strengthen  him  in 
habitual  good  conduct.  Many  will  thus  become  worthy  of  the  recom- 
mendation of  the  agent,  and  will  justify  it  on  their  complete  liberation. 
Of  those  who  evince  no  signs  of  reformation,  and  who  will  only  return 
to  society  to  prey  upon  it,  it  may  not  be  out  of  place  to  express  the  con- 
viction that  they  ought  not  to  enter  the  list  of  discharged  prisoners. 
The  victim  of  some  terrible  accident  is  not  sent  to  the  hospital  for  a 
prescribed  time,  but  until  curative  treatment  restores  his  bruised  body 
or  shattered  limbs.  An  insane  patient  is  retained  in  the  asylum,  not 
for  so  many  weeks,  but  till  returning  reason  fits  him  for  self-control. 
In  the  case  of  a  desperate  criminal,  a  special  time-sentence  seems  equally 
inappropriate,  and  should  be  changed  to  one  conditioned  upon  his  refor- 
mation. 
For  the  committee : 

SAMUEL  ALLINSON. 


III.— PAPERS  COMMUNICATED. 

1.   The   CRIMINAL. 

By  Dr.  Prosper  Desirine,  France. 

[Translation.] 

The  importance  of  this  subject  aj^pears  from  the  single  tact,  eniiuently 
rational,  that  a  knowledge  of  the  criminal  is  an  essential  guide  to  aright 
treatment  of  him ;  a  knowledge  of  him,  not  in  his  acts,  which  are  but 
too  well  known,  but  in  his  spirit,  in  the  psychical  condition  which  impels 
him  to  commit  crime,  and  to  renew  the  monstrous  act  as  often  as  cir- 
cumstances permit. 

There  must  be  something  al)noru)al  in  the  disposition  of  criminals, 
Avhen  they  yield,  with  the  utnu)st  facility,  to  desires  which  would  excite 
the  strongest  repugnance  and  horror  in  a  truly  moral  man.  I3oes  not 
this  abnormal  state  leveal  itself  in  the  clearest  manner  when,  contrary 
to  what  poets  and  moralists  have  represented,  we  see  the  wretch  who 
has  committed  crime  exhibiting  no  symptons  of  remorse,  but  rather  a 
disposition  to  rejx'at  the  same  ciiminal  act  ?  Such  is  the  thought  which 
hasiuomptcd  nie  to  study,  ^\  ith  the  greatest  care,  the  ])s.vchical  comlition 
of  criminals,  or,  if  you  i)lease,  the  psychology  of  criminality,  in  order  to 
lill  a  hiatus  which,  hitherto,  has  existed  in  science. 

I  i)ropose,  in  this  paper,  to  set  forth  some  of  the  views  suggested  by 
my  j)sycli()l()gi(;al  study  of  (uiminals.  These  views,  exhibited  at  length 
in  a  work  whi('h  I  have  recently  published,  will  be  traced  here  only  in 
outline.  JJut  I  hope  that,  however  Irielly  i)resented,  they  may  engage 
others  to  enter  the  |):itli  which  I  have  opcneil,  and  to  i)ursue  it  with  per- 
K(!v<nance;  a  path  which  I  consider  th(^  most  ratiouiil  juid  the  most  likely 
to  leafl  to  a  right  trciit  incnl  of  those  perv<'iled  beings  who  <listurb  so(;iety 
SO  juolbiindly  and  wilh  such  i-cgiihirity  that  both  the  number  and  the 
species  of  llH'ir  CI  inics  may  I»c  (bresecn  and  predicted  with  almost  uneir- 


ABNOEMAL    MORAL    STATE    OF    CRIMINALS.  66\) 

ing  precision.  jSTow,  Just  as  in  order  to  the  rational  treatment  of  a  sick 
man,  it  is  necessary  to  study  the  organic  disease  with  wbicb  he  has  been 
attacked;  in  the  same  manner  is  it  essential  to  know  the  abnormal 
*  psychical  condition,  or,  to  speak  better,  the  moral  disease  which  produced 
the  crime;  a  condition  without  which,  from  the  study  I  have  made  of 
criminals,  great  crimes  are  never  committed  in  cold  blood;  for  I  have 
found,  without  exception,  this  abnormal  psychical  condition  in  all  great 
criminals. 

I  have  spoken  of  moral  disease.  This  demands  a  clear  and  exact  defi- 
nition. Let  it  not  be  supposed  that  I  look  upon  the  criminal  as  diseased 
in  such  a  sense  that,  like  the  insane,  he  stands  in  need  of  medical  treat- 
ment. If,  in  certain  cases,  crime  is  committed  nnder  the  influence  of  a 
pathological  cerebral  condition,  little  apparent  to  the  magistrate,  but  in 
general  recognized  by  the  physician  versed  in  medical  jurisprudence, 
^the  ordinary  criminal,  the  criminal  who  peoples  the  prisons,  is  almost 
always  healthy  in  body.  His  mental  state  does  not  grow  worse,  like  that 
of  the  insane  patient,  in  the  sense  of  the  gradual  destruction  of  all  his 
faculties.  Let  us,  then,  settle  this  preliminary  point,  viz,  that  the  crim- 
inal is  not  a  patient,  and  that,  in-  this  respect,  he  must  not  be  likened  to 
the  insane. 

But,  although  sound  in  body,  the  criminal  none  the  less  manifests 
psychical  anomalies  of  a  very  grave  character.  But  we  must  not  seek 
these  anomalies  in  the  intellectual  faculties,  properly  so  called;  in  the 
perception,  in  the  memory,  and  in  the  facnlty  of  associating  ideas,  of 
reasoning,  that  is  to  say,  in  the  reflective  powers.  Although  many  crim- 
inals are  as  scantily  endowed  with  intellectual  as  with  moral  faculties, 
it  is  not  the  lack  ot  intelligence  which  is  the  distinctive  character  of 
these  dangerous  beings ;  for  there  are  among  them  persons  of  great, 
intelligence,  capable  of  forming  ingenious  combinations,  which  are  the 
product  only  of  strong  reflective  faculties.  The  distinctive  anomalies 
of  criminals  are  found  only  in  the  moral  faculties,  in  the  instincts 
of  the  soul,  out  of  which  spring  its  desires  and  proclivities,  and  which 
constitute  our  principles  of  action  :  for  it  is  these  which  impel  us  to  act 
in  one  direction  or  in  another. 

In  studying  criminals,  the  flrst  thing  which  strikes  us,  and  which  is 
obvious  to  all,  is  the  i)errersity,  the  criminal  thoughts  and  desires,  in- 
spired by  the  evil  inclinations  and  vices  inherent  in  all  mankind,  but 
more  emphasized  in  criminals  than  in  other  men.  It  is  the  violent  pas- 
sions— hatred,  revenge,  jealousy,  envy  ;  it  is  also  other  passions  which, 
without  being  violent,  are  no  less  tenacious  in  criminals,  such  as  cu- 
pidity, the  love  of  pleasure,  profound  repugnance  to  a  regular  life  and 
to  labor,  and  an  inteuvse  indolence.  These  two  last-named  vices  impel 
criminals  to  seek  the  means  of  satisfying  the  material  wants  of  life  and 
the  enjoyments  which  they  crave,  not  in  honest  toil,  but  in  readier  ways, 
which  are  immoral  and  hateful — in  theft,  arson,  and  murder.  These 
qualities  in  criminals  are  manifest  to  the  eyes  of  all.  But  do  these  ma- 
lign passions,  these  immoral  propensities  and  desires,  constitute  a  really 
abnormal  psychical  state?  By  no  means;  and  the  proof  is,  that  these 
evil  tendencies,  these  wicked  passions,  these  perverse  and  criminal  de- 
sires, make  themselves  felt  in  the  soul  of  the  most  upright  man,  without 
his  ceasing  to  conduct  himself  in  a  virtuous  manner,  for  the  reason  that 
he  wages  a  successful  warfare  against  them.  There  is  no  need  to  en- 
large upon  this  point,  which  is  so  well  known,  that  persons  engaged  in 
the  study  of  the  criminal,  seeing  in  him  only  perversity,  vicious  incli- 
nations, immoral  desires,  have  considered  him,  in  a  moral  point  of  view, 


340  NATIONAL    PRISON    EEFORM    CONGRESS    OF    1873. 

as  normally  constituted.  His  moral  irregularity,  then,  is  to  be  looked  for 
somewhere  else. 

To  understand  in  what  this  irregularity  consists,  let  us  examine  what 
passes  in  the  man  recognized  as  normal  in  his  moral  constitution,  when* 
he  finds  himself  in  presence  of  a  perverse  thought,  an  immoral  desire. 
Every  one  sees  it  in  a  moment.  The  conscience,  that  is  to  say,  the 
right  instincts  of  the  soul,  the  moral  faculties,  three  words  which  mean 
the  same  thing;  the  conscience,  I  say,  is  roused  ;  the  moral  sentiments, 
opposed  to  the  vicious  instincts,  are  shocked  by  these  ideas  and  desires, 
and,  excited  by  the  wound  thus  inflicted  upon  them,  they  react  more 
or  less  vigorously,  according  to  the  degree  of  power  they  have  in  each 
individual.  From  this,  a  moral  conflict  springs  up  in  the  soul  between 
the  good  and  the  evil  sentiments.  In  this  moral  conflict  appear,  accord- 
ing to  the  more  or  less  perfect  moral  nature  of  the  man  normally  consti- 
tuted, three  orders  of  sentiments:  1.  The  good  sentiments,  which  are 
developed  and  exert  their  force  on  the  selfish  side — that  is  to  say,  the 
moral  sentiments  which  prompt  to  virtue  and  withhold  from  vice  in  a 
well-considered  personal  interest,  but  with  no  other  view  than  some 
present  or  future  advantage;  such  for  example  as  the  fear  of  imnish- 
ishment,  of  public  scorn,  of  the  loss  of  liberty,  the  dread  of  being  de- 
prived of  the  enjoyment  of  one's  possessions,  of  being  separated  from 
his  family,  of  leading  a  wretched  life,  a  life  full  of  privations,  &c. 
2.  The  generous  sentiments,  which  lead  us  to  act  charitably  toward  our 
fellows,  under  the  promptings  of  a  kind  heart,  and  with  a  view  to  the 
contentment  of  our  generous  inclinations.  3.  The  moral  sense,  the  sen- 
timent of  right  and  wrong,  accompanied  by  a  feeling  of  ohligation  to 
do  what  is  right,  not  in  view  of  any  satisfaction  or  advantage  to  be 
hoped  from  it,  but  because  it  is  right ;  and  to  abstain  from  what  is 
wrong,  not  on  account  of  any  suffering  to  be  feared  as  a  consequence, 
but  because  it  is  felt  to  be  wrong.  This  unselfish  and  disinterested  sen- 
timent is  the  highest  exj)ression  of  the  conscience,  and  its  motive 
power  of  action,  instead  of  being  some  personal  interest  or  satisfaction, 
is  duty.  It  is  this  lofty  moral  faculty  which  makes  the  man  who  is  so 
happy  as  to  possess  it  feel  that  he  must  repel  a  vicious  or  criminal  act, 
however  great  the  advantage  to  be  gained  by  it,  and  however  painful  the 
course  to  be  taken.  It  is  this  which  drew  from  Kant,  the  great  German 
I>hilosoi)her  and  moralist,  the  exclamation,  profoundly  true  :  ^'Duty! 
wonderful  idea,  which  acts  neither  by  insinuation,  nor  by  flattery,  nor 
by  menace,  but  simply  by  sustaining  in  the  soul  thy  naked  law,  thus 
compelling  respect  for  thyself,  if  not  always  securing  obedience  to  thy 
commands." 

Such  are  the  three  (U'dersof  sentiiiunits,  of  moral  instincts,  with  which 
nature  has  endowed  us  to  combat  the  per\'erse  instincts  wliich  she  has 
also  ])laced  in  our  hearts,  thus  putting  the  antidote  at  the  side  of  the* 
poison. 

Let  us  now  glance  at  mankind  as  a  whole.  By  the  side  of  men 
normally  constituted,  altliough  imperfect  because  they  are  men,  what 
do  we  see?  Anoma]i(;s,  monstrosities.  Ju  a-  pliysical  point  of  view,  by 
the  side  of  m<Mi  well-formed,  of  robust  health,  of  beautiful  and  noble 
forms,  we  find  l)eings  sickly,  weak,  ill-shajx'd,  ])uny.  Viewing  men 
inttillectually,  what  do  we  see!?  The  same,  dilfer*Mices.  V>y  the  side  of 
men  of  gtMiius,  who  (ireate,  sciences,  who  jjroduce  those  marvels  of  the 
imagination  which,  in  literature  and  tln^  aits,  excite  our  enthusiasm,  we 
lind  vulgar  intelligences,  insensible  to  tlu^  creations  of  genius  and  the 
splendors  of  nature,  incapabh',  of  lilting  themselves  above  the  dii-ection 
of  their  business  and   the   material  wants  of  life.     J)es(;ending  in  the 


ABNORMAL    MORAL    STATE    OF    CRIMINAL.S.  d4l 

scale,  we  meet,  at  last,  with  the  weak-minded,  the  imbecile,  the  idiotic. 
These  natural  impeil'ections,  these  anomalies,  these  intirmities,  these 
monstrosities,  which  we  see  in  the  physical  and  intellectual  world, 
exist  also  in  the  moral,  as  marked,  as  numerous,  and  as  varied. 

It  is  to  the  reality  and  the  nature  of  these  moral  anomalies  that  I  de- 
sire to  call  the  attention  of  tliis  congress,  for  these  anomalies,  the  sad- 
dest, i)erhaps,  of  those  which  alfect  humanity,  are  completely  ignored,  or 
rather  their  importance  has  not  been  perceived.  Just  because  the  man 
is  in  health,  because  he  has  command  of  his  ideas,  becnuse  he  reasons, 
because  he  is  inieUectuaUy  intelligent,  it  has  been  thought  that  he  must 
be  also  morallij  intelligent ;  that  his  moral  faculties  are  in  a  healthy  state  ; 
that  his  conscience  is  capableof  feelingand  weighingright  and  wrong,  and 
that  he  possesses  the  ability  to  repress  his  evil  desires  without  having 
ever  dreamed  of  studying  his  moral  nature,  the  state  of  his  conscience  ; 
■without  having  once  thought  of  inquiring  whether  he  is  really  endowed 
with  moral  instincts,  with  the  moral  faculties  direct!}'  antagonistic  to 
the  depraved  instincts. 

The  infirmities,  the  moral  anomalies,  to  which  your  attention  has  been 
called,  what  are  they  1  In  what  part  of  the  man  are  they  to  be  sought  ? 
Is  it  in  the  depraved  instincts,  in  the  immoral  proclivities,  m  the  criminal 
desires,  even  ?  Not  at  all ;  for,  as  I  have  already  observed,  the  perverse 
sentiments,  and  the  depraved  ideas  and  desires  which  they  inspire,  are  as 
much  inherent  in  humanity  as  the  virtuous  sentiments  and  their  moral 
inspirations.  The  presence  of  perverted  sentiments  does  not,  then*  of 
itself  constitute  an  anomaly.  V/henever  the  antidote  is  found  in  the 
heart  beside  the  poison,  the  moral  state  of  that  man  is  regular.  But 
suppose  the  antidote  represented  by  the  moral  sentiments  is  either  too 
Aveak  or  wholly  wanting.  In  that  case  the  anomaly  exists  incoutestably, 
the  moral  equilibrium  is  destroyed,  for  the  v.irtuous  instincts  of  the  soul, 
and  the  moral  thoughts  inspired  by  them,  can  alone  serve  as  a  counter- 
poise to  the  power  of  evil  passions,  of  perversity.  It  is  this  psychic 
anomaly,  this  feebleness,  this  absence  of  conscience  with  which  criminals 
are  stricken  ;  and  it  is  this  alone  which  makes  the  criminal ;  it  is  this 
which  makes  it  possible  for  a  man  to  commit  acts  that  wound  profoundly 
the  moral  sense.  The  intellectual  faculties  are  incapable,  b3'  them- 
selves, of  serving  as  a  counter] )oise  to  depravity  ;  they  take  part  in  the 
combat  against  it  only  when  they  are  directed  in  their  activity  by  the 
moral  faculties.  It  is  a  psychological  principle  which  I  have  demon- 
strated in  the  work  to  which  reference  was  made  above,  and  which  shows 
the  supreme  importance  of  the  part  played  by  these  latter  faculties  in 
the  battle  against  crime. 

The  psychic  anomalies  now  under  consideration,  the  absence  of  the 
moral  faculties  which,  connected  as  it  is  with  the  presence  of  the  im- 
moral proclivities,  makes  criminals,  are  often  hereditary,  as  are  all  the 
other  vices  which  inhere  in  human  nature.  How  often  do  descendants 
inherit  from  their  ancestors  the  moral  anotualies  out  of  which  ^rime,  for 
the  most  part,  springs !  Not  the  slightest  doubt  can  rest  upon  this 
point  in  presence  of  the  numerous  examples  cited  by  Dr.  Bruce  Thomp- 
son, physician  to  the  prison  of  Perth,  in  the  Edinburgh  Evening  Courant 
of  the  2Gth  November,  18G9.  The  organic  condition  connected  with 
these  grave  moral  anomalies,  without  being  a  real  disease,  since  it  co- 
exists with  a  healthy  state  of  the  body,  has,  nevertheless,  a  relationship 
more  or  less  remote,  but  indubitable,  with  the  pathological  conditions 
of  the  brain,  which  produce  the  different  varieties  of  insanity.  The 
cases  in  which  the  children  of  the  insane  become  ordinary  criminals  are 


342  NATIONAL    PKISON    REFORM    CONGRE.SS    OF    1373. 

too  numerous  not  to  attribute  the  origin  of  this  fact  to  au  hereditary  or- 
ganic iniiuence. 

The  extreme  feebleness,  and  still  more  the  absence,  of  the  moral 
instincts,  whether  due  to  the  fact  that  their  precious  germs,  congeni- 
tally  too  weak  to  exhibit  themselves  spontaneously,  have  not  been  de- 
veloped by  a  right  moral  education,  or  to  tlie  fact  that  the  germs  of 
these  faculties  are  altogether  wanting,  constitute  the  saddest  of  the 
monstrosities  to  w^hich  the  human  race  is  subject.  This  monstrosity 
may  receive  various  designations;  I  have  given  it,  indiscriminately,  the 
name  of  moral  itliocy,  moral  insensibility,  lack  of  conscience,  different 
terms  which  give  an  exact  idea  of  its  nature.  It  dilfers  infinitely  in  its 
forms,  according  as  the  virtuous  sentiments  are  weak  or  deficient,  and 
in  its  intensity,  according  to  the  degree  of  weakness  found  in  these  sen- 
timents, a  weakness  which  may  reach  to  an  absolute  nullity.  The  sen- 
timents whose  feebleness  or  absence  makes  the  moral  idiot  may  be 
divided  into  three  classes:  1,  the  moral  sense;  2,  the  generous  senti- 
ments— pity,  benevolence,  charity,  respect;  3,  the  sentiments  of  pru- 
dence, foresight,  fear,  and  a  well-considered  personal  interest.  Let  us 
take  a  rapid  survey  of  the  several  kinds  of  moral  idiocy  caused  by  the 
absence  of  these  various  moral  sentiments. 

1.  The  absence  of  the  moral  sense  in  criminals  may  be  readily  made 
apparent.  The  conscience  of  the  man  who  is  so  happy  as  to  possess  jt, 
is  wounded  by  his  depraved  thoughts,  desires,  and  acts.  It  is,  there- 
fore, evident  that  he  vvho  experiences  no  moral  repulsion  in  the  presence 
of  his  criminal  desires,  and  who,  after  having  satisfied  these  desires, 
has  no  feeling  of  remorse,  is  really  without  a  moral  sense.  This  absence 
of  moral  recoil  from  criminal  desires  and  of  remorse  after  the  commis- 
sion of  crime  is  a  fact  of  observation  of  which  I  cannot  now  stay  to 
give  the  proofs ;  but  they  have  already  been  given  by  many  observers. 

2.  The  generous  sentiments  are  wanting  in  criminals  equally  with  the 
moral  sense.  Ilvature  has  endowed  most  men  with  sentiments  of  pity, 
of  benevolence,  and  of  charity  toward  other  men.  But  great  criminals 
are  an  exception  to  this  rule.  Without  pity  for  the  victims  whom  they 
rob  or  assassinate,  the  commencement  of  the  criminal  act  awakens  no 
kindly  sentiment  within  them ;  nor  does  it  recall  them  to  moral  reason, 
or  arrest  them  in  the  execution.  They  destroy  everything  which  forms 
an  obstacle  to  their  rapacity,  and  they  do  not  cease  to  strike  till  their 
victim  is  without  life.  They  never  bemoan  him;  they  even  insult  his 
corpse,  cast  ridicule  upon  it,  and  eat  and  drink  tranquilly  beside  it. 
They  have  no  sense  of  the  vahie  of  human  life.  They  murder  for  the 
veriest  trifles,  for  a  few  pieces  of  money,  for  a  momentary  gratification; 
and  not  a  thought  is  given  to  the  sorrow  they  will  cause  to  the  family" 
of  their  victim.  If  they  commit  the  crime  under  some  violent  passion, 
they  boast  of  the  act;  thej- glory  in  it;  and  they  declare  themselves 
ready  to  repeat  what  they  have  done.  Jf  their  victim  has  escai)ed 
their  rag^',  they  loudly  ])ro(;laim  their  regret,  and  express  their  deter- 
mination to  b(;  more*  adroit  next  tinu;.  The  re[)orts  of  the  cou)t  of  assizes 
are  filled  with  exidences  of  the  <'-ynicism  with  which  ciiininals  make 
these  declarations.  Insensible  to  tins  e\'il  which  they  commit,  regard- 
less of  the.  sad  fate  of  their  \ictims  and  of  tlx'ir  families,  they  are 
rqnaily  indilfen'ut  to  the  )»nnishnirnts  to  whi(;h  their  accomplices  may 
be  snl)jcctcd.  It  is  truly  marvelous  to  observe  the  faiulity  with  which 
criminals,  who  have  hreii  ancsted,  denounce  their  a(H;omi)lices  who  are 
still  at  liberty,  and  how  willingly  they  aid  in  their  arrest.  Tiiey  do 
tliis  either  with  the  selllsh  aim  of  translening  to  tluMr  acc()mi)li(;es  the 
responsibility  of  the  acts  whose  i)ressure  they  feel  and  of  being  less 


ABNORMAL    MORAL    STATE    OF    CRIMINALS.  d4d 

severely  tieate<l,  or  Avith  the  wicked  purpose  of  iuvolvinj?  tbeiii  iu  pun- 
ishraeut,  and  of  not  suffering  alone  the  chastisement  with  which  they 
are  menaced.  Tlie  bond  which  unites  these  wretched  bein^js  is  interest 
alone,  and  not  affection.  Thus,  the  moment  this  selfish  bond  is  broken, 
they  treat  each  other  as  enemies. 

o.  The  sentiments  which  stand  connected  with  a  well  considered  self- 
interest  are  those  Avhich  are  most  frequently  wanting  iu  these  excep- 
tional beinj»-s,  so  abnormall}' constituted  as  regards  the  natural  instincts 
of  the  soul.  The  lack  of  prudence  is  most  conspicuous  in  individuals 
destitute  of  the  moral  sense,  and  in  whom  the  selfish  fear  of  punishment 
is  stitled  by  some  violent  passion,  such  as  hatred,  vengeance,  jealonsj', 
and  sometimes  even  avarice.  In  that  case,wesee  these  madmen  threaten, 
publicly  or  privately,  the  person  who  is  the  object  of  their  i^assion  with 
the  fate  to  which  they  have  doomed  him.  These  reiterated  menaces  in- 
dicate with  certainty  a  crime  on  thepoint  of  commission,  which  it  would 
be  easy  to  prevent.  There  are  criminals  so  devoid  of  the  sentiment  of 
]»rudence,  tliat  they  talk  coolly  of  appropriating  what  belongs  to  others 
by  brushing  aside  all  the  obstacles  which  they  encounter,  so  that,  when 
the  crime  has  been  committed,  the  author  is  instantly  recognized. 

Improvidence  is  strongly  characteristic  of  the  greater  part  of  crimi- 
nals. It  is  owing  to  this  singular  trait,  which  belongs,  more  or  less,  to 
the  whole  class,  that  they  are  entirely  absorbed  by  the  desire  which 
possesses  them  at  tlie  moment.  One  w^ould  say  that  they  do  not  so 
much  as  cast  a  thought  toward  the  future,  which,  for  them,  is  as  though 
it  would  never  be.  The  consequences  of  the  crimes  which  they  medi- 
tate make  no  impression  upon  them  :  and  if  they  think  at  all  of  punish- 
ment, it  seems  to  them  that  they  will  never  be  overtaken  by  it.  Their 
mind  is  intent  solely  on  satisfying  present  desires,  iu  regard  to  which 
their  conscience  has  no  reproaches.  In  this  manner,  nearly  all  pursue 
the  end  they  have  in  view,  scarcely  thinking  of  punishment,  rushing 
fearlessly  after  some  material  good,  often  of  infinitesimal  proportions — 
after  miserable  pittances  of  money,  madly  squandered  in  a  few  days, 
even  in  a  few  hours.  This  extreme  improvidence  and  this  absence  of 
fear  give  to  criminals  an  audacity  and  an  effrontery  truly  surprising. 
Without  moral  curb,  and  scarcely  held  in  check  by  the  well-considered 
self-interest  which  fear  inspires,  how  should  they  not  be  daring,  auda- 
cious *?  But  this  blind  audacity  is  not  born  of  true  courage,  which  fore- 
sees danger,  which  fears  it  even,  and  which  confronts  it  under  the  sole 
impulse  of  duty.  This  stolid  audacity  is  the  result  of  several  species  of 
moral  insensibility,  by  which  the  criminal  is  characterized. 

The  man  who  can  sell,  at  so  cheap  a  rate,  everything  which  a  rational 
regard  to  his  own  interest  would  prompt  him  to  desire,  must  necessa- 
rily be  but  feebly  endowed  with  the  sentiments  which  that  interest  in- 
spires, and  especially  with  fear.  For  trifling  and  transitory  advantages, 
he  exposes  himself  to  the  hardest  chastisements,  to  the  loss  of  personal 
liberty  in  places  of  detention,  where  he  will  be  treated  with  severity  ; 
he  exposes  himself  to  be  sei)arated  from  his  family,  to  be  scorned,  to 
die  a  violent  and  ignominious  death,  which  wounds  to  the  last  degree 
the  dignity  of  man.  In  a  word,  he  prefers  a  vagrant  and  precarious 
existence  to  a  life  tranquil  and  regular. 

In  presence  of  these  various  sorts  of  moral  insensibility,  w^hich  are 
found  in  different  degrees  iu  all  criminals,  can  there  remain  a  doubt 
that  these  wretched  beings  are  the  subjects  of  a  grave  moral  anomaly? 
Can  there  be  a  doubt  ftf  it,  when  this  absence  or  deficiency  of  the  moral 
faculties  shows  itself  so  palpably  in  its  ettects — first  in  the  absence  of 
all  reprobation  of  the  criminal  thought,  and  then  in  the  utter  absence 


344  NATIONAL    PEISON    REFORM    CONGRESS    OF    1873. 

of  remorse  after  the  crimiual  act  ?  If  I  were  not  restricted  to  the  nar- 
row limits  of  a  lecture,  it  would  be  casj'  to  prove  tbat  tbe  absence  of 
tbese  bigber  faculties  causes  a  rude  sbock  to  reason  and  to  moral  lib. 
erty  ;  but  I  will  confine  myself  strictly  to  tbe  question  in  band. 

Tbe  understanding,  bowever  great  it  may  be,  does  not  prevent  or 
diminisb  tbe  sbock  caused  to  tbe  reason  aud  tbe  moral  liberty  of  tbe 
criminal  by  bis  moral  insensibility  ;  it  does  not  bold  tbis  man  back  from 
crime.  Far  from  it.  Tbe  understanding,  wben  guided  exclusively  by 
perverted  moral  instincts,  becomes,  on  tbe  contrary,  a  power  all  tbe 
more  dangerous  in  i^roportion  as  it  is  developed.  Intent  solely  on  tbe 
satisfaction  of  tbese  instincts,  it  devises  criminal  projects  and  seeks  tbe 
means  of  carrying  tbem  into  effect;  it  produces,  above  all,  malefactors 
fertile  in  criminal  inventions,  able  cbiefs  of  criminal  gangs.  In  men 
depraved  and  morally  icsensible,  tbe  understanding  is,  tberefore,  a  dan- 
gerous power. 

Mere  intellectual  knowledge  bas  very  little  influence  in  lidding  back 
tbese  morally  insensible  natures  from  tbe  perpetration  of  tbe  crimes  to 
wbicb  tbey  are  urged  by  tbeir  evil  iustincts  ;  of  wbicb  let  tbe  following 
fact  serve  as  proof.  Criminals  know  tbat  wbat  tbey  do  is  forbidden  by 
tbe  laws,  and  tbat  tbey  are  menaced  by  punisbments;  tbey  know,  gen- 
erally, even  tbe  kind  of  penalties  to  wbicb  tbey  expose  tbemselves  by 
sucb  or  sucb  a  crime;  for  professional  criminals  are  well  acquainted 
with  tbe  articles  of  tbe  i:)enal  code  wbicb  concern  tbemselves.  But 
does  tbis  knowledge  binder  tbeir  attempts  against  society "?  Xot  in  tbe 
least ;  society  is  none  tbe  less  assailed  by  them.  Laws  and  punisb- 
ments  are  alike  powerless,  wben  tbe  moral  idiocy  of  tbese  criminally- 
inclined  beings  extends  to  tbe  imbecility  or  absence  of  tbe  sentiuient 
of  fear;  a  tbing  by  no  means  rare.  Tbis  fact  bas  long  been  well  known, 
for  it  is  an  old  experience:  "Laws  witbout  good  morals  profit  notbiug." 
Laws,  witbout  moral  sentiments  and  tbe  good  manners  to  wbicb  tbey 
give  birth,  are  powerless  aud  vain.  The  utter  inefflcacy  of  mere  head 
knowledge,  of  intellectual  i)0wer,  before  tbe  depraved  instincts  of  men 
devoid  of  moral  sentiments,  bas  not  esca])ed  the  sagacity  of  tbe  bonor- 
able  president  of  tbe  American  Prison  Association,  ]\lr.  Horatio  Sey- 
mour, who  expressed  it  in  the  followiug  terms,  at  a  public  meeting  beld 
in  Xew  York,  January  26,  1872  :  "  Crime  grows  in  skill  with  every  ad- 
vance of  the  arts  and  sciences.  Knowledge  is  power,  but  it  is  not 
virtue.  It  is  as  ready  to  serve  evil  as  good."  At  a  time  wben  almost 
everywhere,  and  esi)ecially  in  France,  intellectual  culture  is  proclaimed 
as  the  princii)al  barrier  agaiust  crime;  at  a  time  wben  little  impor- 
tance is  attached  to  moral  culture  by  means  of  education,  the  true  means 
nevertheless  of  preventing  this  odious  act,  I  am  happy  to  be  able  to 
cite,  in  support  of  my  opinion,  a  rcs])ectable  name,  and  one  having  a 
higher  authority  than  mine. 

1  liave  spoken  only  of  criminals  who  commit  crime  in  cold  blood.  I 
desiie  to  ad<l  a  few  words  concerning  criminals  who  commit  such  acts 
under  the  inlluence  of  violent  passions,  such  as  hatred,  revenge,  jealousy, 
anger.  In  most  of  these,  we  find  a  moral  insensibility  as  great  as  in 
c()ld-l)looded  criminals;  an  insensibility  ]»roved  by  tbe  absence  of  re- 
moise,  alter  tb<'  eiime.  Still,  a  small  number  of  these  ])ers<)ns  may  pos- 
sess the  moial  sentiments  to  a  suHieient  degree.  Smldenly  overborne 
by  some  violent  jiassion,  which  instantly  stiliesand  paial.yzes  tbe  nobler 
sentiments,  tbey  liiid  themselves  lor  the  time,  morally  insensil)le,  and 
tbey  commit  the  eiimeat,  a  moment  wben  all  they*  Iceland  think  i)usbes 
tbem  on  to  it,  and  wln-n  none  of  their  virtuous  sentiments  has  suflicient 
force  to  eombiif  the  eiiminal  desiic.     J>iit  wben  once  the  jtassion  is  sat- 


ABNORMAL    MOEAL    STATE    OF    CRIMINALS.  d45 

isfled,  it  loses  its  power,  and  no  longer  holds  complete  possession  of  the 
soul.  Then  the  moral  sentiments,  momentarily  stifled,  resume  their 
activity,  and,  shocked  by  the  depraved  act,  they  produce  a  feeling  of 
remorse  and  at  the  same  time  of  regret  that  an  act  has  been  done  con- 
trary to  their  own  interest ;  a  remorse  and  regret  all  the  more  vivid, 
because  the  sentiments  which  had  felt  the  shock,  and  which  now  cause 
these  pangs  of  rei)entance,  are  stronger  and  more  powerful  than  the 
passions  which  had  obtained  a  temporary  victory.  In  some  cases,  the 
moral  suffering  is  so  violent  that  it  plunges  the  individual  into  despair, 
and  impels  him  to  suicide.  I  cau  only  make  a  passing  reference  to 
these  rare  cases  of  genuine  remorse  after  the  commission  of  crime.  We 
never  meet  with  this  sentiment  in  the  criminal  who  has  acted  in  cold 
blood,  and  only  in  a  few  rare  cases  do  we  meet  it  in  one  who  has  com- 
mitted the  crime  under  the  influence  of  a  violent  passion.  With  these 
latter,  amendment  is  prompt  and  easy,  and  relapses  do  not  occur.  This 
fact,  which  is  altogether  natural,  did  not  escape  Mittermaier.  Persons 
employed  in  prisons,  he  says,  have  remarked  that  those  imprisoned  for 
crimes  committed  under  the  influence  of  violent  passions — accidental 
crimes — sometimes  show  signs  of  repentance  ;  that  they  are  more  sub- 
missive ;  and  that  they  exhibit  a  conduct  more  regular  than  criminals 
who  have  acted  in  cold  blood,  and  of  whom  a  great  number  are  crimi- 
nals by  profession. 

This  rapid  and  very  incomplete  survey  which  I  have  made  of  the 
psychical  state  of  criminals,  will,  I  think,  be  sufflcient  to  convince  the 
members  of  this  congress  that  account  should  be  taken  of  it  in  the  treat- 
ment to  which  they  are  subjected,  the  study  of  which  treatment  is  the 
object  for  which  the  congress  is  convened. 

As  the  criminal  offers  a  serious  danger  to  society,  society  must  defend 
itself  against  him ;  this  is  an  incontestable  right.  But  against  whom 
has  society  to  exercise  that  right!  Is  it  against  a  man  who  has  in  his 
conscience,  like  other  men,  the  necessary  means  to  combat  and  conquer 
his  immoral  desires?  According  to  the  very  brief  description  I  have 
given  of  the  abnormal  moral  state  of  which  all  criminals  are  more  or 
less  the  subjects,  we  cannot  fail  to  see  that  the  moral  faculties,  which 
are  pre-eminently  the  antagonists  of  the  vicious  sentiments,  are  want- 
ing to  them  in  different  degrees.  If  these  men,  the  subjects  of  a  real 
moral  idiocy,  are  dangerous,  they  are  also  deserving  of  our  pity.  To 
shield  ourselves  from  the  danger  with  which  they  menace  us,  we  are 
under  a  necessity  of  separating  them  from  society.  This  separation, 
with  the  hard  conditions  necessarily  involved  in  it,  constitutes  in  itself 
a  punishment.  I  need  not  here  concern  myself  with  the  kind  of  impris- 
onment which  it  is  most  expedient  to  adopt  in  regard  to  them  ;  that  does 
not  belong  to  the  subject  which  I  i^roposed  to  consider.  Still,  I  will  ex- 
press, in  two  words,  my  thought  on  this  point:  I  regard  all  modes  of 
imprisonment  as  evil  and  dangerous,  as  well  to  society  as  to  the  criminal, 
if  their  onl}^  aim  is  punishment  pure  and  simple.  I  think,  also,  that  all 
modes,  provided  only  that  mode  is  chosen  which  is  best  suited  to  the 
special  character  of  each  criminal,  may  be  good,  if  they  have  in  viev 
the  true  interest  of  society,  which  is  entirely  based  on  the  moral  regen- 
eration of  the  criminal,  and  if  also  the  most  effectual  means  are  taker* 
to  accomplish  that  regeneration.  The  treatment  which  aims  only  to 
punish  for  the  sake  of  punishing  is  dangerous  both  to  society  and  the 
criminal  •  it  never  improves  the  criminal,  and  often  makes  him  worse  ; 
it  produces  from  40  to  4o  per  cent,  of  recidivists.  Let  me  cite  here,  as 
regards  the  existing  prison  system  in  France,  some  words  of  a  French 
magistrate,  which  attest  its  total  want  of  success.     "  In  vain,''  says  M, 


346  NATIONAL    PRISON    REFORM    CONGRESS    OF    1873. 

Bonneville  tie  Marsangy,  "  have  our  successive  governments,  in  their 
anxiety  for  improvement,  sent  to  ywitzerland,  to  Belgium,  to  Holland, 
to  Spain,  to  the  United  States  even,  citizens  of  the  highest  distinction, 
for  tbe  pnrpose  of  collecting  infofmation  on  all  the  experiments  which 
have  been  tried;  in  vain  have  they  sought  the  opinion  of  the  members 
of  the  magistracy  and  of  the  high  functionaries  ot  the  administration ; 
in  vain  have  they  appealed  to  the  special  knowledge  of  the  directors, 
chaplains,  and  inspectors  of  prisons  ;  in  vain  have  the  legislative  cham- 
bers elaborated  the  bills  of  1840,  1844,  and  181() ;  in  vain  has  the  Acad- 
emy of  Moral  and  Political  Sciences  undertaken  the  study  of  this  delicate 
question :  we  are  compelled  to  confess  that,  at  the  very  moment  in 
which  I  speak,  all  these  imposing  and  multiplied  labors  and  eftbrts  have, 
so  far,  wrought  no  practical  result,  and  the  innumerable  deliberations 
had  on  the  penitentiary  question,  instead  of  eliciting  light,  certainty, 
agreement  on  certain  well-understood  points,  seem  to  have  produced 
absolutely  nothing  but  coiifusion  and  mistrust,  a  sort  of  final  impuis- 
sance,  terminating  in  the  statu  quo  ;  we  are  always  there."  This  avowal 
was  made  in  1867,  in  an  article  published  in  the  Contemporaneous  Ee- 
view.  And  is  not  this  very  congress  a  fresh  proof  that  all  is  still  un- 
settled in  the  penitentiary  question  1  If  such  is  the  fact,  we  may  rest 
assured  that  it  is  because  we  have  taken  a  wrong  road ;  it  is  because, 
hitherto,  having  taken  as  our  guides  on  this  question  only  fear  and 
vengeance,  and  not  scientific  data,  we  have  ever  had  in  view  punish- 
ment alone ;  it  is  because,  never  having  studied  the  moral  state  which 
leads  a  man  to  crime,  we  have  ignored  this  abnormal  condition  altogether, 
and  we  have  not  been  able  to  perceive  that,  in  order  to  arrive  at  a  favor- 
able result,  "we  must  aim  to  bring  down  to  the  lowest  possible  point  this 
anomaly,  which  is  so  fruitful  a  source  of  crime.  I  have  shown  that  the 
criminal  is  a  being  apart,  that  he  is  different,  in  a  moral  point  of  view, 
from  other  men.  If  this  is  so,  would  not  the  best  way  to  prevent  crime 
and  protect  society  be  to  cause  this  difference  to  cease,  if  not  wholly, 
since  that  is  impossible,  at  least  approximately,,  enough  to  render  the 
criminal  a  safe  member  of  society.  The  legislation  which  takes  this 
])oint  of  departure  will  attain,  we  may  be  well  assured,  a  degree  of  per- 
fection which  has  no  existence  at  the  present  moment;  for,  as  lieccaria 
has  said,  "All  legislation  which  stops  with  the  punishment  of  crime, 
and  does  not  aim  to  effectually  prevent  it,  is  imperfect."  Now,  to  Im- 
prove the  prisoner,  to  develop  in  him  the  germs  of  whatever  good  senti- 
ments he  may  possess,  weie  they  but  the  sentiments  of  material  interest 
if  he  has  no  others,  sentiments  with  which,  nevertheless,  he  will  be  able 
to  fight  his  depraved  appetites;  to  give  him  the  habit  and  the  love  of 
labor,  by  which  he  will  be  able  to  live  honestly;  and  to  arrive  at  these 
results  by  liumane  i)rocesses,  with  a  view  to  teach  him  by  example  to 
act  with  "humanity  himself,  instead  of  treating  him  as  we  would  not 
treat  dnnd)  beasts— is  not  this  the  true  means  of  preventing  crime? 

Keformatory  treatment,  api)lied  to  individuals  abnormally  organized 
in  a  moral  jxiint  of  view,  is  not  a  Utopia  born  of  my  imagination.  M. 
Demetz  is  tin;  first  who  ])ractise(l  this  tieatment  in  France,  which  he 
lias  done  with  rare;  perfection  in  the  Juvenih;  penitentiary  of  iMettray. 
Whih!  these  Juvenile  (h'lin(jnents,  when  thrown  into  i)rison  i)ell-mell  with 
adult  criminiils,  showed  seventy-live  recidivists  in  every  hundred,  they 
sliow  only  four  percent,  under  the  strict  but  i>aternal  direction  of  M. 
Demetz.  No  doid)t  this  system,  api>lied  to  adults,  wotdd  recpiire  some 
modifications;  but  the  base  would  be  the  same.  Tiie  reformatory  sys- 
tem has  ])een  also  applied  to  adults,  and,  although  its  application  has 
Iwen  but  iinperfeclly  npplied  in  their  case,  it  has,  nevertheless,  yielded 


ABNORMAL    MORAL,    STATE    OF    CRIMINALS.  347 

very  remarkable  results.  In  my  work  ou  criminals  I  have  cited,  among 
other  results,  those  obtained  by  the  director  of  the  penitentiary  of  Al- 
bertville,  Savoy,  during-  an  administration  full  of  mingled  firmness  and 
gentleness.  He  governed  his  prisoners  by  awakening  in  them  virtuous 
sentiments.  By  this  means  he  obtained  such  an  ascendency  over  them 
that  he  did  not  hesitate  to  let  them  go  outside  of  the  prison  i)remises, 
single  or  in  companies,  under  the  surveillance  of  a  keeper,  to  execute 
various  labors.  In  this  manner  he  so  held  them  to  duty  by  the  bond 
of  gratitude  and  love,  that  he  was  nevet  compromised  by  a  solitary  es- 
cape; for  the  prisoners  knew  that  by  running  away  they  would  compro- 
mise the  lesponsibility  of  their  benefactor.  Compelled  at  length  b}'  the 
administration  to  carry  out,  in  all  their  rigor,  mere  ofiQcial  and  routine  reg- 
ulations, and  that,  too,  despite  the  exceptional  morality  and  the  habit  of 
work  which  he  had  introduced  into  the  prison,  this  model  director  prefer- 
red rather  to  resign  his  position  than  hold  it  at  the  cost  of  putting  in  prac- 
tice a  discipline  which  he  knew  to  be  detestable.  ISor  is  this  the  only 
example  that  can  be  cited  in  favor  of  the  superiority  of  moral  over  phy- 
sical force  in  subduing  and  controlling  prisoners.  The  honorable  Dr. 
TVines,  in  a  report,  made  at  a  meeting  in  !New  York  last  January,  of 
the  result  of  his  voyage  to  Europe  for  the  purpose  of  organizing  the 
International  Penitentiary  Congress  of  London,  referred  to  the  Irish 
system  devised  and  carried  out  by  Sir  Walter  Crofton.  "  Never  have  I 
seen,  elsewhere,"  says  I)r.  Wines,  "  anything  comparable  to  the  inter- 
mediate prison  at  Lusk.  Here  is  a  prison  which  is  not  a  prison,  con- 
sisting of  two  iron  tents  capable  of  accommodating  a  hundred  inmates, 
and  a  farm  of  two  hundred  acres — an  establishment  without  bars,  bolts, 
or  inclosing  walls ;  and  yet,  in  fourteen  years  not  a  dozen  escapes  have 
taken  place,  thus  proving  the  dictum  of  Dr,  Wichern,  that  'the  strong- 
est wall  is  no  wall;'  in  other  words,  that  a  wall  of  intiuence  is  stronger 
than  a  wall  of  granite."  This  is  precisely  what  has  been  said  by  M. 
Yacherot,  of  the  Institute:  "Attraction  in  the  realm  of  mind  is  the 
greatest  directing  force — the  surest  means  of  government." 

It  is  not  claimed  that  all  criminals  are  capable  of  being  improved,  re- 
formed by  moral  treatment.  This  system,  although  the  most  rational, 
will  not  always  succeed.  The  moral  nature  of  assassins  and  habitual 
criminals  is  so  bad  that  they  will  sometimes  continue  rebellious  to  the 
end.  Xevertheless  moral  treatment,  surrounded  by  the  necessary  pre- 
cautions, ought  still  to  be  tried  upon  them,  and  may  produce  marvelous 
results.  However  that  may  be,  the  criminal  ought  to  re-enter  society 
only  when  he  has  given  guarantees  of  safety  by  his  good  conduct  and 
industry,  either  in  the  prison  itself  or  during  a  period  of  provisional 
liberty,  and  not  at  the  end  of  a  time  lixed  in  advance  by  the  law,  as  is 
the  case  in  the  system  which  makes  punishment  its  sole  aim.  In  a  better 
system,  which  raises  the  penitentiary  question  to  the  rank  of  a  science, 
each  prisoner  should  be  studied  individually  and  treated  according  to 
his  character  and  according  to  the  degree  of  moral  idiocy  with  which  he 
is  affected.  To  treat  all  criminals  in  the  same  manner  is  as  absurd  as 
would  be  the  proposition  to  cure  all  the  diseases  of  the  body,  diversified 
as  they  are,  by  the  same  medical  agents.  It  is  in  making  these  princi- 
ples the  starting-point — principles  based  on  a  conscientious  psychologi- 
cal study  of  criminals — that  we  shall,  little  by  little,  be  able  to  see 
crime  diminish  in  frequency.  I  cannot  too  earnestly  recommend  this 
study.  The  proposal  to  build  any  system  of  criminal  treatment  what- 
soever without  giving  it  a  scientific  basis  is  a  proposal  to  rear  upon 
shifting  sands  a  structure  that  shall  be  solid  and  enduring. 

Eminent  men,  inspired  by  the  noblest  instincts  of  the  heart,  b}^  pity 


348  NATIONAL    PRISON    REFORM    CONGRESS    OF    1873 

toward  beingvs  morally  feeble,  have  uudertakeu,  by  gentle  and  loving 
means,  to  lead  them  to  a  regular  and  virtuous  life,  hi  employing  a  sys- 
tem opposed  to  official  rigor  they  have  succeeded  in  their  attempt. 
AVhat  these  benefactors  of  the  human  race  have  essayed  under  the  sole 
inspiration  of  their  feeliugs  is  precisely  what  is  taught  by  cold,  hard 
science,  that  is  to  say,  a  criminal  treatment  inspired  and  guided  by  a 
knowledge  of  the  psychical  state  of  criminals  and  of  the  laws  whicli 
govern  the  moral  world.  In  effect,  it  is  impossible  that  science  should 
find  itself  in  antagonism  with  the  highest  moral  teaching,  viz,  to  render 
good  for  evil.  Science  tlemonstrates  that  society,  in  its  own  interest, 
should  employ'  toward  the  man  who  has  injured  it  a  treatment  which, 
though  marked  by  the  utmost  firmness,  shall  be,  at  the  same  time, 
humane  and  charitable. 

2.  On  the  treatment  of  long- sentenced  and  life-sentenced 

prisoners. 

By  Mary  Carpe7iter,  England. 

The  right  treatment  of  prisoners  condemned  to  confinement  for  life, 
or  for  so  long  a  period  as  to  be  virtually  tantamount  to  this,  has  never 
yet  received  special  attention  in  public  discussion  on  prison  discipline. 

It  was  thought  expedient  by  those  who  prepared  the  i)rograu)me  of 
the  recent  Prison  Congress  at  Loudon,  that  this  first  meetnig  of  the  kind 
which  has  ever  taken  place  in  the  history  of  the  world  should  not  be 
embarrassed  by  the  introduction  of  any  topics  likel.y  to  involve  consid- 
erable differences  of  principle  and  practice ;  it  was  therefore  determined 
that  the  subjects  of  inquiry  should  be  confined  to  the  general  objects  of 
l)rison  discipline  and  the  reformatory  treatment  of  offenders,  whether 
adult  or  juvenile.  Thus  was  obtained  from  that  most  important  assem- 
blage, which  represented  the  whole  civilized  world,  an  acceptance  and 
declaration  of  principles  which  will  serve  as  a  basis  of  future  legislation 
in  every  country.  Those  persons  who  are  cut  off"  from  society  for  their 
evil  deeds,  and  who  are  briefly'  denominated  "  convicts,"  can  no  longer 
be  ignorantly  treated  in  a  manner  calculated  to  jiroduce  the  most  in- 
jurious effects  on  society,  as  well  as  on  themselves.  The  i)ublic  has  had 
light  thrown  on  the  whole  subject,  and  it  is  for  them  to  require  that  the 
treatment  of  those  who  must  be  returned  to  their  midst  shall  be  such 
as  to  give  reasonable  ground  for  hope  that  they  will  return  better,  not 
worse,  for  their  imprisonment.  Such  is  not,  however,  the  case  with 
respect  to  life-sentenced  prisoners.  The  public  sees  these  persons,  as 
80on  as  their  sentence  is  pronounced,  removed  forever  from  among 
them.  TJtey  icill  nerer  of/aiii  tale  their  place  in  society.  They  may  even 
be  regaided,  and  aie  so  by  law  in  some  countries,  as  absolutely  (lead  to 
the  world.  The  nature  of  their  sul)se(|uent  lile  is  <juite  unknown  to  the 
l)ublic,  who  cannot  intrude  on  tlu^  secicts  of  the  prison  house;  they 
cannot  make  their  voices  heard  to  tell  ol"  the  misery  they  endure;  they 
will  never  go  foith  to  say  what  they  have  suffered.  J)ut  the  i)reseiit  age 
requires  that  tin',  trc-atnient  ol"  sucli  jx'rsons  should  be  tiu'  snbj('(;t  of 
very  s]KM;ial  consideration,  for  tin;  number  of  them  will  be  continually 
increasing,  as  the  baibarous  death-penalty  disappears  from  the  code  of 
civilization.  Jt  in  disappeariny^  and  must  continue  to  do  .so,  as  education 
brings  enlightenment  willi  it,  and  tlu!  pnbbc  mind  comprehends  the  true 
ends  of  punishment.  'J1ie-  gil)bets  placi'd  conspicuously  on  a  high  hill 
to  .scare  evil  doers  with  the  sight  of  decnying  corpses  are  moldering 
away,  and   stand  only  as  beacons  to  mark  the  piogress  of  society.     In 


TREATMENT    OF    LIFE-SENTENCED    PRISONERS.  349 

Great  Britain,  wliicli  uuliappily  still  lingers,  the  ghastly  spectacle  of 
an  execution  is  no  longer  paraded  before  the  i)ublic,  but  is  hidden  in  a 
horrible  seclnsion ;  in  a  neighboring  country  the  continual  legal  mas- 
sacres which  are  still  appalling  distant  lands  have  not  yet  ceased  to 
render  the  public  mind  callous,  if  it  is  not  anguished,  by  their  frequent 
occurrence.  We  shall  aid  the  abolition  of  this  inhuman  punishment,  if 
we  can  point  out  a  way  in  wl.iich  the  ends  of  justice  can  be  served  with- 
out it. 

It  is,  then,  the  object  of  the  present  papc  r  to  consider  the  difference 
which  exists  between  life-sentenced  and  ordinary  convicts;  next,  to  con- 
sider the  principles  which  should  guide  ns  in  their  treatment;  and 
finally  we  shall  endeavor  to  show  how  these  principles  may  be  practi- 
cally developed. 

For  this  inquiry  we  shall  not  consider  separately  long-sentenced  and 
life-sentenced  prisoners,  because  when  the  certain  term  of  detention 
reaches  fifteen  years,  or  even  less,  the  uncertainty  of  life,  and  the 
knowledge  of  the  changes  which  must  have  taken  i^lace  in  all  ties  of 
family  and  friendship,  even  if  liberty  is  eventually  obtained,  renders 
the  dreary  future  as  appalling  as  if  it  were  certain  that  death  alone  will 
release  the  unhappy  prisoner.  We  shall  therefore  here  speak  only  of 
"  life-sentenced  prisoners." 

Now,  when  we  consider  the  treatment  of  ordinary  convicts,  we  regard 
them  generally  as  habitual  criminals,  such  being  usually  tlie  persons 
sentenced  to  a  term  of  years  in  a  convict  prison.  The  cases  in  which, 
persons  are  so  sentenced  for  a  first  offense  are  exceptional  ones.  The 
ordinary  convict  may  be  thus  described :  The  habitual  offenders  who 
constitute  the  largest  proportion  of  the  inmates  of  convict  prisons  are 
in  a  state  of  absolute  antagonism  to  society  and  disregard  of  ordi- 
nances, human  and  divine.  They  are  usually  hardened  in  vice,  and 
they  concern  themselves  with  the  law  only  to  endeavor  to  evade  it. 
They  dislike  labor  of  all  kinds,  and  to  sujjply  their  own  wants  exert 
themselves  only  by  preying  on  the  property  of  others.  They  are  self- 
indulgent,  low  in  their  desires,  ignorant  of  all  knowledge  that  would 
profit  them,  and  skillful  only  in  accomplishing  their  own  wicked  purposes. 
Such  is  not  necessarily  the  case  with  life-sentenced  prisoners.  The 
crime  for  which  this  sentence  is  inflicted  is  commonly  murder,  and  this 
crime  involves  very  difi'erent  degrees  of  criminality  in  the  several  cases, 
and  does  not  indicate  in  itself  the  type  of  character  usually  found  in 
the  convict  prisons.  At  the  same  time  it  shows  a  mental  and  physical 
condition  most  dangerous  to  society. 

Now,  in  the  treatment  of  both  classes  of  these  criminals  the  same 
grand  objects  should  guide  us — the  i^rotection  of  societ^^,  the  mini- 
mizing of  crime,  and  the  reformation  of  the  offender.  It  has  been, 
shown  in  the  Crolton  system  of  prison  discipline  how  all  these  may  be 
harmoniously  combined.  But  it  is  the  great  aim  of  ordinarj^  reforma- 
tory prison  discipline  to  restore  the  offenders  to  society  and  to  obliterate, 
if  possible,  the  memory  of  his  crime  by  the  entire  change  in  his  future 
life.  In  effecting  this  reformation  hope  forms  a  most  important  element 
of  treatment,  and  the  daily  effort  to  attain  the  desired  result  of  the 
remission  of  sentence,  with  other  advantages  to  be  enjoyed,  especially 
the  attainment  of  liberty,  constitutes  the  most  valuable  part  of  prison 
training.  But  in  the  case  of  the  life-sentenced  prisoner,  supposing  the 
crime  to  be  murder  or  some  other  horrible  offense,  the  memory  of  it 
can  never  be  effaced,  though  repentance  may  draw  a  veil  before  it; 
society  will  never  receive  him  again,  however  penitelit;  no  efforts  of  his 
can  obtain  his  release;  and  hope,  the  grand  spring  of  human  action,  is 


350  NATIONAL    rPiISUN    REFORM    CONGRESS    OF    1873. 

"witbdrawn  fiom  him.  The  condition  of  mind  in  which  he  is  therefore 
necessarily  plauged  is  one  which  mast  render  him  a  burden  to  himself 
and  a  dangerous  associate  for  others.  Then,  again,  the  ordinary  con- 
vict is  probably  not  in  general  much  tormented  by  the  reproaches  of 
conscience.  It  is  not  until  he  has  made  considerable  jtrogress  in 
reformation  that  he  can  see  in  its  true  colors  the  evils  of  liis  past  life 
and  feel  remorse  for  it.  But  the  crimes  which  receive  the  award  of 
confinement  for  life  are  usually  of  a  kind  at  which  human  nature  revolts 
when  not  under  the  immediate  thraldom  of  violent  passion.  The  secret 
anguish  of  remorse  so  truly  described  by  our  own  Shakespeare,  in  his 
Lady  Macbeth,  must  constitute  a  source  of  life-misery. 

The  first  murderer,  when  informed  that  his  life  would  be  spared, 
exclaimed  in  the  agony  of  his  spirit,  "My  punishment  is  greater  than  J 
can  bear."  And  the  same  has  been  felt  by  others  who,  under  commuta- 
tion of  sentence,  have  found  the  pangs  of  a  guilty  conscience  in  a  con- 
vict prison  more  than  they  could  bear,  and  have  committed  suicide. 
Again,  the  ordinary  condition  of  habitual  criminals  may  be  calculated 
on,  and  a  system  of  discipline  maj^  be  arranged  for  them  accordingly. 
But  the  crimes  which  are  followed  by  a  life-sentence  are  very  frequently 
regarded  as  symptoms  of  insanity,  either  temporary  or  the  result  of 
unbridled  passions  which  have  destroyed  the  mejital  equilibrium,-  they 
require  special  treatment,  and  for  want  of  any  such  provision  are  placed 
in  a  criminal  lunatic  asylum,  though  in  no  other  respect  than  the  crime 
they  had  committed  did  they  show  indications  of  mental  aberration. 

It  is  evident,  then,  that  these  two  classes  of  convicts  are  totally  distinct, 
and  require  a  kind  of  treatment  of  a  very  different  nature.  The  very 
presence  of  one  class  with  the  other  is  injurious.  Every  one  conversant 
with  prison  management  is  fully  aware  that  the  mixture  of  short-sen- 
tenced prisoners  with  convicts  is  detrimental  to  the  discipline  and  order, 
of  a  jail ;  the  difficulty  is  not  less  which  is  caused  by  the  presence  of  life- 
sentenced  prisoners,  who  require,  and  who  ought  to  have,  very  ditferent 
treatment  from  ordinary  convicts.  There  ought  to  be  a  separate  place ^  in 
every  country^  ichere  life  sentenced  priaonern  can  he  placed  to  receive  appro- 
priate treatment. 

Let  us  now  consider  what  are  the  principles  which  should  guide' us 
in  our  treatment  of  them. 

First.  Thei:e  must  be  protection  to  society  from  any  danger  aris- 
ing from  the  escape  of  such  prisoners.  Security  is  always  a  \^ry 
important  element  in  penal  discipline,  and  in  this  case  especially  so. 
The  dreadful  tragedy  by  which  India  was  recently  dei>rived  of  her 
illustrious  viceroy  ought  never  to  have  taken  place.  A  known  mur- 
<lerer,  however  mihl  may  have  been  his  general  demeanor,  should  never 
have  had  the  jtossibility  of  escai»ing  Irom  surveillance,  and  availing 
himself  of  (leadly  weapons,  especially  at  a  time  of  peculiar  excitement. 
No  one  can  Icll  what  are  tlie  secret  workings  in  the  murderer's  heart,  or 
the  craft  with  which  he  can  conceal  them.  The  protection  of  society  is 
of  course  an  important  object  in  all  penal  discipline,  but  in  this  case  es- 
pecially. 

Secondly.  The  deterrent  eflect  on  society  of  the  treatment  of  these  life- 
H<;ntenced  prisoners  exists  solely  in  the  fa<;t  of  their  removal /orerer/rom 
ike  world.  The  special  treatment  must  be  regulated  not  only  so  as  to 
secure  the  jx-rsonal  safety  of  the  ])risoner,  but  a^  the  same  time  to  pro- 
mote his  reformation,  as  a  primary  oliject. 

Thirdly.  With  a  view  to  this  last  ol)je('t,  the  Avhole  system  must  be  so 
arranged  in  its  ditf^'reri-nt  i>ails  as  to  inluse  the  element  of  hope  into  the 
l)risonci'  from  tlie  very  commencement  of  his  incarceration.     The  awful 


TREATMENT    OF    LIFE-SENTENCED    PRISONERS.  351 

sentence,  ''  Who  enters  here,  leaves  hope  behind,"  placed  by  Dante  over 
the  entrance  to  his  Inferno,  innst  have  no  ])lace  here.  Humble  peni- 
tence for  past  evil,  with  dee])  sorrow  for  sin,  must  be  blended  not  only 
with  hope  of  i)ardt>niiig-  love  in  another  worhl,  but  also  in  this.  Hope 
must  be  excited  of  the  possibility  of  re^aininsj  some  happiness  eveii  in  this 
seclusion,  and  even  of  making'  some  small  restitution  to  injured  society. 

In  order  to  make  myself  better  understood,  I  shall  here,  before  stating 
what  I  conceive  should  be  the  practical  development  of  a  prison  for  life- 
sentenced  prisoners,  mention  two  cases  which  came  under  my  own  ob- 
servation in  a  recent  journey  on  the  continent  of  Euiope. 

The  first  case  was  that  of  a  man  who  was  sentenced  to  twenty  years' 
imprisonment  for  murder.  He  was  in  a  jail  where  strict  discipline  on 
the  Crofton  system  was  carried  out,  as  far  as  it  could  be  in  buildiufifs 
not  arranged  for  the  purpose,  and  without  any  intermediate  stage.  An 
excellent  tone  pervaded  the  place,  and  the  associated  labor  had  a  very 
good  influence  on  the  prisoners,  in  wdiom,  generally,  there  evidently  existe<l 
a  desire  to  do  their  duty.  The  director,  a  gentleman  wlio  devoted  himself 
to  the  well-being  of  the  prisoners  and  took  a  strong  personal  interest  in 
them,  informed  me  that  this  man  had  been  there  for  two  years,  and  had 
eighteen  more  to  remain ;  that  he  labored  under  deep  and  morbid  de- 
pression of  mind,  from  which  he  could  not  be  roused ;  the  future  was  dark 
and  dreary  before  him  ;  it  was  not  probable  that  he  would  live  to  regain 
his  liberty;  and  if  he  did,  what  happiness  would  he  have  when  all  his 
friends  would  probably  be  dead  or  dispersed  !  The  director  had  tried  to 
place  him  in  associated  labor- to  relieve  the  gloomy  monotonvof  his  life, 
but  his  irritable  disposition  compelled  his  removal  from  it.  The  director 
asked  me  to  see  him.  I  went  to  his  cell,  and  found  him  as  described; 
skilled  labor  had  been  provided  for  him,  but  there  was  deep  gloom 
around  him.  I  addressed  to  him  such  religious  observations  as  seemed 
appropriate  to  his  case,  and  he  seemed  comforted.  The  next  time  I 
heard  of  him  he  was  ill.  The  director  found  his  presence  a  great  diffi- 
culty in  the  management  of  the  prison,  nor  could  he  deal  with  him  as 
his  judgment  would  direct,  under  such  circumstances. 

The  other  case,  in  another  city,  was  that  of  a  female  poisoner  who 
had  been  confined  already  eighteen  years.  The  prison  where  I  saw  her 
was  a  temporary  one,  formerly  a  lumxtic  asylum,  and  there  did  not  ap- 
pear to  be  any  attempt  to  carry  out  a  system  in  the  management  of  it. 
I  was  accompanied  by  a  gentleman  resident  in  the  neighborhood.  A 
male  oflticial  introduced  me  to  the  small  room  where  the  poor  woman 
was  confined.  She  was  in  a  nervous,  dejected  state,  and  said  she  could 
not  do  the  work,  which  lay  untouched  on  her  table,  from  a  weakness 
which  evidently  arose  from  dejection.  She  seemed  thankful  for  sym- 
pathy. She  complained  that  she  had  often  been  accused  of  committing, 
in  the  prison,  offenses  of  which  she  was  innocent.  She  had  no  friends, 
or  relatives,  except  one  sou,  of  whom  she  knew  nothing.  It  was  diffi- 
cult to  know  what  to  say  to  her.  Aftt^r  I  left  her,  and  the  official  had 
again  confined  her  in  her  dreary  solitude,  we  heard  her  singing  in  a 
wild,  maniacal  manner.  My  friend  and  I  thought  that  immediate  death 
would  have  been  a  more  merciful  intiiction  on  her  than  this  protracted 
mental  torture.  1  did  not  desire  to  see  another  female  prisoner  in  the 
same  jail,  who  had  committed  many  murders.  A  gentleman  afterward 
told  me  that  he  had  visited  her,  and  found  that  a  young  woman  was 
confined  in  the  same  cell  with  her.  I  requested  my  friend  to  intercede 
with  the  proper  authorities  for  a  mitigation  of  the  punishment  of  the 
poor  woman  I  had  seen.  He  afterward  informed  me  that  this  was  use- 
less, as  she  was  subject  to  violent  paroxysms  of  passion,  requiring  sev- 


352  NATIONAL    PRISON    REFORM    CONGRESS    OF    1873. 

eral  meu  to  bold  her.  Both  had  done  very  malicious  bodily  injury  to 
female  officials. 

It  will  surely  be  acknowledged  by  any  one  who  carefully  considers 
these  two  cases,  which  probably  are  not  equally  painful  with  many 
which  exist  in  various  countries,  that  the  abolition  of  capital  punish- 
ment absolutely  requires  us  to  consider  what  is  the  true  treatment  of 
such  persons  as  those  to  whom  it  M'ould  formerly  have  been  awarded. 
The  civilized  world  no  longer  tolerates  the  infliction  of  needless  physical 
pain  as  punishment.  We  shudder  at  the  torture  chamber  of  Nuremburg 
and  the  instruments  of  torture  exhibited  in  our  own  capital,  as  relics  of 
a  barbarous  age;  yet  we  forget  that,  excruciating  as  was  the  pain  then 
inflicted  on  the  body  of  the  sufferer,  it  would  gladly  have  been  chosen 
rather  than  years  of  mental  anguish.  We  behold  the  dungeons  of  our 
ancestors,  and  the  dens  where  were  thrust,  wholesale,  the  intended 
victims  of  the  scaffold  ;  or  the  now  crumbling  towers  Avhere  a  criminal 
was  immured  for  a  short  time,  to  be  dragged  forth  to  the  place  of  ex- 
ecution. But  our  whitewashed  cells,  with  their  dreadful  monotony,  in 
which  a  human  being  is  confined  year  after  year,  without  hope  of  release, 
are  not  realli/  more  humane. 

Let  us  now  consider  what  should  be  the  nature  of  a  convict  establish- 
ment for  life-sentenced  prisoners: 

Selection  should  in  the  first  place  be  made  of  a  proper  site.  The 
safety  of  society  is  a  prinmry  consideration,  and  the  more  secure  is  the 
locality  the  less  need  will  there  be  for  those  irksome  restrictions  which 
irritate  the  prisoner,  and  constantly  remind  him  of  his  situation.  If  possi- 
ble, an  island  should  be  selected,  or,  better  still,  two  or  three  islands,  suffi- 
ciently near  to  each  other  to  be  within  one  general  surveillance.  The 
choice  of  the  locality  should  not  be  guided  by  the  desire  to  make  the 
residence  there  as  unpleasant  as  possible,  but,  by  adaptation  to  theobject, 
to  secure  the  reformation  of  the  prisoner.  Barren,  frozen  regions  should 
not  be  selected,  as  some  have  proposed,  where  the  spirit  would  become 
as  chilled  and  frigid  as  the  physical  frame;  nor  unwholesome,  tropical 
l)Iaces,  where  the  influences  are  so  depressing  that  the  inhabitants  of 
the  temperate  zone  must  pine  away  and  die  miserably.  Nor  must  we 
choose  a  rugged  and  desolate  district,  where  not  even  bounteous  nature 
repays,  as  is  her  wont,  the  toil  of  the  husbandman.  The  loving  heavenly 
Father  doeth  good  even  to  the  unthankful  and  the  evil :  He  sendeth  His 
sunshine  and  rain  on  the  just  and  on  the  unjust.  We  are  commanded  to 
be  perfect  even  as  our  Father  in  heaven  is  perfect.  We  must  strive  after 
this,  and  it  is  not  for  us  to  de])rive  our  fellow-sinners  of  a  single  good 
Hud  holy  influence  which  nature  would  bestow  on  them.  There 
should  be  abundance  of  land,  which  the  labor  of  the  convicts  could  make 
liighly  productive.  Siu;h  a  site  should  be  sulficiently  isolated,  and  yet 
not  so  remote  as  to  ]>revent  the  fre<pu'iit  visits  of  i)crsons  Avhose  influ- 
ence would  be  beneficial. 

The  w  iiole  territoiy  should  be  so  arranged  as  to  admit  of  three  distinct 
stagi's,  as  Oh  tin;  (Jrofton  system  ;  ])risons  for  separate  confinement,  for 
associate<l  labor,  and  for  i)artial  lii>erty,  as  in  the  Crofton  intermediate 
jirisons.  J>(^sides  these  thei'o  should  be  a  fourth  stape,  corresponding  to 
liherty  with  the  ordinary  conrief.  Here  there  should  be  little,  except 
the  actual  fact  of  pi()liil)ition  to  pass  a  certain  boundary,  which  should 
remind  the  reformed  convict,  who  has  attained  it,  that  he  is  still  under 
sentence  of  law.  'i'lie  space  should  be  sufficiently  large  lor  the  life- 
sentenced  prisoiici'  to  have  his  family  around  him.  Remunerative 
labor  should  Ix^  provided,  by  which  he  might  be  able  to  relieve  society 
IVoMi  the  expense  of  his  su]>porf,  and  even  to  repay  what  has  been  spent 


TREATMENT    01'    LIFE-SENTENCED    PRISONERS.  353 

on  him.    He  might  also  be  permitted  to  make  some  provision  for  his 
family,  aud  prepare  them  for  their  free  entrance  on  life. 

It  will  be  rememberetl  that  in  Sir  Walter  Crofton's  development  of 
his  system  in  Ireland,  the  only  complete  illustration  of  it  existing,  each 
stage  was  at  some  distance  from  the  others,  while  his  own  mind  kept  all 
in  nnity.  This  m'hs  attended  with  very  beneficial  eifect.s,  as  at  each 
stage  the  mind  of  the  prisoner  received  a  new  stinuuns.  Tbis  is  even 
more  desirable  in  the  case  under  consideration,  where  every  available 
stimulus  and  excitement  should  be  used  to  supply  the  place  of  that 
great  object  of  desire,  the  anticipation  of  release  which  has  been  with- 
drawn. 

While  the  general  arran  gements  of  the  Crof  ton  system  should  be  adopted 
in  these  i)risons  for  life-sentenced  prisoners,  the  stages  may  be  passed 
through  more  rapidly,  and  more  privileges  may  be  allowed  as  the  result 
of  good  conduct,  such  as  communication  with  friends,  and  the  purchase 
of  small  articles  which  may  relieve  the  monotony  of  the  cell.  There 
should  also  be  very  careful  and  scientific  medical  superintendence  of 
the  whole.  The  mind  and  the  l)ody»have  much  to  do  with  each  other, 
and  in  such  cases  particularly. 

At  Ahmedabad,  in  India,  I  saw  a  very  remarkable  lunatic  asylum, 
conducted  by  Dr.  Wyllie,  the  able  superintendent  of  the  jail  of  that 
place.  Never  have  I  seen  a  more  pleasing  spectacle  of  willing,  cheer- 
ful out-door  labor  than  among  the  patients  of  that  institution ;  they 
were  not  only  earning  money  but  bringing  their  physical  and  mental 
powers  into  harmonious  action.  Among  these  the  doctor  pointed  out 
to  me  a  class  of  murderers  who  were  working  in  as  orderly  a  way  as  the 
others.  The  doctor  observed  them  carefully  and  regidarly,  and  when 
he  saw  in  any  one  of  them  a  peculiar  appearance  of  the  eye,  he  put  him 
under  medical  treatment,  and  the  danger  of  an  outbreak  was  removed. 

The  development  of  such  a  convict  system  for  life  and  long-sentenced 
prisoners  in  the  Andaman  Islands  was  regarded  as  very  satisfactory, 
when  I  had  the  opportunity  of  making  inquiries  respecting  it,  six  years 
ago.  The  fourth  stage  was  on  a  separate  island,  where  the  convicts 
lived  in  comparative  freedom.  Many  convict  women  were  sent  out  at 
their  own  request  to  become  their  wives,  and  the  settlement  appeared 
fully  to  realize  the  object  intended. 

The  best  treatment  of  life-sentenced  women  is  a  problem  more  diffi- 
cult of  solution  than  that  of  men.  The  subject  is  too  perplexing  and 
important  to  be  here  briefly  discussed.  SufQce  it  to  say  that  Sir  Walter 
Crofton  has  proved  that  it  can  be  solved,  and  it  ought  to  be  considered 
most  carefully  in  every  country.  I  trust  it  will  receive  the  attention 
it  requires  from  those  women  as  well  as  men  whose  sound  hioivledge,  large 
experience,  and  devoted,  loving  hearts,  inspire  them  with  a  faith  which  can 
remove  mountains. 

If  there  are  persons  who  have  so  little  belief  in  the  possibility  of 
overcoming  evil  with  good,  of  touching  the  divine  spirit  which  exists 
in  every  child  of  the  heavenly  Father,  however  perverted  and  en- 
thralled by  the  animal  nature  and  passions,  we  would  ask  them  to  turn 
for  confirmation  of  the  views  taken  in  this  paper  to  a  convict  settle- 
ment in  the  center  of  India.  It  is  well  known  that  in  that  country 
there  was  a  race  of  natives,  the  Thugs,  whose  very  religion  and  social 
customs  were  based  on  professional  murder,  the  secret  of  which  was 
transmitted  from  father  to  son,  and  the  practice  was  thus  perpetuated 
from  one  generation  to  another.  To  reform  them  seemed  impossible.  The 
practice  formed  so  completely  a  part  of  their  nature  that  when  suffer- 
ing under  punishment  they  would  declare  that,  wheuever  released,  they 
H.  Ex.  185 23 


354  NATIONAL    PRISON    REFORM    CONGRESS    OF    IS73. 

must  resuiue  the  horrid  practice.  Some  forty  years  ago  14ieso  Thugs, 
whenever  arrested,  were  subjected  to  strict  imprisoninent  and  industrial 
training  in  a  phice  appointed  for  them.  As  they  appeared  reformed 
they  were  admitted  to  greater  liberty,  and  a  village  was  formed  round 
theiu,  v.here  their  families  live.  Breach  of  regulations  Avas  at  ouce 
punished  with  rtturu  to  strict  imprisonment.  Various  branches  of 
skilled  labor  have  been  introduced  into  this  Thug  village,  at  Jubbed- 
poor,  which  are  cow  of  great  importance  in  a  commercial  point  of 
view.  All  excellent  influence  has  been  diffused  around,  and  some  of 
those  who  were  born  and  bred  in  jail  are  now  among  the  first  and 
wealthiest  in  the  community.  Why  should  not  the  same  be  done  for 
our  life-sentenced  })risoners  f 

3.   liEMAEKS  ON  SUNDRY   TOPICS  CONSIDERED   IN  THE   INTERNATIONAX, 
PENITENTIARY   CONGRESS  OF  LONDON: 

By  the  Bight  Hon.  Sir   Walter  Crofton,  England. 

]\[y  Dear  Dr.  Wines  :  I  regret  very  much  that  it  is  not  in  my  power 
to  attend  the  Baltimore  Congress.  I  need  scarcelj'  write  that  I  wish  it 
every  possible  success.  I  have  been  ill  for  several  months,  and  therefore 
have  been  unable  to  attend  the  Social  Science  Congress  at  Plymouth,  or 
to  initiate  the  further  discussions  which  I  consider  to  be  necessary  with 
regard  to  the  "  Internafional  Prison  Congress.'' 

It  is  undeniable  that  this  congress,  thanks  to  your  energy,  ability, 
and,  allow  uje  to  add,  iactj  proved  a  very  great  success.  It  contained 
elements  of  discord  which  might  have  produced  the  result  of  separating 
without  passing  any  resolutions.  It  must  be  our  care  that  those  which 
have  been  passed  should  be  thoroughly  understood. 

Already  I  see  indications  that  the  advocates  for  strict  separation  until 
the  end  of  long  sentences  do  not  consider  that  any  resolution  has  been 
passed  l)y  the  congress  hostile  to  their  opinions.  But,  if  the  resolution 
recommending  the  adoption  of  '■'- progressice  claHHificaiion''^  is  not  opposed 
to  these  opinions  I  am  entirely  at  a  loss  to  conceive  its  meaning. 

To  my  mind,  the  tone  of  the  discussions  abundantly  illustrated  that 
the  problem  to  be  solved  was  not  merely  the  question  between  "isola- 
tion "  and  "  progressive  classilication,"  which  had  been  disposed  of  at 
an  early  period,*  but  the  best  mode  of  preparing  a  criminal  for  his  re- 
lease, so  that  on  his  liberation  he  sliould,  by  h'x's  prison  training^  be  made 
lit  for  the  labor  market,  and  employers  of  labor  be  induced  to  assist 
him. 

You  will,  I  know,  agree  with  me  that  if  our  prison  training  does  not 
attain  these  ends  it  Las  accomplished  but  a  small  portion  of  its  real 
work. 

I  have  list«;ned  to  many  advocates  of  the  system  of  entire  isolation, 
and  liave  read  many  of  their  works;  moreover,  1  have  noted  its  results 
where  carried  out  for  lengtlnmed  ]>eriods,  both  in  I^higland  and  in  Ire- 
land, but  J  have  entirely  faile«l  to  realize  how  it  would  bo  possible 
under  any  artilicial  system  to  attain  the  all-important  ends  to  which  I 
have  alluded. 

I  luily  recognize  the  value  of  the  isolated  system  from  many  points  of 
view.  The  absence  of  temptations  wouhl  reduce  the  number  of  prison 
offeiiKes,  and  render  the  managi'ment  ol"  the  establisiiments  much  easier, 
and  fuT-  more  agreeable  to  the  officers.     The  small   number  of  prison  of- 


'In  tlu^  I'liifcd  Kinj^dom,  iiflcr  iimcli  (txpcrienco,  "  i.solaliDn"  loi-  l')ii;r  periods  of  time 
li.'w  1m;(!Ii  C(»iidciiin<;d  lor  iiiaiiy  yfiaiH. 


CORPOREAL  PUNISHMENT  AND  PENAL  LABOR.       355 

ficei's,  and  the  general  good  conduct  of  prisoners,  will  of  course  induce 
the  assumption  that  amendment  lias  taken  place,  which,  without  the  test 
of  registration  and  supervision  after  liberation,  it  will  be  impossible  to 
Terify. 

I  have  for  too  many  years  struggled  with  the  difficulty  of  rendering 
criminals  tit  for  tbe  labor  market  and  inducing  employers  to  give  them 
work,  to  believe  that  this  great  object  can  be  attained  by  any  artificial 
process  in  the  criminal  training.  In  some  communities  doubtless  there 
will  not  be  the  same  difficulty  as  in  others,  but  in  all,  to  a  greater  or 
lesser  degree,  difficulties  will  exist.  In  the  United  Kingdom,  I  feel 
perfectly  satisfied  that  any  attempt  to  liberate  men  after  a  long  period  of 
isolation,  with  the  hope  of  their  attaining  employment,  would  result  in 
a  most  disastrous  failure. 

But  do  not  let  me  be  sui^posed  to  undervalue  "isolation"  in  its  place. 
As  the  earliest  stage  of  detention,  I  have  the  highest  opinion  of  its  im- 
portance. I  believe  every  system  of  prison  discipline  would  fail  with- 
out this  preliminary  stage  for  reflection,  so  specially  well  adapted  as  it 
is  for  repentance  and  religious  instruction.  It  should  be  ever  held  to  be 
the  basis  of  all  prison  systems. 

You  will,  I  feel  sure,  agree  with  me  that  the  great  pressure  upon  the 
time  of  the  congress,  caused  principally  by  the  translation  of  the 
papers  and  discussions,  precluded  the  thorough  consideration  and  dis- 
cussion which  some  of  the  subjects  imperatively  required.  Notably  there 
were  two  subjects,  "corporal  punishment,"  introduced  by  M.  Stevens, 
of  Belgium,  and  "prison  labor,"  by  Mr.  F.  Hill;  the  arguments  con- 
cerning which  were  based  upon  a  complete  misunderstanding  of  the 
system  pursued  in  this  country,  and  approved  by  the  Grovernment.  The 
names  of  twelve  or  fourteen  gentlemen  were  down  as  desirous  of  speak- 
ing when  the  discussion  was  closed  by  the  chairman. 

From  want  of  knowletlge  of  the  existing  practice,  the  arguments 
were  based  on  exceptional  cases,  and  went  upon  a  false  issue.  Under 
these  circumstances,  the  feeling  at  the  congress  was  extremely  hostile 
both  to  the  infliction  of  corporal  punishment  and  to  some  of  the 
statutory  requirements  of  hard  labor,  viz,  the  crank,  tread  wheel,  and 
shot-drill.  Members  of  the  congress  spoke  as  if  these  were  our  ordinary 
forms  of  punishment  and  of  labor.     But  what  are  the  facts  f 

Corporal  punishment  is  retained  as  a  very  exceptional  and  not  an 
ordinary  punishment,  and  is  never  resorted  to  save  in  cases  in  which  a 
most  brutalized  nature  has  been  evinced  by  the  offender,  and  then  only 
by  magisterial  order  accompanied  by  medical  sanction.  It  is  not  true 
that  it  is  in  the  power  of  governors  of  jails  to  order  its  infliction,  and 
those  conversant  with  the  ordinary  practice  of  the  magistracy  in  these 
cases  will  be  amazed  at  some  of  the  opinions  expressed  in  the  con- 
gress. 

There  is  no  person  with  an  opinion  carrying  weight  who  would  in 
this  country  advocate  the  general  use  of  corporal  punishment.  At  the 
same  time  there  would  be  very  few  of  practical  experience  but  would 
desire  the  retention  of  the  power  under  the  strictest  safeguards,  to  be 
applicable  only  to  those  exceptional  and  brutalized  natures  which  will, 
unfortunately,  be  sometimes  found  in  all  communities.  It  is  believed, 
and  rightly  believed,  that  the  retention  of  the  i)ower  prevents  m  many 
cases  the  necessity  for  its  use.  It  has  in  several  instances  prev^ented 
bloodshed  and  murder  to  my  knowledge;  and  you  will  recollect  state- 
ments being  made  to  the  congress  to  this  effect  by  Dr.  Mouat,  (the  in- 
spector-general of  prisons  in  Bengal  for  many  years.)  and  by  your  own 


356  NATIONAL    PRISON    REFORM    CONGRESS    OF    1873. 

very  able  and  excellent  governor  of  Albany  lienitentiary,  General  Pils- 
bnry. 

With  regard  to  '•  prison  labor,"  there  was  very  much  misapprehen- 
sion also.  The  i^revalent  impression  of  speakers  appeared  to  be  that 
the  nse  of  the  crank,  shot-drill,  and  the  treadwheel  is  compulsory  by 
statute.-  This  is  not  true;  it  is  optional  with  the  magistrates  either  to 
adopt  these  forms  of  labor  or  others  of  a  character  to  insure  "  hard 
bodily  labor."  It  had  been  decided  by  Parliament  that  before  1865  the 
sentences  of  "hard  labor"  had  not  been  carried  out  in  our  prisons,  and 
that  so  long  as  we  maintained  these  sentences  we  must  recognize  a  dis- 
tinction between  "penal"  and  "industrial"  labor. 

But  the' government  never  contemplated  "hard"  or  "penal"  labor  to 
the  bitter  end.  So  far  from  this  being  the  case,  the  home  office  trans- 
mitted circulars  to  the  "prison  authorities,"  pointing  out  how  it  would 
be  possible,  under  the  prisons  act,  1865,  to  establish  a  prison  system 
which  should  lead  from  penal  or  hard  labor,  by  a  progressive  classifica- 
tion, to  industrial  labor  and  special  employments.. 

Thus,  by  a  well-regulated  system,  justice  would  have  been  satisfied, 
a  strong  motive-power  to  amendment  would  have  been  created,  and 
"industrial  labor,"  being  associated  with  privilege  in  the  minds  of  the 
criminals,  would  be  followed  on  liberation  with  pleasure  and  with  profit. 

A  large  number  of  "  prison  authorities"  have,  unfortunately,  not 
adopted  the  scheme  foreshadowed  in  the  government  circular,  and 
allow  the  infliction  of  "hard  labor"  until  the  end  of  long  sentences. 
Nothing  can  be  worse  than  such  a  course.  But  it  would  be  entirely 
wrong  to  assume  that  the  government  approves  of  such  a  practice, 
as  many  speakers  at  the  congress  did  assume,  and  termed  it  the  "Eng- 
lish prison  system,"  for  we  have  only  to  turn  to  the  convict  system, 
which  is  under  the  entire  control  of  the  government,  to  learn  its  views 
upon  the  subject  of  criminal  treatment. 

What  is  required  is,  that  the  central  authority  should  institute  a  uni- 
form system  of  prison  treatment,  working  it  out  with  the  co-operation 
of  local  action,  and  we  must  come  to  this  ;  as  yet,  there  is  not  suthcient 
power. 

It  is,  1  maintain,  right  for  the  public,  and  right  for  the  criminal  him- 
self, that  there  should  be  suffering  for  sin,  that  the  preliminary  period 
of  imprisonment  should  be  one  of  suffering,  not  dictated  by  vengeance, 
but  as  an  example  toothers,  and  a  wholesome  discipline  to  the  criminal. 

Whether  this  period  of  suffering  had  better  be  one  of  strict  isolation 
or  of  "  hard  labor"  is  an  open  question.  If  hard-labor  sentences  could 
be  abolished,  1  should  myself  i)refer  isolation.  But  in  either  case  this 
treatment  must  be  followed  by  industrial  labor,  which  must  be  earned 
as  a  ])iivilege.  If  the  whole  sco])e  of  su<th  a  system  is  explaine<l  to  the 
ciiminal,  it  is  idle  to  assume  that  lie  would  consider  ])enal  labor  as  a 
degradation.  He  would  realize  it  as  a  nu'ans  to  an  end,  and  would  co- 
operat(!  with  the  system.  This  has  been  the  case  in  jails  which  have  a 
])rogressive  system,  aiul  it  is  not  right  to  assume  that  because  aimless 
fienal  labor  in  jails  which  have  no  progressive  system  is  felt  as  a  deg- 
radation, it  must  he  so  under  other  and  very  ditferent  circumstances. 
it  is  im))<)rtant,  all-imjiortant  I  would  say,  to  keep  i)enal  or  hard  labor 
perfectly  distinct  liom  "industrial  labor"  in  the  mind  of  the  criminal, 
for  it  is  nec<'Ksai y  that  he  should  dislii<e,  the  <»n«i  as  associated  with  pun- 
ishment, and  like  the  olhei-  as  assoeialcd  with  ]>rivileg<^  and  anuMul- 
merit.  Jlis  well-doing,  on  liberation,  dejx'nds  npon  his  feeling  in  this 
respect ;  and  tliose  wlio  iHlvocafe  "  industi  iai  labor"  at  the  beginning  of 
K<'nten<;es,  without,  making  it  the  result  of  pi'ivilege,  are  associating  it 


PUNISHMENT    AND    SUFFERING    NOT    TO    BE    ELIMINATED.    357 

in  the  mind  of  the  criminal  with  his  penal  treatment,  and  giving  him  a 
distaste  for  it  on  his  liberation.  Many  years'  experience  has  completely 
satisfied  me  on  this  point,  and  many  years'  experience  should  have 
pointed  out  the  failure  of  merely  industrial  labor  in  England.  Before 
1865,  it  was  quite  an  exception  to  find  jails  in  which  penal  labor  was 
carried  out — the  results  were  so  bad  as  to  call  for  an  examination  by 
a  committee  of  the  House  of  Lords,  the  report  of  which  gave  rise  to  the 
prisons  act,  1865.  It  is  notorious  that  under  the  former  .system  vagrants 
used  to  commit  crime  to  pass  the  winter  in  jail,  and  this  has  not  been 
the  case  since  penal  labor,  (which  should  not  be  unproductive,)  has  been 
made  compulsory  in  all  jails. 

I  am  satisfied  that  any  attempt  to  eliminate  suffering  from  punish- 
ment would  have  such  an  effect  upon  public  opinion  as  to  very  ma- 
terially damage,  if  not  entirely  destroy,  our  reformatory  and  progres- 
sive system.  No  one  has  a  greater  right  to  be  heard  upon  this  point 
than  myself,  because  I  have  carried  the  progressive  system  further  than 
any  other  person,  even  to  a  state  of  semi-freedom.  But  this  would 
haVe  been  impossible,  had  I  not  been  able  to  carry  public  opinion  with 
me,  and  to  show — as  Count  Cavour  expressed  it — that  punishment 
and  suffering  formed  a  portion  of  the  system.  Experience  has  also 
shown  me  that  such  a  course  is  an  essential  element  in  the  treatment  of 
the  criminal  for  his  own  sake. 

It  is  certain  that  we  have  much  yet  to  do.  Our  classification  must 
be  perfected  and  still  further  extended.  Our  education  in  prisons  must 
be  rendered  more  i)ractical,  and  made  to  bear  more  on  the  future  career 
of  the  criminal.  Above  all  things,  we  must  have  the  active  interven- 
tion of  a  central  authority  to  compel  a  uniform  system  of  prison  disci- 
pline. It  is  indefensible,' that  the  exercise  of  an  unchecked  local  au- 
thority should  be  allowed  to  result  in  a  very  different  treatment  of 
criminals  under  the  same  sentences,  for  the  whole  community  is  affected 
by  this  treatment.  We  cannot  confine  the  action  of  criminals  to  their 
own  localities,  and,  therefore,  it  is  the  duty  of  the  state  to  interfere. 

With  regard  to  sentences,  also,  some  reform  is  needed.  It  is  very 
generally  admitted  that  short  sentences  entirely  preclude  reformatory 
treatment,  for  the  time  is  not  sufficiently  long  to  develop  it.  If  we 
could  abolish  the  intermediate  sentences  between  six  weeks  and  six 
months,  it  would  be  far  better  for  the  criminal  and  the  public.  During 
six  weeks  we  could  inflict  isolation  and  a  low  diet  for  the  whole  term. 
From  six  months  and  upward  we  could  give  beneficial  effect  to  a  pro- 
gressive and  reformatory  system. 

Although  we  have  done  much  of  late  in  establishing  Prisoners'  Aid 
Societies,*  we  have  still  much  more  to  do  in  this  direction. 

Our  "  registration  of  criminals  and  their  supervision  after  liberation," 
has  not  ouiy  proved  a  most  efficient  check  on  the  criminal  classes,  but  it 
has  enabled  us  to  test,  in  the  only  practicable  manner,  the  value  of  our 
I)rison  training.     Under  this  test  we  have  the  most  satisfactory  results. 

Criminal  statistics  depend  for  their  value  upon  the  basis  on  which 
they  are  collected. 

Any  comparison  of  statistics  between  different  countries,  some  col- 
lected under  a  stringent  system  of  registration,  as  in  the  United  King- 
dom, and  others  in  a  negativ^e  form,  would  be  worse  than  useless  as 
tests  of  prison  system.  By  turning  to  my  Irish  official  reports,  it  will 
be  noted  that  this  was  my  argument  against  any  comparison  of  results 
between  England  and  Ireland,  for  at  that  time  "  supervision  and  regis - 

*  There  are  now  tliirty-six  in  England. 


358  NATIONAL    PRISON    REFORM    CONGRESS    OF    1873. 

tratiou  of  criminals  "  had  not  been  adopted  in  England.  When  1  Ihijik 
of  those  reports,  and  the  papers  1  had  to  write,  pleading  (for  it  was 
nothing  short  of  pleading)  for  the  adoption  of  the  '^'  mark  "  system  of 
classification,  for  police  supervision,  for  the  registration  of  habitual 
criminals,  for  a  reduction  in  the  amount  of  gratuities,  which  were  ex- 
cessive, and  for  a  better  subdivision  of  large  prisons,  and  realize  what 
has  since  been  done,  that  is,  the  adoption  of  all  the  improvements  men- 
tioned, you  will  agree  with  me  that  I  have  reason  to  be  thankful.  It  is 
cheering  also  to  find  that  the  mark  system  has  been  introduced  in  some 
of  the  jails  in  India  and  the  colonies,  and  that  Germany  has  introduced 
a  well-considered  system  of  supervising  criminals. 

We  must  hope  and  believe  that  ])rogressive  classifica,tion  will  every- 
where culminate  in  "  intermediate  establishments."  We  can  make  al- 
lowance for  a  certain  timidity  in  its  api)lication  to  men,  but  they  will 
come  in  time  as  a  consequence  of  the  progress  which  has  been  already 
attained.  Surely  Lusk,  with  its  sixteen  years  of  successful  results,, 
cannot  be  ignored  by  thinking  men,  and  that  it  will  not  be  so  ignored 
in  the  United  States,  I  feel  most  certain. 

It  cannot  be  doubted  that  we  have  much  yet  to  do.  But  we  must 
stand  fast  to  the  principles  which  we  have  proved  to  be  sound,  and 
build  upon  them  ;  we  must  not  confine  our  operations  to  the  treatment 
of  criminals,  5"0ung  or  old,  inside  and  outside  of  the  prisons ;  and  we 
mnst  place  in  industrial  schools  the  children  of  criminals  whose  future 
career  cannot  otherwise  admit  of  doubt. 

With  my  best  wishes  for  your  congress,  believe  me,  dear  Dr.  AVines,. 
yours,  most  sincerely, 

WALTER  CROFTON. 

HiLLiNGDON,  UXBRIDGE,  December  24,  1872. 

P.  S. — I  have  just  received  the  Transactions  of  the  Prison  Congress. 
Not  having  seen  a  proof  of  any  statement  made  by  me,  I  already  ob- 
serve an  error  on  a  very  important  point,  which  I  shall  feel  obliged  by 
your  correcting  at  the  Baltimore  Congress.  At  page  470, 1  am  reported 
as  stating  that,  for  certain  reasons,  viz,  the  high  earnings  in  free  life  in 
England,  it  would  be  difficult  to  carry  out  intermediate  prisons  in  this 
country.  This  would  be  nonsense.  AVhat  I  said  was,  that  I  had  no 
doubt  the  English  prison  authorities  had  this  difficulty  to  contend  with 
in  establishing  intermediate  prisons,  viz,  that  several  of  the  prisoners 
(who  are  skilled)  earn  in  some  of  the  public  works  prisons  5s.  or  Gs.  a 
day,  and  that  if  they  were  removed  to  agricultural  establishments,  as  at 
Lusk,  they  would  ])robably  only  earn  2.s'.  Gd.  a  day.  But  I  stated  that, 
to  my  mind,  the  moral  gain  would  quite  outweigli  the  financial  result, 
and  1  shall  be  glad  if  you  will  make  this  point  very  clear. 

W.  C. 

4.    PRErARATOliY    SCHOOL    FOR    THE    TRAINING    OF    OFFICERS    CON- 
NECTED ^VIT^I  THE  PENITENTIARY   COLONY  OF  METTRAY,  FRANCE  : 

Jlij  ]\!.  Pc  Met::.,  Director  of  the  Colony. 

LTraiiRljition.] 

Paris,  Dcecmher  31,  1872. 
Dear  Sir  :  Agreeably  to  your  re(iuest,  1  send  you  a  word  in  relation 
to  the  Preparatory  Sciiool,"  (/'>w/e  J'rrjiarafoire,)  which  1  thought  it 
needful  to  found  some  time  in  advance  of  the  re(!0  tion  of  the  first  in- 
mates of  the  I'cnitentiary  Agricultural  (Jolony  of  Mettray,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  training  agents  who  should  be  competent  to  the  duties  of  their 


M.    DE    METZ    ON    THE    EDUCATION    OF    PRISON    OFFICERS.    359 

high  mission.  Tliis,  from  the  start,  I  thought  absolutely  essential,  to 
the  end  that  I  might  advance,  with  firm  and  sure  step,  in  a  path  then 
altogether  new  and  untried. 

It  is  thirty-five  years  since  the  preparatory  school  was  founded,  and 
time  has  but  convinced  me  more  and  more  of  the  advantages  which 
may  be  obtained  by  means  of  such  an  institution.  Still  more  recently 
I  have  had  opportunity  to  observe  how  much  force  and  energy  this 
school  has  given  to  the  sentiments  of  the  young  men  who  have  enjoyed 
its  advantages.  When  our  territory  was  lately  invaded  by  the  enemy, 
many  of  our  under-ofticers  promptly  joined  the  ranks  of  the  army.  Those 
who  remained,  perceiving  the  difficult  position  in  which  we  found  our- 
selves from  the  insufficiency  of  our  staff,  and  being  fully  aware  of  the 
exhaustion  of  our  financial  resources,  resulting  from  the  crushing 
requisitions  of  which  we  had  been  made  the  object,  sent  a  deputation 
to  me  to  say :  "  We  comprehend,  sir,  how  great  must  be  your  embar- 
rassment ;  it  will  cost  us  no  sacrifice  to  relieve  you  from  it ;  pay  us  half 
of  what  we  uow  receive,  and  we  will  do  double  work."  I  accepted  their 
generous  offer,  and  Mettray  came  victorious  out  of  a  trial  so  menacing 
to  the  future  of  the  colony.  Would  such  devotion  have  been  found  in 
men  taken,  as  it  were,  hap-hazard,  which  is  but  too  often  the  case  in 
penitentiary  establishments,  and  who  had  not  early  imbibed  the  senti- 
ment and  formed  the  habit  of  duty  ? 

It  has  been  said,  with  reason,  that  there  is  no  good  penitentiary  system 
without  aid  to  discharged  prisoners ;  so  there  is  no  good  penitentiary^ 
establishment,  which  does  not  create  a  nursery  of  agents  from  which  to 
recruit  its  staff.  The  men  who  are  needed  to  implant  the  love  of  good- 
ness in  vicious  natures  are  not  improvised,  and  moral  transformations 
are  obtained  only  through  persevering  efltbrts  and  an  enlightened  zeal. 

May  these  considerations,  which  I  venture  to  lay  before  you,  serve  to 
convince  you  of  my  desire  to  justify  a  confidence  which  honors  me.  Be 
pleased,  sir,  to  receiv^e,  in  exchange,  the  assurance  of  my  high  esteem 
and  sincere  sympathy. 

Yours,  from  the  depth  of  my  heart, 

DE  METZ. 

5.   Susceptibility    of    cri-viinals    to    reformatory   agencies  : 

Bij  Henry  James  Anderson,  21.  D. 

Dear  Sir  :  The  board  of  managers  of  the  Protectory  desire  me  to 
thank  you  for  your  invitation  to  theui  to  participate,  through  an  appro- 
priate delegation,  in  the  good  work  proposed  for  the  Prison  Keform 
Congress,  soon  to  assemble  at  Baltimore. 

As  the  liev.  W^illiam  Quinu,  our  advisory  chaplain.  Brother  Teliow, 
our  rector  and  superintendent  at  Westchester,  and  the  Hon.  John  E. 
Develin,  our  legal  adviser,  have  been  delegated  to  represent  us  in  the 
congress,  they  will  be  i^repared  to  furnish  all  the  detailed  information 
called  for  by  your  respective  points  of  inquiry.  I  venture,  however,  of 
my  own  responsibility,  to  state  the  result  of  some  attention  to  your 
eleventh  point,  viz :  the  susceptibility  of  criminals  to  reformatory 
agencies. 

It  is  essentially  necessary  in  this  matter,  if  we  wish  to  avoid  a  painful 
confusion  of  ideas,  to  discriminate  in  the  very  outset,  at  least  two 
classes  of  convicts — those  whose  crimes  have,  on  the  whole,  been  justly 
defined  by  the  verdict,  and  those  whose  delinquencies,  if  any,  have  been 
very  inadequately  represented  by  the  finding  of  the  jury  or  the  judge. 
The  penal  discipline  appropriate  to  the  former  class  would  be  hurtful  iu 


360  NATIONAL    PRISON    REFOEM    CONGRESS    OF    1873. 

the  extreme  if  applied  to  the  hitter,  whether  the  verdict  overstated,  uji- 
derstated,  or  misstated  entirely  the  nature  and  magnitude  of  the  offense. 
I  do  not  mean  to  say  that  it  would  be  safe  for  the  prison  authorities  to 
question  the  correctness  of  the  finding ;  but  it  is  nevertheless  true  that 
a  severity  of  treatment,  promotive  of  the  ends  of  justice  iu  the  one 
case,  would  be  totally  ineffectual,  not  to  say  ruinous,  in  its  results  in 
the  other.  To  save  time?,  I  shall  therefore  confine  these  remarks  to  the 
first  class  of  convicts,  those  whose  crimes  shall  have  been  found  to  con- 
form iu  the  main  M'ith  the  language  of  their  condemnation. 

It  has  been  customar}^  to  say  that  the  end  of  punishment  is  twofold : 
first,  to  reform  the  offender;  secondly,  to  deter  from  a  like  offense  the 
thoughtless  or  the  criminally  inclined.  The  treatment  of  the  trans- 
gressor should  keep  a  third  end  in  view,  the  maintenance  of  a  healthy 
public  opinion,  not  merely  in  regard  to  the  gravity  of  the  infractions  of 
the  law,  but  equally  so  with  respect  to  the  necessity  of  fair  dealing  in 
enforcing  its  provisions.  All  schemes  for  the  reform  of  the  criminal 
would  be  more  or  less  incomplete  if  these  considerations  are  disre- 
garded ;  but  as  the  eleventh  inquiry  concerns  exclusively  the  reforma- 
tion of  the  criminal,  I  shall  confine  myself  to  this  single  point. 

What  constitutes  the  criminal  ?  Crime  implies  either  a  false  sense  of 
duly  or  disobedience  to  a  true  one.  As  against  the  state,  it  implies  a 
culpable  ignorance  of  the  law  or  a  wilful  breach  of  it.  How  far  there 
may  be  crime  in  obedience  to  the  law  or  innocence  in  disobedience,  it 
would  perhaps  be  irrelevant  to  inquire.  To  reform  the  criminal  it  is  at 
all  events  necessary  that  we  should  reform  either  his  erroneous  convic- 
tions or  his  proclivity  to  disobey  his  right  ones.  Ordinarily  speaking, 
all  true  reform  demands,  on  the  part  of  the  reformer,  a  disposition  and 
ability  to  accomplish  one  or  other  of  these  tasks;  and  on  the  part  of 
the  transgressor  a  disposition  and  ability  to  look  to  the  moral  teacher 
as  his  counselor  and  friend.  No  real  amendment  can  be  hoped  for 
where  this  relation  is  not  substantially  established.  The  criminal  must 
have  for  his  reformer  one  whom  he  actuaUy  trusts  and  respects,  one  whom 
he  believes  means  weU,  even  when  the  treatment  seems  severe.  So  true 
is  this  that  where  this  condition  is  wanting,  no  amount  of  benevolence 
or  zeal  on  the  part  of  the  instructor  can  make  up  for  the  defect.  All 
the  devices  of  mere  physical  appliance,  so  idly  relied  upon  as  efficacious 
and  so  often  invoked  as  miraculous  or  infallible  in  their  effects,  are 
worse  than  nothing  where  they  work  upon  aji  adverse  u-ill.  Iu  the  great 
majority  of  cases  they  serve  only  to  harden  the  offender,  who  is  in  fact 
logical  in  his  contempt  of  such  expedients,  as  they  are  in  no  way  calcu- 
lated to  remove  his  false  beliefs  or  to  inspire  him  with  loyalty  to  true 
ones.  This  is  the  secret  of  a  trusted  Jiu^ther's-  inlluence.  This,  and 
this  alone,  can  exi)lain  the  acknowledged  failure  of  so  many  ■\vell-meant 
schemes  of  reform,  though  sustained  l»y  the  subsidies  of  the  wealthiest 
states  and  the  cheers  of  a  world  of  blinded  applauders.  The  unhappy 
wanderer  who  has  gone  far  astray  must  hclicre  in  his  guide,  «»r  he  will 
not  foMow  iiim  ;  he  will  not  even  listen  to  him,  aiul  if  the  uinvelcomo 
educator  lesorts  to  tlu;  us(^  of  force  and  conuvs  to  grief  in  the  encounter, 
th(^  sympathy  of  the  standerby  is  very  sure  to  be  on  the  side  of  the  un- 
persnaded  one,  irhnterer  be  the  style  of  his  resistance. 

Jt  would,  how(,'ver,  be  wrong  to  say  that  punishment  has  not  its  uses, 
or  to  assert  that  it  can  lU'ver  tend  to  the  true  correction  of  the  vicious 
liabits  of  the  olfendei'.  J'hen  where  i)unishment  but  confirms  tlie  crim- 
inal in  his  i)ervers(^nesH,  it  may  be  necessaiy  as  a  ])art  of  i)enal  disci- 
l)line.  Nevertheless,  on  every  ()C(;asion  of  this  sort  the  dillerenco  is 
immense  in   results   i)et\\een  tlu'  system  of  eorreelion  A\hieh   is  appre- 


SUSCEPTIBILITY    OF    CRIMINALS    TO    REFORMATION.  361 

heuded  by  its  subjects  as  coming  from  a  respected  authority,  and  that 
more  popular  off-band  dealing  with  delinquents  which  regards  the  dis- 
gust of  the  refractory  impenitent  as  a  plea.^ing  feature  in  this  less  scru- 
pulous method  of  conversion. 

Where  the  punishers  (justly  or  not,  makes  little  difference)  are  re- 
garded by  the  punished  as  belonging  to  an  order,  unsympathizing  at 
least,  if  not  absolutely  hostile  or  unfriendly,  it  is  clear  that,  under  such 
circumstances,  the  subject  of  the  most  necessary  discipline  will  miscon- 
strue the  motives  and  passionately  resent  the  acts  of  his  correctors. 
And  those  who  are  intended  to  be  warned  by  these  corrections  will  find 
all  sense  of  their  necessity  lost  in  the  sense  of  their  injustice.  On  the 
contrary,  in  reformatories  where  the  inmates  (whether  for  offenses  com- 
mitted before  or  after  confinement)  are  assured,  by  evidence  or  tokens 
with  which  they  have  been  previously  impressed  and  familiar,  that  they 
are  in  the  hands  and  subject  to  the  discipline  of  friends,  they  will  cheer- 
fully submit  to  any  measure  of  coercion  deemed  necessary,  either  for 
their  individual  correction,  or  for  the  maintenance  of  the  general  order 
of  the  house. 

In  offering  these  remarks  I  wish  to  be  understood  irrespectively  of 
the  special  merits  of  the  class  of  reformers  which  may  have  previously 
gained  the  confidence  of  the  class  to  be  reformed.  For  the  same  reason 
which  insists  that  the  child  is  safer,  ou  the  whole,  with  an  indiscreet  or 
over-indulgent  mother  than  with  a  guardian,  however  gifted,  having  no 
acquired  or  natural  affection  for  her  ward,  so  it  may  be  assumed  that 
the  state  will  fail  of  securing  the  proper  training  of  its  delinquent  chil- 
dren, whether  juvenile  or  adult,  if  it  neglects  to  see  that  each  class  of 
these  unfortunates  is  committed  to  the  care  of  their  trusted  spiritual 
protectors.  Whether  this  sympathetic  tie  be  one  of  nationality,  or  lan- 
guage, or  manners,  or  religious  convictions,  or  even  of  mere  ritual  forms, 
there  is  more  safety  in  consulting  this  affinity  than  in  defying  its  re- 
quirements. Of  course  there  is  nothing  In  this  statement  that  would 
oblige  us  to  extend  it  to  classes  sanctioning  or  seconding  the  vices  de- 
signed to  be  reformed.  The  state  has  a  right  to  require  that  the  guard- 
ians, while  they  show  how  much  they  love  the  persons  of  their  wards, 
are  the  determined  enemies  of  their  faults.  And  to  this  end,  no  class  or 
sect  of  reformators  or  protectors  sTiouid  ask  to  be  relieved  from  giving 
proof  that  they  have  ever  made  war  against  the  special  misdemeanors 
which  have  consigned  these  special  offenders  to  their  care.  Subject  to 
the  strictest  scrutiny  in  this  regard,  the  cure  of  vices  or  vicious  habits 
of  thought  might  be  left  (with  hopes  of  success  far  exceeding  what  has 
hitherto  been  achieved)  to  those  who  are  prompted  by  love  and  enabled 
by  early  intimate  relations  to  cure  the  infirmities  and  amend  the  lives 
of  their  pupils,  and  even  to  eradicate  the  false  maxims  and  dangerous 
theories  of  ricjit  by  which  the  criminal  is  ever  attempting  to  justify  his 
fault. 

I  repeat  again,  I  have  no  wish  in  this  argument  to  present  any  claim 
of  superiority  of  method  on  the  part  of  any  school  of  reform.  1  know 
of  none  so  admittedly  superior  as  to  justify  the  placing  of  disaffected 
subjects  under  its  control.  Least  of  all  do  I  wish  to  see  all  classes  of 
transgressors,  widely  differing  in  their  early  prepossessions,  brought,  as 
they  often  are,  indiscriminately  under  the  only  prison  reform  party 
which  aspires  to  the  exclusive  favor  of  the  state;  I  mean  that  party 
(professedly  against  discriminations)  which  itself  discriminates  against 
all  influence  derived  from  considerations  of  superhuman  or  supernatural 
control. 

Nor  am  I  any  more  disposed  to  see  violators  of  the  law,  with  con- 


6b 2  NATIONAL    PRISON    REFORM    CONGRESS    OF    1873. 

scieuces  as  divergent  as  their  crimes,  with  inbred  convictions,  settle.d? 
maxims,  and  cherished  dehisions  as  various  as  their  faces  or  their  nameSy 
driven  helplessly  to  that  most  hopeless  of  moral  disciplines,  the  hearing" 
(under  constant  and  angry  protest)  of  the  vapid  platitudes  of  any  short- 
creeded  and  narrow-minded  sect  that  plumes  itself  upon  being  no  sect, 
hut  rather  an  enemy  of  all.  Far  better  than  this  expedient  (the  most 
distasteful  and  the  most  illogical  of  any  yet  tried)  is  the  method  of 
classifying,  as  far  as  practicable,  the  erring  children  of  crime,  and  of 
bringing  daily  each  separate  class,  even  if  in  the  main  they  live 
together,  under  the  influence  of  the  teaching  which  alone  they  can 
profitably  understand.  To  say  nothing  of  the  generous  riv^alry  which 
might  thus  be  kindled  and  sustained,  the  real  exi»erience  of  the  world  is 
in  its  favor,  for  no  success  has  as  yet  attended  the  novel  experiment  of 
turning  religion  out  of  doors,  or  the  other  equally  novel  one  of  leaving  to 
the  state  the  choice  of  a  i:)rison  creed,  and  the  selection  of  a  catechism 
the  best  adapted  to  contradictory  beliefs.  If  the  state  abandons,  as  it 
ought  to  do,  all  attemiit  to  discriminate  for  or  agaiust  any  religious  teach- 
ing in  its  reformatory  institutions,  let  it  apply  the  subsidies  it  now  re- 
quires in  order  that  "no  particular  religion"  shall  be  heard  by  those 
who  need  it  most,  to  the  support  of  as  many  charities  as  will  be  raised 
in  its  aid,  by  those  who  wish  to  reach  the  hearts  and  consciences  of  the 
unfortunates  of  their  own  special  faith. 

Protestant  or  Catholic,  Jew  or  Gentile,  followers  of  a  church  which 
knows  no  change,  or  adherents  of  views  which  have  no  continuity  or 
rest,  let  our  prisoned  children  be  educated  by  their  own  spiritual 
mothers ;  and  where  they  are  orphaned  by  the  absence  of  any  such  ma- 
ternal influence,  in  the  name  of  mercy  and  humanity  i^ermit  them  (if 
young)  to  be  taught  as  their  natural  guardians  may  prefer,  and  (if  adult) 
let  them  freely  give  their  hearing  where  they  give  their  hearts,  without 
restriction  or  dictation  from  the  state,  which  has  never  ceased  to  re- 
afiirm  the  American  principle  that,  in  such  selections,  the  civil  power  has 
neither  competency  nor  jurisdiction,  nor  even  a  desire  to  interfere. 
Witliigreat  respect,  I  remain,  vours,  &c., 

HENRY  J  AS.  ANDEHSON, 
President  New  York  Cath.-Frot.  Ojflcej  20  Beade  street, 

New  York^  January  18,  1873. 

Kev.  Dr.  E.  C.  Wines, 

No.  194  Broadway. 

C.  Duty  of  socjErv  to  persoiss  arrested  but  not  yet  brought 

TO  trial: 

JUj  ^Vln.  •!.  Mullen,  j;;r.'s6/i  aycnfj  Philadelphia. 

riiiLADELPiiiA,  January  11,  1873. 
KEsrFCTKi)  sill:  Your  favor  of  the  circular  informing  me  of  the  time 
for  tli<!  assembling  ot  the  Prison  I Jcform  Congress  at  Baltimore,  on  the 
21st  instant,  has  l)een  receive<l,  and  tor  which  you  will  please  accept  my 
thanks.  1  am  sorry  to  state  that  circumstances  beyond  niy  control  will 
prevent  me  from  being  present  at  the  congress.  1  heartily  ai)prove  of 
the  object,  and  am  <|nite  sure  that  good  results  will  follow  the  delibera- 
tions and  a<;tion  of  the  (rongress.  It  cannot  be  otherwise.  The  united 
efforts  of  the  wise  and  good,  ass(ind)hMl  together  for  siu'h  a  nu^rciful  ob- 
ject, will  certainly  Ix^  altrndcd  with  divine  blessing,  that  will  not  only 
result  in  accomplisiilng  nmch  good  for  unfortnnat<'.  piisoncMS  who  may 
be  l)eiictil<<l   li\lhe    action  of  the  congress,  but  will   ai-^o  prove  beuefi- 


UNTRIED    PRISONERS    NEED    ATTENTION.  363 

cial  to  each  member  of  the  congress,  who  will  esteem  it  a  privilege  to 
participate  iu  so  benevolent  and  God-like  a  work. 

There  is  a  subject  which,  I  think,  has  not  received   that  attention 
which  its  importance  demanded  from  the  different  conventions  that  have 
heretofore  met  on  prison  reform.     It  is  that  of  untried  prisoners,  whose 
cases  should,  in  every  instance,  be  thoroughly  investigated  by  a  com- 
petent prison  agent  before  going  to  trial.     Such  investigations  as  have 
been  made  by  myself  in  our  Philadelphia  county  prison  have  prevented 
the  conviction  of  thousands  of  persons,  who  might  otherwise  have  been 
condemned  without  such  investigations.     The  friendly  interference  of 
an  intelligent  and  disinterested  agent,  in  behalf  of  the  accused,  who 
may  be  incarcerated,  friendless  and  helpless,  and  without  the  means 
of  proving  his  innocence,  in  such  cases,  may  result  in  securing  his  acquit- 
tal, by  supplying  him  with  counsel  to  properly  explain  his  case  to  the 
court  and  have  his  witnesses  present  at  the  time  of  trial.    All  well-reg- 
ulated prisons  (in  my  judgment)  should  have  such  an  agent,  who  should 
make  it  his  special  business  to  do  all  in  his  power,  in  a  proper  manner,  to 
prevent  improper  convictions.     That  has  been  done  effectually  in  the  city 
of  Philadel]jhia,  with  the  unqualified  approval  of  our  highest  authorities, 
from  the  governor  down  ;  and  this,  too,  without  impairing  the  adminis- 
tration of  justice;  as  may  be  seen  in  the  fact  that  our  criminal  judges 
are  united  in  affording  the  agent  every  facility,  in  his  investigations  and 
labors,  that  is  not  inconsistent  with  justice.    The  court  has  assigned 
the  agent  a  position  inside  the  bar,  by  the  side  of  the  district-attorney; 
and  in  this  way  every  opportunity  is  aftbrded  the  prisoner  to  show  his 
innocence.     With  these  facilities,  the  agent  has  succeeded  in  causing  the 
liberation  from  prison  of  32,474  persons  within  the  last  nineteen  years. 
Of  this  number  2,440  persons  were  liberated  through  me  during  the  past 
year.     How  many  of  these  would  have  been  convicted  and  caused  to 
undergo  unnecessary  suffering  in  prison   without  this  friendly  inter- 
ference of  the  agent,  is  a  question  not  easily  answered.    I  have  no  doubt 
but  that  there  would  have  been  many  thousands  convicted  out  of  the 
whole  number,  dating  from  the  commencement  of  the  agency.    The 
most  of  these  cases  were  settled  by  the  agent,  with  the  consent  of  all 
parties  concerned,  before  the  magistrate,  without  having  been  sent  to 
court,  the  charges  having  been  shown  to  be  so  frivolous  as  to  be  un- 
worthy of  the  attention  of  a  jury.     The  saving  in  money  to  the  tax- 
payers of  our  city,  in  the  release  of  these  prisoners,  that  would  have 
been  required  to"  be  paid  for  food  while  waiting  in  prison  until  the 
earliest  period  they  could  be  tried,  and  what  it  would  have  cost  to 
ignore  their  bills,  would  have  been  $320,112.02.     I  give  this  information 
to  show  the  great  amount  of  good  that  may  be  accomplished  by  the  in- 
terference of  a  judicious  prison  agent.     In  my  judgment,  you  could  not 
do  a  better  thing  than  to  bring  this  subject  prominently  before  the 
prison  congress  for  their  consideration.     It  is  a  great  thing  to  do  all  that 
can  be  done  to  ameliorate  the  condition  of  convict  prisoners ;  but  it  is  a 
much  greater  thing  (in  my  judgment)  to  prevent  an  innocent  man  from 
becoming  a  convict  and  being  made  to  suffer  unjust  imprisonment.     The 
press  of  business  in  our  criminal  courts,  and  the  hurried  manner  in  which 
cases  are  necessarily  disposed  of  in  most  instances,  have  been  shown  to 
result  in  the  conviction  of  many  innocent  persons,  whose  innocence  I 
have  often  succeeded  in  proving  to  the  entire  satisfaction  of  the  court, 
after  their  conviction.    This  resulted  in  the  reconsideration  of  their  sen- 
tence and  their  honorable  discharge  from  prison. 

The  great  cause  of  crime  amongst  us  is  intemperance.   Nine-tenths  of  all 
who  are  committed  to  our  prison  are  sent  there  either  through  iutemper- 


364  NATIONAL    PRISON    KEFORM    CONGRESS    OF    1373. 

ance  in  the  prisoner  or  the  person  who  caused  him  to  be  committed.  If  the 
congress  would  take  some  action  on  this  subject  it  M^ould  no  doubt  be 
attended  with  good  results.  Of  the  half  million  of  persons  who  have  been 
committed  to  onr  county  pr'son  within  the  last  twenty  years,  there  have 
been  about  500  committed  for  murder  ;  700  additional  for  attempting  to 
murder;  over  40.000  for  assault  and  battery;  and  over  200,000  for 
drunkenness.  In  nearly  every  case  of  murder,  or  where  there  was  an 
attempt  to  murder,  the  parties  were  intoxicated.  Intoxicating  liquor  is 
not  only  a  great  enemy  to  the  church,  but  it  is  the  great  cause  of  suf- 
fering to  humanity.  All  conventions  and  all  good  citizens  should  speak 
out  against  this  crying  evil,  which  has  done  so  much  toward  filling  our 
prisons,  almshouses,  and  lunatic  asylums. 

In  conclusion,  I  would  say  that  you  are  at  liberty  to  make  what  use 
of  this  letter  you  (in  j^our  judgment)  may  think  best. 

With  the  hope  that  the  above  information  may  be  of  some  service,  I 
have  the  honor  to  be,  dear  sir.  vours^  very  respectfully, 

WILLIAM  J.  MULLE:N. 

7.  Intemperance  and  ceijme: 

By  Aaron  M.  PoiveU,  of  Kew  Yorl: 

Among  the  various  exciting  causes  of  crime  unquestionably  the  most 
prolific  is  the  use  of  intoxicating  liquors  as  a  beverage.  The  testimony 
to  this  effect  is  most  abundant. 

Lord  Chief  Justice  Sir  W.  Bovill,  an  eminent  English  judge,  writing 
to  the  venerable  archdeacon  of  Coventry  on  the  relations  of  intemj^er- 
ance  to  crime  in  Great  Britain,  says :  "Amongst  a  large  class  of  our 
population  intemperance  in  early  life  is  the  direct  and  immediate  cause 
of  every  kind  of  immorality,  profligacy,  and  vice,  and  soon  leads  to  the 
commission  of  crime." 

Another  eminent  English  jurist.  Lord  Chief  Baron  Kelly,  says:  "I 
can  only  express  my  belief,  indeed  I  may  say  my  conviction,  that  two- 
thirds  of  the  crimes  which  come  before  the  courts  of  law  in  this  coun- 
try are  occasioned  chielly  by  intemperance." 

Still  another,  the  Eight  Hon.  Sir  H.  J.  Keating,  adds  his  weighty  tes- 
timony as  follows :  "  I  should  suppose  the  testimony  of  every  judge 
upon  the  bench  would  be  the  same  as  to  the  fact  that  a  very  large  pro- 
portion of  the  crimes  of  violence  brought  before  us  are  traceable,  either 
directly  or  indirectly,  to  the  intemperate  use  of  intoxicating  liquors. 
In  my  own  experience  of  more  than  nine  years  upon  the  bench,  corrob- 
orated by  a  very  long  experience  at  the  bar,  I  have  no  hesitation  in 
saying  tliat  such  is  the  case.  Some  of  the  saddest  cases  with  which 
we  have  to  deal  are  those  in  which  men  go  into  public  houses  respect- 
able and  resi)ected,  and  comic  out  felons." 

Police  INIagistrate  Jiai'lies,  tor  the  borougli  of  ]jiver])ool,  says:  "The 
truth  lias  been  so  universally  a(;kno\\iedged  by  all  onr  judges  of  the 
superior  conits,  and  by  those  Avho  have  ])resided  over  our  sessions 
courts,  that  1  can  add  nothing  to  give  weiglit  to  what  has  been  taken 
from  tJK'm,  viz,  that  drunkenness  is  llie  cause  of  nine-tenths  of  the 
crime  wliicli  exists  in  tiiis  country.  I  van  but  confirm  the  sad  con- 
clusion. Perhajjs  I  hav(^  s(^en  as  much  of  it  during  the  last  nine  or  ten 
years  as  any  one." 

Lord  Cliicl"  , Justice  liovill  adds  to  his  own  ilu^  following  testimony, 
which  I  (|uof(^  ffoni  llu'  oriicial  i»resentincnt  of  a  giand  .jury  of  Leeds: 
"The   gr;irid  jmv  haxing  again,  as  on   many  previous  occasions,  had 


INTEMPERANCE    AND    CRIME.  365 

tbeir  attention  called  to  the  large  number  of  crimes  ot  a  serious  charac- 
ter whose  origin  is  traceable  to  beer-houses,  desire  to  express  their 
strong  opinion  that  some  alteration  should  be  made  in  the  existing  sys- 
tem of  licensing,  with  a  view  to  place  beer-houses  under  such  super- 
vision as  would  check  the  evils  now  so  grievously  com[)laiued  of." 

An  English  prison  chaplain  says:  "About  five  hundred  prisoners  are 
annually  admitted  into  tjiis  prison,  and  I  consider  about  four  hundred 
are  the  victims  of  intemperance." 

Another  says :  "  1  have  no  doubt  but  that  intemperance,  directly  or 
indirectly,  is  the  cause  of  nine-tenths  of  the  committals  to  prison." 

A  governor  of  an  English  prison,  writing  of  his  charge,  says:  "  Since 
I  have  been  appointed  to  the  charge  of  this  prison  I  have  had  under 
my  charge  eight  hundred  and  forty-one  prisoners,  and  all  the  crimes 
have  been  committed  when  under  the  intinence  of  intoxicating  liquors, 
with  the  exception  of  twenty-six." 

While  in  attendance  upon  the  international  prison  congress,  held  in 
London  in  July,  1872,  with  this  subject  then  upon  my  mind,  I  took 
occasion  to  consult  distinguished  delegates  who  were  present  from 
various  countries,  as  also  in  journeying  and  sometimes  visiting  prisons 
in  a  somewhat  extended  European  tour,  and  the  testimony  of  all  showed 
at  least  three-fourths,  and  often  a  much  larger  percentage  of  crime,  to 
be  traceable  to  intoxicating  liquors  as  a  primary  cause. 

I  will  now  cite  briefly  the  testimony  of  a  few  competent  witnesses  as 
to  our  experience  in  this  country.  And  first  I  will  quote  from  a  docu- 
ment published  by  authority  of  the  legislature  of  the  State  of  ]Sew  York, 
the  twentieth  annual  report  of  the,  executive  committee  of  the  prison 
association  of  New  York,  the  following :  "  There  can  be  no  doubt  that 
of  all  the  pi\)ximate  sources  of  crime  the  use  of  intoxicating  liquors  is 
the  most  prolific  and  the  most  deadly.  Of  other  causes  it  may  be 
said  that  they  slay  their  thousands.  Of  this  it  must  be  said  that 
it  slays  its  tens  of  thousands.  The  committee  asked  for  the  opinion 
of  the  jail  officers  in  nearly  every  county  in  the  State  as  to  the  propor- 
tion of  commitments  due  either  directly  or  indirectly  to  strong  drink." 
On  a  preceding  page  is  the  following:  "Not  less  than  sixty  thousand 
to  seventy  thousand  human  beings,  men,  women,  and  children,  either 
guilty  or  arrested  on  suspicion  of  being  guilty  of  crime,  pass  every 
year' through  these  institutions.  The  judgment  of  these  jail  officers 
varied  from  two-thirds  as  the  lowest  estimate  to  nine-tenths  as  the 
highest,  and  on  reducing  the  several  proportions  to  an  average,  seven- 
eighths  was  the  appalling  result  obtained." 

The  Eev.  William  M.  Tiiayer,  the  secretary  of  the  Massachusetts 
Temperance  Alliance,  in  his  official  report  for  1872,  referring  to  the 
House  of  Industry,  and  other  public  institutions  of  Boston,  says :  "  Of 
the  total  commitments  to  the  House  of  Industry,  for  the  year  ending 
May  1,  1872 — amounting  to  4,417 — all  but  305  were  for  drunkenness, 
and  offenses  caused  by  drink.  The  records  of  the  public  institutions  of 
the  city  show  that  95  per  cent,  of  all  the  arrests,  of  late,  have  been  for 
drunkenness,  and  crimes  caused  by  intoxicating  liquors." 

Governor  Washburne,  of  Massachusetts,  still  more  recently,  in  his 
message  at  the  opening  of  the  legislature  now  in  session,  in  referring  to 
the  beer-shops  and  the  liquor  question,  says:  "  If  we  are  to  accept  the 
evidence  of  those  who  have  had  the  most  painful  experience  of  the 
miseries  produced  by  these  places,  tbey  are  among  the  greatest  ob- 
stacles to  the  social  and  moral  progress  of  the  community.  The  testi- 
mony of  criminals  of  every  degree  is,  that  they  were  drawn,  by 
frequenting  beer-houses,  into  oflenses  and  violations  of  law  of  which 


3()6  NATIONAL    PRISON    REFORM    CONGRESS    OF    1873. 

they  might  otherwise  have  remained  inuoceut.  The  wise  and  prudent 
legislator  will  not  cease  his  efforts  for  the  diminution  of  crime  till  every 
measure  has  been  adopted  which  experience  proves  needful." 

I  might,  if  the  limits  which  I  propose  for  this  paper  permitted,  quote 
voluminously  from  the  official  records  of  the  courts,  State  and  munici- 
pal, of  almost  every  State  in  the  Union,  a  mass  of  testimony,  all  bearing 
upon  this  point,  and  showing  throughout  the  plose  connection  between 
intoxicating  liquors  and  crime,  1  will  venture  to  cite  the  recent  experi- 
ence of  Boston  in  connection  with  the  late  destructive  fire.  In  the 
great  emergency  created  by  the  fire,  and  with  a  large  influx  of  thieves 
from  i^ew  York,  every  precaution  to  prevent  disorder  and  riot  became 
necessary.  An  edict  of  absolute  prohibition  was  issued  by  the  city 
authorities  against  beer  and  all  other  intoxicating  liquors,  v;hich  was 
in  force  ten  days.  The  chief  of  police  of  Boston,  B.  H.  Savage,  esq., 
thus  testifies  as  to  the  diminution  of  arrests,  even  with  the  greatly 
increased  liability  to  criminal  disorder,  during  the  ten  days  of  prohibi- 
tion. He  says:  "For  the  ten  days  preceding  the  order,  viz,  from 
November  2  to  November  11,  inclusive,  the  records  show  the  whole 
number  of  arrests  to  be  1,1G9.  For  the  ten  days  in  which  the  order  was 
in  force,  viz,  from  November  12  to  November  21,  inclusive,  the  records 
show  the  whole  number  of  arrests  to  be  G75." 

In  Massachusetts,  at  the  present  time,  the  liquor  traffic  is  carried  on 
chiefly  in  what  are  called  "  beer-shops,"  the  towns  voting  annually  upon 
the  proposition  whether  they  will  or  will  not  authorize  the  sale  of  beer. 
As  the  mercury  in  the  thermometer  indicates  the  rising  or  falling  tem- 
perature, so  do  the  court-records  of  these  towns  as  sensitively  indicate 
the  state  of  the  liquor  traffic.  It  is  understood  that  those  who  know 
how  to  say  beer  with  the  right  inflection  can  obtain  almos^any  kind  of 
liquor  desired  at  these  licensed  shops.  I  will  cite  but  a  single  illustra- 
tion. "  In  1S71  the  city  of  Taunton  voted  'No  beer.'  The  number  of 
arrests  for  drunkenness  from  May  1  to  Deceujber  31,  1S71,  was  290.  In 
1872  the  city  voted  in  favor  of  the  sale  of  beer,  &c.  The  number  of  ar- 
rests for  drunkenness  from  May  1  to  December  31, 1872,  was  492,  being 
an  increase  over  the  previous  year  of  202,  or  about  70  per  cenV^ 

Governor  Dix,  of  the  State  of  New  York,  in  his  recent  message  to  the 
legislature  now  in  session,  calls  attention  to  the  alarming  prevalence  of 
crime  in  the  city  of  New  York  as  follows:  "  The  alarming  increase  in 
frequency  of  the  crime  of  murder  in  the  city  and  its  environs  demands 
your  most  serious  consideration.  Scarcely  a  day  i)asses  without  wit- 
nessing a  brutal,  and  in  many  instances  a  fatal  assault,  upon  the  persons 
of  unolfending  individuals,  usually  in  drinking  saloons." 

Itowhunl  Burr,  escp,  for  nearly  twenty  years  a  magistrate  at  Toronto, 
stated  to  the  Canadian  ])arliament  "  that  nine-tenths  of  the  male  ])ris- 
oners  and  ninteentwentieths  of  the  female  are  sent  to  Jail  by  intoxicjat- 
ing  li(pu)rs.  Jn  four  years  there  were  2r>,()00  ]>risoiuM\s  in  Canadian  Jails, 
of  whom  22,000  owed  their  imprisonment  to  drinking  habits." 

I  will  only  add  in  the  way  of  testimony  that  1  uiulcrstand  the  very 
recent  message  of  the  mayor  of  this  (;ity  of  Baltimoic  enumerates  an 
aggregate  of  some  10,000  arrests  for  the  past  year,  about  8,000  of  which 
are  to  be  asciilx'd,  directly  or  i!idirectl\,  to  the  usu  of  intoxicating 
lirpiors. 

J^o  we  seek  llie  ]»^e^•ention  of  crime  '  Would  we  e\t<'nd  due  protec- 
tion and  (mcouragenu'nt  to  discharged  i)risonersi?  If  so,  we  have  a 
twofold  duty  :  first,  to  jirotect  the  weak  from  unnecessary  temptation 
by  a  wise  policy  of  legislation  ;  and,  8«'cond,  to  employ  the  ministrations 
of  genuine,  practical  icligion. 


PRISON   REFORM    IN    PENNSYLVANIA.  367 

If  goverumeut  may  arrest  and  restrain  the  criminal,  it  may  interpose 
its  beneficent  authority  to  remove  palpably  demoralizing  agencies;  it 
may  close  the  wide-open  doors  of  temptation.  If  it  may  blow  up  and 
destroy  blocks  of  magniiicent  buildings  to  save  a  city  from  conflagration, 
it  may  not  only  organize  and  sustain  a  vigorous  tire-department,  but 
also  pi'obibit  altogether  a  particularly  dangerous  fire-inviting  architecture. 
That  is  a  poor  type  of  statesmanship,  scarcely  deserving  the  name, 
which  deals  only  with  results,  and  does  not  at  the  same  time  look  at 
and  give  due  consideration  to  their  producing  causes.  None  should  be 
permitted  to  prosecute  a  traffic  for  the  sake  of  gain  by  pandering  to  the 
vices  and  inflaming  the  passions  of  those  who  are  weak  or  criminally 
inclined.  As  infected  ships  are  quarantined  in  the  interest  of  the  pub- 
lic health,  so  must  be  the  grog-shops  and  drinking-places  for  the  pro- 
tection of  the  weak  against  undue  temptation,  as  well  as  society  against 
the  depredations  they  may  be  expected  otherwise  to  commit. 

Most  important  of  all  is  the  religious  obligation  imposed  by  the  high 
ideal  of  Christianity  toward  those  who  have  gone  astray  and  who  are 
most  exposed  to  wrong-doing.  In  the  administration  of  prison  disci- 
pline it  prompts  tojustice,  firmness,  and  kindness  judiciously  blended;  in 
caring  for  discharged  prisoners,  it  prompts  to  extend  the  helping  hand  to 
those  sorely  needing  assistance  in  taking  the  first  step  aright  in  returning 
again  to  society  from  their  incarceration  ;  but  especially  does  it  exact 
of  us  all,  in  the  presence  of  such  responsibilities,  right  precept  and  ex- 
ample. Is  strong  drink  the  besetting  sin  of  the  criminal  classes "?  Does 
it  cause  our  brother  or  sister  to  offend  ?  Then  is  it  our  religious  duty 
to  do  what  w^e  may,  each  in  our  own  way  and  sphere  of  activity,  to  dis* 
courage  the  drinking  usages  of  society.  How  frequent  and  how  sad 
are  the  falls  from  high  social  position  to  the  deepest  depths  of  misery 
and  crime.  How  many  households  with  haunting  skeletons  of  the 
worse  than  murdered  victims  of  the  drink-demon.  Especially  should 
there  be  thoughtful  consideration  of  the  young.  To  them,  and  to  all,  we 
should  exemplify  and  teach  temperance,  truthfulness,  and  brotherly 
kindness,  and  thus  build  upon  the  solid  foundation,  forestall  crime,  and 
inaugurate  the  era  of  a  true  Christian  civilization. 

8.  Prison  reform  in  Pennsylvania. 

The  board  of  public  charities  of  Pennsylvania,  through  its  president, 
the  Hon.  George  L.  Harrison,  submitted  to  the  congress  a  summary  of 
views  and  suggestions  contained  in  its  report  for  1872.  This  paper, 
slightly  condensed,  is  as  follows : 

It  states  the  opinion  that,  in  dealing  with  crime,  iireventive  rather 
than  curative  measures  ought  to  be  mainly  relied  upon,  among  which  it 
enumerates  the  following : 

1.  A  thorough  system  of  universal  education, 

2.  Special  and  effective  agencies  for  the  care  of  truant,  vagrant,  neg- 
lected, and  overtasked  children. 

3.  A  much  larger  provision  of  i-eformatory  schools  and  houses  of  cor- 
rection for  the  various  grades  of  juvenile  otienders. 

4.  Provision  for  the  proper  care  of  the  helpless  and  pauper  classes. 

5.  Effective  laws  for  the  suppression  of  intemperance. 

6.  Adequate  provision  for  the  restraint  and  employment  of  all  idle 
vagrants. 

7.  Provision,  in  the  county  and  municipal  prisons,  for  the  separate 
treatment  of  vagrants,  witnesses,  and_persons  charged  with  crime,  as 
well  as  convicts. 


368  NATIONAL    PEISON    EEFOEM    CONGRESS    OF    1873. 

The  remedial  system,  or  prison  discipline  proper,  should  be  based  on 
the  fundamental  principle  of  reformation  throuo-h  punishment,  and  not 
of  punishment  as  an  end.  Such  a  system  should  contain,  among  others, 
the  following  features : 

1.  Sufficient  provision  for  the  separate  confinement  of  each  prisoner. 

2.  After  a  suitable  period  of  separate  continement  and  the'  perform- 
ance of  certain  prescribed  tasks,  provision  should  be  made  for  the  em- 
ployment of  the  convicts  in  voluntary  productive  labor,  as  a  means  of 
moral  improvement  and  a  preparation  for  their  future  self-support. 

3.  Unless  solitary  labor  should  be  preferred  by  the  convicts,  this  labor 
to  be  performed  in  small  companies  or  families,  properly  selected,  the 
members  having  free  intercourse  together,  and  being  mutually  respon- 
sible for  each  other's  conduct. 

4.  The  proceeds  of  the  labor  to  be  appropriated :  a.  To  defray  the 
current  expenses  of  the  convict,  and  to  indemnify  the  State,  h.  To  con- 
tribute to  the  support  of  the  convict's  family,  if  necessary,  c.  To  the 
convict  himself,  to  go  partly  to  form  a  reserve  fund  against  the  time  of 
his  release,  and  to  be  used  partly  as  he  may  choose  for  procuring  pres- 
ent alleviations  and  comforts. 

5.  Instruction  should  be  given  to  all  the  convicts  as  they  may  need  : 
a.  In  some  trade  or  handicraft,  h.  In  the  elements  of  learning  and 
knowledge,     e.  In  the  principles  and  practice  of  morality  and  religion. 

6.  Considerate  and  humane  treatment  to  be  emphatically  insisted  on, 
using,  as  far  as  possible,  moral  influence  instead  of  physical  force,  and 
endeavoring,  above  all  things,  to  develop  the  self-respect  and  man- 
hood of  the  prisoners. 

7.  A  careful  classification  of  the  prisoners  to  be  constantly  kei)t  up, 
and  from  time  to  time  corrected — a  classification  based  not  upon  any 
extraneous  or  arbitrary  considerations,  but  upon  character  and  conduct. 

8.  Provision  to  be  made  for  securing  a  corps  of  judicious  and,  event- 
ually, experienced  prison  keepers,  so  as  to  render  the  profession  of  prison- 
keeper  honorable  and  respected,  to  which  end  special  schools  for  their 
education  and  training  should  be  established. 

9.  The  substitution  of  meritorious  conduct  and  probable  reformation 
for  mere  lapse  of  time,  as  the  ground  of  final  discharge;  that  is  to 
say,  until  convicts  have  earned  their  release  by  such  evidence  of  good 
conduct  and  habits  as  will  rationally  imply  their  permanent  reforma- 
tion. 

10.  There  should  be,  in  the  case  of  each  convict,  a  certain  time- 
sentence,  graduated  according  to  his  offense,  but  always  long  enough 
to  give  full  opportunity  for  reformatory  ])rocesses  to  take  efiect. 

[The  board  is  aware  that  the  ideal  i>erfection  of  the  ])lan  w:hich 
makes  the  discharge  of  every  prisoner  dependent  on  his  reformation, 
would  require  too  great  a  revolution  in  legal  and  popular  ideas  to  be  as 
yet  expected  or  asked  for.] 

11.  A  system  of  marks  to  be  instituted  which,  under  fixed  rules,  may 
be  a  guide  lor  (;lassi(i(;ation  and  rewards,  as  well  as  for  the  final  judg- 
ment; having  a  debit  as  well  as  a  credit  side,  and  providing  for  loss  of 
standing  and  class,  or  even  for  remanding  to  the  cell,  in  case  of  mis- 
conduct. 

12.  Intermediate  pri.sons  to  be  provided,  where  the  prisoners,  still  re- 
maining undischarged,  may  be  filially  tested,  by  being  trusted  with  a 
great  degree  of  liberly,  and  hift  in  large  measure  to  control  themselves, 
un(h.'r  most  ol  the  ordinary  temptations  of  free  life,  yet  liable,  for  un- 
faithtnliiess,  misconduct,  or  altem])ted  escape,  to  be  degraded  and  sent 
back  to  Ix'^^in  tlieii'  work  over  again. 


REFORMATORY  POWER  OF  HOPE.  369 

13.  Refuges  to  be  provided  for  released  prisoners,  to  facilitate  their 
return  to  society,  wliere  they  can  have,  at  their  own  expense,  lodging, 
maintenance,  and  means  of  employment,  until  they  can  procure  em- 
ployment elsewhere. 

The  board  express  the  opinion  that  such  a  system  would,  as  a  mat- 
ter of  course,  require  unity  of  control.  All  the  prisons  and  houses  of 
detention  in  a  State,  of  whatever  kind  or  class,  should  be  placed  under 
the  supervision  and  general  direction  of  one  head  or  of  one  board  of 
managers,  representing  the  authority  of  the  State.  In  respect  to  all 
matters  of  prison  construction  and  prison  discipline,  the  county  and 
municipal  authorities  should  be  required  to  act  under  direction  and 
control  of  this  central  and  supreme  authority. 

9.  Hope  the  great  eefoemer  : 
By  Eon.  B.  F.  Butler. 

My  Dear  Sir  :  I  have  but  this  moment  got  round  to  the  matter  of 
your  inquiry  among  other  more  urgent  duties.  You  desire  me  to  state 
to  you  the  method  by  which  1  conducted  the  military  prisons  and  gov- 
erned the  prisoners  during  my  command  of  the  Department  of  Virginia 
and  North  Carolina,  in  18G4. 

First  thanking  you  for  the  compliment  of  commendation  of  the  man- 
ner of  managing  prisoners,  I  grieve  that  I  shall  be  unable,  being  entirely 
without  the  statistical  details  of  the  subject,  to  give  you  any  exact  sta- 
tistics. I  will  try,  however,  to  state,  in  a  manner  that  will  be  understood, 
the  plan  upon  which  perfect  discii)line  was  enforced. 

When  I  took  command  in  November,.18G3,  at  Fortress  Monroe,  I  found 
a  large  number  of  deserters,  thieves,  and  bad  crimiuals  of  the  Army, 
sentenced  by  court-martial  to  hard  labor  for  longer  or  shorter  periods. 
They  were  confiued  in  an  old  naval  depot,  known  as  Fort  Norfolk,  and 
their  hard  labor  seemed  to  be,  substantially,  sleeping  all  day  and  play- 
ing cards  all  night;  so  that  the  sentence  to  hard  labor  at  Fort  Norfolk 
was  rather  a  favorite  method  of  passing  their  term  of  enlistment  by  the 
wicked  and  perverse  of  the  army;  both  maybe  comprehended  under 
the  name  of  "  shirks."  I  looked  around  for  some  suitable  place  for  con- 
finement at  hard  labor,  but  found  none.  I  have  a  Yankee  horror  of  what 
is  known  as  the  "chain-gang,"  and  therefore  did  not  like  to  work  these 
men  chained  together.  1  was  told  that  it  was  impossible  to  make  them 
work  without  paying  them  wages.  Upon  that  I  doubted.  I  agreed  that 
it  was  impossible  to  make  men  work  to  any  efiect  without  fear  of  the 
lash  or  other  punishment,  or  the  hope  of  some  reward.  I  therefore  sent 
to  Massachusetts  and  obtained  some  of  our  Massachusetts  correction- 
uniforms,  which  consist  of  a  gray  and  black  suit,  half  and  half,  cut  down 
the  center,  and  a  scarlet  cap.  I  clothed  my  prisoners  in  this  uniform, 
which,  as  you  see,  was  very  distinctive.  I  put  them  under  the  charge 
of  the  proper  otficer  and  a  superintendent,  who  had  at  first  some  men 
to  guard  them,  and  put  them  to  work  in  the  spring  in  cleaning  up  the 
streets,  and  alleys,  and  lanes  of  the  city  of  Norfolk,  much  of  it  very 
offensive  and  troublesome  work.  I  gave  those  that  worked  in  the  midst 
of  nauseous  effluvia  and  in  unhealthy  situations  a  ration  of  whisky ; 
I  gave  all  that  used  it  a  ration  of  tobacco.  I  saw  that  they  were  well 
fed  with  wholesome  and  nourishing  provisions.  They  were  taken  to 
their  cells  at  night  to  sleep,  and,  after  a  day's  work  of  ten  hours,  they 
were  quite  ready  to  do  so.  1  then  directed  the  superintendent  to  keep  a 
roll  of  merit  of  the  men,  of  which  they  were  informed,  and  empowered 
H.  Ex.  185 24 


370  NATIONAL    PRISON    REFORM    CONGRESS    OF    ]&7:). 

him  to  recommeiul  me  to  have  stricken  off  from  the  senteuce  not  ex- 
ceeding' ten  days  in  each  month,  according  to  the  diligence  and  steadi- 
ness with  which  men  performed  their  duty ;  and  in  cases  of  great  merit 
a  larger  portion  of  tlie  specified  time  of  pnnishment  might  be  remitted. 
In  case  of  refractoriness,  solitary  confinement,  loss  of  the  ration  of 
tobacco,  and  bread  and  water,  were  the  i)uuishment. 

The  seqnence — and  perhaps  I  may  say  the  consequence — of  this  was, 
that  a  better  gang  of  laborers,  more  orderly  and  more  quiet,  1  have  never 
known.  I  never  lost  one  by  running  away;  I  never  had  but  one  attempt 
to  get  away,  and  he  failed;  and  after  being  shut  up  a  week  he  begged 
so  abjectly  and  persistently  to  be  allowed  to  take  his  place  in  the  work- 
ing gang  again  that.it  was  i^ermitted;  aud  he  finally  got  33^  per  cent, 
of  his  time  of  punishment  remitted  for  good  conduct.  I  even  took  the 
gang  out  into  the  swamps  on  the  Chesapeake  and  Albemarle  Canal  to 
repair  a  break,  and  although  the  country  was  overflowed,  I  only  lost  one 
there,  and  am  uncertain  to  this  day  whether  he  deserted  or  was  drowned. 

The  prisoners  under  this  system  did  work  which,  at  any  reasonable 
price — aud  an  account  was  kept  with  the  city  of  Norfolk  of  what  they 
did  do  at  a  price — would  have  several  times  compensated  for  the  cost  of 
their  keep.  I  insisted  upon  three  things:  perfect  cleanliness  and  purity 
in  their  cells  and  places  of  sleep  during  the  night;  nutritious  and  whole- 
some food  three  times  a  day,  viz,  before  they  went  out,  at  noon,  and 
after  they  came  back  ;  and  diligent,  industrious,  hard  labor  of  ten  hours 
each  day,  with  a  reward  for  labor  that  was  meritorious  by  remitting  a 
portion  of  the  punishment. 

I  have  long  thought  that  the  system  of  labor  in  our  prisons,  where 
the  laborer  had  no  hope  and  nothing  to  labor  for,  was  upon  a  wrong 
principle.  My  acquaintance  with.prisoners  as  a  criminal  lawyer  taught 
me  so  much.  I  had  an  opportunity  to  try  a  different  theory  aud  availed 
myself  of  it,  and  that  is  all. 

Keuewing,  my  dear  sir,  my  assurances  of  highest  regard  and  respect, 
I  am,  vours  trulv, 

BEXJ.  r.  BUTLEE. 

Dr.  Wines. 

10.  the  final   cause   of    criminal  legislation  as  affecting 
modes  of  punishment  : 

By  James  Freeman  Clarice,  D.  D. 

I.  "Whatever  may  be  thought  of  the  study  of  final  causes  in  science,  it 
is  certain  that,  in  regard  to  all  social  questions,  it  is  very  useful  to  in- 
quire often  :  What  institutions  are  for  i?  What  is  the  i)uri)ose  of  such 
and  such  customs  ?  What  is  the  end  ])roi)osed  by  this  or  that  course 
of  action  l  These  questions  are  the  surest  tests  to  apply  to  human  in- 
stitutions in  order  to  learn  wlu^ther  they  are  working  well  or  have  lallen 
into  ruts,  so  that  things  are  done  to-day  because  they  were  done  yester- 
day. If  1  wish  to  ai)i)ly  a  shaip  test  to  any  social  arrangement — to 
a  college,  a  chur(;h,  a  law,  a  society,  a  lu)si)ital,  «&c.,  tlie  best  thing  to 
do  is  to  ask,  (1.)  What  is  it  for  ?  What  is  its  aim  and  end  i  And  then, 
(2.)  Is  it  a(;coiiq)lishing  that  pni'pose,  or  is  it  not  ? 

II.  In  regard  to  criminal  legislation,  several  different  objects  have 
been  assumed.     It  is  important,  thcireforc,  to  ask  what  are  the  true  ones, 
an<l,  among  these,  which  are  the  most  im|)oitant  i)ur})oses  ?     Thus  crim- 
inal Icgishition  is  som('tim(\s  regarded  as  jxMial  or  i)unitive.     Its  objec 
is  sui»]K)Sfd  to   ]»('   to   i»miish    tlic  criminal  foi-   his  guilt.      Again,  it  is 


SUPREME    AIM    OF    CRIMINAL    LEGISLATION.  371 

thought  to  be  reformatory.  Its  object,  accortliDg  to  this  view,  is  to  im- 
prove tlie  morals  of  the  man  who  has  committed  a  crime.  Lastly,  the 
purpose  of  these  hxws  is  considered  to  be  to  protect  the  community. 
They  are  to  prevent  crime  by  making  it  dangerous  and  disagreeable  iu 
its  consequences.  Let  us  consider  these  three  supposed  purposes  of 
criminal  legislation,  and  find  which  is  the  truest  and  most  important. 

III.  If  the  object  of  criminal  legislation  is  to  ininhh  crime,  we  uat- 
urally  ask,  what  right  has  society  to  punish,  and  how  is  it  able  to  do  so? 
"  Vengeance  is  mine,  I  will  repay,"  says  the  Almighty.  Oidy  God  cau 
punish  justly,  for  only  God  can  read  the  heart. 

If  God  has  delegated  to  society  the  right  to  punish,  he  must  also 
have  giveu  the  power.  But  evidently  society  has  not  the  power  to  in- 
flict just  punishment  on  guilt,  since  it  cannot  discern  motives  nor  allow 
for  circumstances.  It  is  obliged  to  judge  the  outward  action  mainly; 
and  its  judgments  in  a  moral  sense  must  always  be  very  imperfect. 
Therefore,  though  the  notion  of  a  just  retribution  may  enter  into  the 
idea  of  criminal  legislation,  it  cannot  be  its  main  object. 

The  argument  for  punitive  legislation  has  been  stated  strongly  by 
Victor  Cousin,  in  his  notes  to  the  Gorgias  of  Plato.  He  says,  "  Jus- 
tice is  the  true  foundation  of  punishment;  personal  and  social  utility 
only  a  consequence.  In  the  intelligence,  the  idea  of  punishment  corre- 
sponds to  that  of  injustice,  and  when  the  injustice  has  been  committed 
in  the  social  sphere,  the  punishment  ought  to  be  inflicted  by  society. 
Punishment  is  not  junt  because  it  is  iisefulj  but  it  is  useful  because  it  is 
jwst" 

No  doubt  it  is  true  that  punishment  expresses  the  moral  indignation  of 
the  community  against  crime,  and  this  is  a  healthy  and  useful  result 
of  punishment.  It  is  good  for  the  criminal  to  feel  that  the  punishment 
he  suffers  finds  an  echo  in  the  ])ublic  conscience.  Nevertheless,  human 
punishments  are  so  very  imperfectly  adapted  to  degrees  of  guilt,  that 
if  moral  retribution  were  regarded  as  their  main  object,  they  could 
hardly  be  sustained.     It  can  only  be  a  secondary  purpose. 

IV.  Is,  then,  the  main  object  of  punishment  the  reform  of  the  offender! 
But  what  right  has  society  to  assume  to  itself  the  moral  education  of 
certain  persons  and  sequester  them  for  that  purpose,  depriving  them  of 
their  liberty  ?  Is  it  because  they  have  shown  themselves  by  their  con- 
duct to  be  in  great  need  of  improvement  f     But  others  need  it  also,  in 

'  a  less  degree ;  and  those  whose  outward  actions  have  not  been  so  offen- 
sive to  society  may,  iu  their  inward  character,  need  reform  much  more. 
If  the  object  of  penal  legislation  is  to  reform  the  criminal,  why  select 
one  class  of  offenses  only '?  Why  not  imprison  the  covetous,  selfish,  un- 
truthful, proud,  vain,  licentious  ?  They  need  reform,  surely,  as  much 
as  do  thieves  and  robbers?  It  is  evident,  therefore,  that  the  moral  im- 
provement of  the  criminal  can  only  be  a  secondary  object  of  punishment. 

V.  The  jiroper  end  of  all  human  laws  is  declared  by  publicists  to  be 
the  promotion  of  the  temporal  well-being  of  the  couimuuity.  It  is  also 
often  stated  that  the  proper  end  of  criminal  law  is  the  prevention  of  in- 
juries by  the  terror  of  punishment.  But  since  crime  may  be  prevented 
in  other  ways,  a  better  statement  would  be  that  "  The  object  of  criminal 
law  is  the  ])revention  of  crime."  This  definition  excludes  the  notion  of 
liunishiug  the  criminal,  and  also  that  of  reforming  him,  except  so  far  as 
his  punishment  or  his  reformation  may  conduce  to  the  protection  of 
society.  These  two  purposes  become  secondary  and  ancillary.  Thus 
the  question  is  simplified  and  put  on  a  practical  basis. 

VI.  We  assume,  then,  that  the  object  of  the  criminal  law  is  the  pro- 
tection of  the  community,  by  preventing  crime.     That  the  community 


372  NATIONAL    PRISON    EEFOKM    CONGRESS    OF    1873. 

lias  a  right  to7?««iis7i  guilt  may  be  questioued.  That  it  has  a  right  to 
select  some  bad  people  to  reform  may  be  doubtful.  But  no  one  can 
deny  that  it  has  a  right  to  protect  itself  against  injury.  If  criminal 
legislation  has  this  for  its  avo\Yed  object,  it  rests  on  a  perfectly  firm 
foundation. 

Now,  penalties  inflicted  on  crime  may  ]>rotect  the  community  in  sev- 
eral ways.  1.  By  fear  of  suifering,  which  inevents  the  commission  of 
crime.  2.  By  the  actnal  restraint  of  the  criminal,  which  disables  him 
from  committing  crime.  3.  By  the  education  of  the  conscience  through 
the  act  of  public  justice.  4.  By  the  reform  of  the  criminal.  We  will 
consider  them  in  order. 

yir.  Criminal  law  in  its  early  stages  lays  most  stress  on  terrific  pun- 
ishments. Its  laws  are  written  in  blood.  The  death-penalty  is  applied 
to  numerous  crimes.  The  prisons  are  places  of  torture,  and  any  attemi)t 
to  alleviate  the  sufferings  of  the  prisoner  is  regarded  as  rose-water  senti- 
mentalism.  Wright,  in  his  "Homes  of  Other  Days,"  describes  the  English 
prisons  after  the  Norman  conquest  thus  :  "  Imprisonment,  even  before 
trial,  was  made  frightfully  cruel ;  the  dungeons  were  filthy  holes,  in 
which  loathsome  reptiles  were  bred,  and  the  prisoners  were  insufficiently 
fed,  and  sometimesstripped  naked."  In  the  middleages,he  adds:  "The 
gallows  and  the  wheel  were  so  commonly  used  as  to  be  continuallj" 
before  ])eople's  eyes.  Every  town,  every  abbey,  and  almost  every  ma- 
norial lord  had  the  right  of  hanging,  and  a  gallows  or  tree,  with  a  man 
hanging  on  it,  was  so  frequent  as  to  be  almost  considered  a  part  of  every 
landscape." 

But  as  society  advances  these  pnnishments  appear  shocking  to  the 
community,  and  it  is  found  that  severity  in  punishment  leads  to  impu- 
nity. When  punishments  are  more  severe  than  the  public  sentiment 
api)roves,  they  are  not  inflicted,  and  the  criminal  escapes  all  punish- 
ment. One  of  the  accepted  maxims,  therefore,  of  modern  criminal  juris- 
])rudeDce  is,  "  Crime  is  not  prevented  by  the  severity  but  by  the  cer- 
tainty of  punishment." 

VIII.  When  criminals  are  in  prisoji  they  cannot  commit  crime,  and 
the  community  is  thus  protected  by  any  kind  of  incarceration ;  but 
most  terms  of  imprisonment  are  too  short  to  do  much  good  in  this  way. 
Short  imprisonments  also  interfere  with  the  reforn)ation  of  the  prisoner. 
II(!  is  thinking  more  of  getting  out  than  of  reform  ;  he  has  no  time  in 
prison  to  break  np  bad  habits,  or  form  good  ones  ;  he  has  no  time  to 
learn  a  trade,  or  toilet  any  e<lncation,  and  so  he  usually  goes  out  as  bad 
as  he  came  in,  and  is  prepared  to  begin  innnediately  a  new  career  of 
<-rime.  The  ]>rotection  of  the  community,  therefore,  seems  to  require 
that  instead  of  short  terms  there  should  be  substituted  a  sentence  of 
indefinite  confinement,  the  terniination  of  which  should  depend  on  the 
Ix'iiavior  of  the  i)risoner.  An  ignorant  prisoner  might  be  sentenced 
until  he  should  have  mastered  a  tiadeand  acquired  the  rudiments  of  edu- 
ciition.  I'i.vcd  terms  of  inqtrisonment  of  different  duration  haveproba- 
l»ly  conn;  IVom  the  notion  that  the  chief  end  of  penalty  is  to  i)unish 
guilt.  Such  a  (;rime,  it  is  thought,  deserves  ten  years' im[)risoumeut ; 
.sncli  anolliei-  merits  only  Wxi^]  another  only  six  months,  «S:c.  JUit  if  the 
pill  pose  of  iuqti  isoning  crimiuids  is  to  protect  society,  tliey  ought  not 
to  !)(' set  free  nut  11  tlieyhav(^  forincd  such  new  habits  as  will  make  it 
jtr(il)ai)i(!  that  they  will  lead  honest  and  industrious  lives. 

IX.  It  is  no  doubt  true  that  a  i)ublic  trial  and  conviction,  if  conducted 
]»ro|»erly,  lends  to  educate  the  gen(!ral  conscience.  J>ut  tliis  result  de- 
])ends  on  the  ])ublic  belief  that  the  iiniocent  man  will  be  generally  ac- 
<|iiitfe(l  ;nid  the  guilty  (;on<lemn<'d.     Justice  becomes  a  farce  when  great 


SUPREME    AIM    OF    CIJIMIXAL    LEGISLATION,  373 

criminals,  known  of  nil  men  to  be  j^uilty,  can  readily  esca|)<i  pnni.sli, 
meut  by  the  help  of  ablo  lawyer.s,  slcillfal  bribery,  absurd  forms  of  law- 
or  iniquitous  judges.  Hence  criminal  legislation  should  aim  at  embody- 
ing the  results  of  the  largest  experience  and  wisest  study,  and  hence, 
also,  the  pardoning  power  of  the  executive  should  be  limited. 

X.  Society  is  ])rotected  by  the  reform  of  the  criminal..  It  is  only  on 
this  ground  that  we  can  properly  advocate  such  measures  as  will  lead 
to  this  result.  But  it  is  evident  that,  if  no  criminal  is  allowed  to  leave 
prison  except  \vhen  he  has  become  an  lionest  man,  the  most  fruitful 
source  of  crime  would  be  stopped  up.  If  a  man.  come  from  prison  uu- 
reformed,  he  comes  out  hardened,  and  becomes  the  most  daring  leader 
in  outrages  on  the  public  peace.. 

Now  the  opportunities  of  reforming  a  criminal  while  in  prison  are 
very  great  if  they  are  rightly  used.  He  is  absolutely  separated  from 
temptation,  from  evil  companions,  and  bad  influences.  He  is  placed  in 
a  comparative  solitude,  where,  if  ever,  he  must  reflect  on  himself  and 
his  conduct.  We  have  the  power  of  shutting  out  all  bad  influences, 
and  letting  all  good  ones  in.  We  can  give  him  the  industrial  education 
and  intellectual  education  in  which  the  majority  of  criminals  are  defi- 
cient. And  finally,  when  he  leaves  the  i)risou,  he  comes  out  read^^  to 
pursue- some  honest  trade,  and  to  commence  a  new  mode  of  life. 

XI.  All  these  ends  are  attained  1)y  what  is  commonly  called  the 
*' Irish  system."  Under  this  plan  a  prisoner  is  sentenced  for  an  indefi- 
nite period,  the  duration  of  which  he  can  greatly  determine  by  his  own 
good  conduct.  There  are  graded  prisons,  rising  from  those  where  there 
are  the  least  liberty  and  the  greatest  hardship,  to  those  in  which  are 
the  most  liberty  and  the  least  hardship.  The  i^risoner,  as  his  conduct  is 
good,  is  gradually  transferred  from  the  lower  to  the  higher  prison,  and 
thus  is  under  the  influence  of  hope  no  less  than  that  of  fear.  He  can- 
not leave  the  prison  regularly,  except  by  graduating  from  the  highest 
class,  and  so  coming  out  as  a  man  proved  to  be  a  reformed  man,  not 
by  plausible  speeches,  but  by  a  long  course  of  good  behavior.  Leaving 
the  prison  thus,  known  to  be  a  reformed  man,  he  has  no  difficulty  in 
finding  employment,  and  the  taint  of  the  prison  does  not  adhere  to  him, 
to  interfere  with  his  attempts  at  earning  an  honest  living.  He  finds 
work  easily,  and  starts  with  a  good  standing  in  society. 

XII.  Therefore,  if  we  consider  the  protection  of  society  as  the  final 
cause  of  prison  legislation,  we  are  led  directly  to  this  system  of  "Irish 
prisons,"  as  best  accomplishing  the  end.  Of  course  we  include  in  this 
term  all  the  methods  which  belong  to  this  general  plan.  We  advocate 
the  reform  of  the  prisoner,  not  in  the  interest  of  philanthropy  or  religion, 
but  in  that  of  society.  We  reform  the  prisoner  in  order  to  protect  so- 
ciety. We  abolish  cruel  i)unishments  in  order  to  protect  society.  We 
introduce  hope  into  the  prison  to  protect  society.  And  in  doing  this, 
there  is  no  danger  that  the  prison  will  become  too  attractive;  for  this 
plan  does  not  diminish  restraint,  but  rather  increases  it;  and  wnth  this 
plan  naturally  belong  more  certainty  of  conviction,  less  hope  of  pardon, 
and  no  prospect  of  leaving  the  prison  except  by  genuine  and  demon- 
strated repentance  and  reformation.  * 


374  national  prison  reform  congress  of  1h73. 

11.  Thoughts  on  prison  treat:ment: 
By  Alfred  E.  Love. 

Philadelphia,  Flrstmonth  20,  1873. 

To  the  Xational  Prison  Association  of  the  United  States  in  convention  at 

Baltimore  : 

Respected  Friends  :  I  rejoice  that  you  are  liolding  a  convention  for 
tlie  consideration  of  the  highly  important  subjects  connected  with  prison 
discipline.  I  thank  you  for  your  invitation,  and  regret  that  my  engage- 
ments are  such  as  to  prevent  my  accepting. 

For  fifteen  years  I  have  been  a  visitor  of  our  Eastern  penitentiary, 
and  am  satisfied  that  kind  and  humane  treatment  of  prisoners  is  the 
best. 

Treat  crime  as  a  disease  and  the  criminal  as  a  patient.  Hence,  room, 
light,  air,  and  judicious  labor.  Banish  the  idea  of  mere  punishment 
and  a  machinery  system  of  treatment.  Study  dispositions  and  graduate 
the  penalties  and  ])remiums. 

Start  with  the  idea  that  those  in  prison  are  not  the  only  criminals, 
the  difference  between  detected  and  undetected  criminality  being  very 
slight.  Ai)peal  to  the  manhood  and  womanhood  of  your  prisoners,  and 
do  nothing  to  break  the  spirit  of  self-respect.  Place  first  the  refor- 
mation of  the  criminal;  secondly,  protection  of  the  community;  and, 
thirdly,  opportunity  for  restitution  for  the  wrong  committed.  Abolish 
all  time  sentences.  As  we  would  prescribe  for  a  sick  person  until  he 
Avas  restored,  and  cease  giving  medicine  to  one  who  has  recovered,  so 
should  we  release  the  prisoner  when  reformed  and  safe  to  go  abroad,  and 
withhold  discharge  when  not  cured  and  when  unsafe  to  be  out.  As  it 
is  now,  the  unreformed  can  claim  discharge  when  the  time  has  expired, 
and  they  are  almost  certain  to  return  to  their  criminal  x^ursuits ;  w^hile, 
on  the  other  hand,  the  law  holds  the  penitent  and  reformed  long  after 
'they  may  be  worthy  of  another  trial. 

If  it  is  objected  and  you  say  that  this  will  cause  hypocrisy,  I  reply,  if 
the  prisoner  should  be  discharged  after  a  committee  had  watched  and 
tested  his  conduct,  under  the  plea  of  reformation,  it  will  be  an  evidence 
that  \t  inxys  to  he  fjood,  and  if  he  go  on  all  his  life  pretending  to  be  good, 
the  community  will  be  safe  and  his  pretense  become  a  reality. 

3Iay  you  feel  drawn  to  devote  some  time  to  the  very  imi)ortant  work 
preceding  lyrison  life.  It  is  not  enough  to  care  for  the  prisoner  \\hile  in 
])rison,  nor,  indeed,  after  his  discharge  ;  we  must  have  a  constant  care  to 
prevent  jirisoners  being  made.  Take  care  of  the  erring  before  the  error 
leads  to  i)rison. 

Witli  my  kindest  regards,  yours,  cordially, 

ALPllKD  ir.  J.OVE. 


11!.    A    NOiJLE    testimony. 

L'llrr  fnna   I'rr.  C.  C.  Faote. 

Dj'/rKoir,  ,l((uHi(r}i  11,  J 873. 
Mv  I)i;.\!r  I''imi;m)  am)  IWjornioii :   I  am  in  i-eceipt  of  your  invitation 
to  atternl  tli<'   I'risou  IJcfoiju  Congress  at  Jjaltimore,  for  which  J  thank 
vou. 


PENAL  TREATMENT A  NOBLE  TESTIMONY.        375 

What  a  glorious  congress  we  had  at  Cincinnati.  I^Iay  yours  at  Balti- 
more excel  it  in  glory.  How  happy  should  1  be  to  l)e  with  you.  But 
my  labors  for  this  world  are  apparently  finished.  For  the  past  nine 
months  I  have  been  a  helpless  invalid.  I  put  my  very  life's  blood  into 
my  four  years'  chaphnncy  in  the  Detroit  house  of  correction.  Blessed 
years  of  precious  fruit  and  fatal  toil !  The  field  was  so  constantly 
whitened  for  the  harvest  that  it  seemed  impossible  to  avoid  over-labor. 
I  know  of  no  i)lace  so  hopeful  for  winning  men  and  women  back  to  the 
knowledge  and  service  of  God  as  a  properly  conducted  prison. 

May  lieaven  hasten  the  day  wheu  the  radical  reformation  of  unfortu- 
nate criminals  shall  be  the  first  and  highest  aim  of  our  prisons,  rather 
than  the  saving  to  the  community  of  a  few  paltry  dollars.  "  This,"  said 
the  great  Teacher,  "  ought  ye  to  have  done,  and  not  to  leave  the  other 
undone." 

With  high  esteem  and  true  affection,  yours,  &C., 

C.  C.  FOOTE. 

Eev.  E.  C.  Wine:s,  D.  D. 


IV. -REPORTS  OX  THE   PENAL,  REFORMATORY,  AND   PRE- 
VENT IVB  INSTITUTIONS  OF  STATES  AND  TERRITORIES. 

1.   California. 

By  Ece.  James   Wood  worth,  (•orrespondinrj  secretary  of  the  California  Prison  Commission. 

The  extreme  length  of  the  State  of  California  is  about  eight  hundred 
miles,  and  the  width  from  one  hundred  and  fifty  to  two  hundred  and 
forty  miles,  with  a  coast  of  nearly  one  thousand  miles.  The  number  of 
inhabitants  is  probably  over  600,000.  Though  young  in  years,  with  a 
small  population  in  proportion  to  its  size,  yet  having  a  water-front,  with 
so  vast  an  extent  of  country  lying  back  of  it,  and  looking  out,  through  the/ 
Golden  Gate,  directly  across  the  sea,  to  Japan,  China,  India,  and  Aus- 
tralia, with  its  fertile  soil,  its  wondrous  climate,  and  its  inexhaustible 
stores  of  mineral  wealth,  California  is  destined,  at  no  distant  day,  to 
equal  in  importance,  commercially  and  otherwise,  the  most  favored  States 
of  the  American  Union.  This  importance  will  extend  to  social  and 
moral,  as  well  as  material,  interests. 

•  Such  being  the  position  and  prospective  power  of  California,  her  influ- 
ence will  extend  over  the  whole  of  what  is  known  as  the  Pacific  coast, 
embracing  nearly  all  the  country  lying  west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains.  Of 
this  entire  territory,  California  must  take  the  lead.  The  character  of  her 
institutions,  including  those  which  look  to  the  prevention  and  repression 
of  crime,  must,  to  a  great  extent,  impress  itself  upon  the  institutions  of 
her  neighbors.  This  is  already  becoming  apparent;  unpleasantly  so,  too, 
for  while  endeavoring  to  pattern  after  us,  a  want  of  due  discrimination 
causes  them  to  copj*  our  defects  as  well  as  oUr  excellencies. 

This  State  was  at  first  little  more  than  the  mere  camping-ground  of 
adventurers,  who  had  come  here  only  for  a  temporary  sojourn.  The 
consequence  was  that  almost  everything  was  temporary  in  its  character, 
being  designed  merely  to  meet  the  needs  of  the  actual  present,  with 
little  thought  or  regard  to  what  should  be  afterwards.  In  hardly  any- 
thing was  this  more  apparent  than  in  the  provisions  for  punishing  crime, 
so  that  before  any  regular  system  had  been  thought  of,  the  plan  adopted 
had  become  so  expanded  that  it  was  difficult  to  change  it. 


376  NATIONAL    PRISON    liEFOKM    CONGRESS    OF    1873. 

Nevertheless,  important  reforms  have  already  been  iuaug-uratet].  Our 
criminal  laws  and  judicial  'system  Lave  been  greatly  imprdved.  Our 
penal  and  civil  codes,  the  result  of  four  years'  labor  by  a  cou) mission  ap- 
pointed to  prepare  them,  have  already  received  high  praise  from  jurists 
fully  competent  to  form  a  judgment  of  their  merits. 

Our  penal  institutions  are  a  state  prison,  a  jail  in  each  of  the  fifty  counties 
into  which  the  State  is  divided,  a  city  prison  and  jail  in  San  Francisco, 
and  station-houses  or  lock-ups  in  the  principal  cities.  There  is  no  central 
or  general  authority,  charged  with  the  administration  of  our  entire 
prison  system.  The  state  prison,  the  most  important  of  our  penal  estab- 
lishments, is  managed  by  a  board  of  directors,  consisting  of  the  gov- 
ernor, the  lieutenant-governor,  and  the  secretary  of  state,  all  constituted 
directors  by  their  ofiice.  The  board  has  no  official  connection  with  any 
other  penal  or  reformatory  institution  in  the  State.  The  members  are  all 
elected  at  the  same  time  for  four  years;  and,  as  a  matter  of  course,  their 
terms  of  ofiice  expire  together.  Each  receives  as  state-prison  director 
$75  per  month.  The  law  gives  the  directors  full  power  to  create  and  fill 
ofiices,  to  fix  the  salaries  of  officers,  to  remove  them  at  pleasure,  to  let 
the  labor  of  the  convicts  to  contractors,  and,  in  short,  to  do  whatever 
they  may  think  necessary  or  expedient  for  the  good  of  the  institution. 
These  powers  are  not  sufi:ered  to  rust  for  want  of  use.  They  are  exer- 
cised to  the  fullest  extent,  so  that  an  entire  change  of  the  prison  stafi 
follows  every  change  in  the  political  complexion  of  the  board. 

Though  the  lieutenant-governor  is  not  made  ex-officio  warden  by  the 
statute,  yet,  as  no  salary  is  attached  to  the  office  to  which  he  is  elected, 
and  as  his  duties  as  president  of  the  senate  occupy  but  a  fraction  of  his 
time,  the  custom  of  making  him  warden,  or  "resident  director,"  has 
become  a  settled  one ;  so  that  an  election  to  one  office  is  virtually  an 
election  to  the  other.  This  the  law  indirectly  contemplates  by  provid- 
ing that  he  shall  be  "  paid  the  sum  of  ten  dollars  per  day  for  each  day's 
services  rendered  for  the  performance  of  any  duty  at  the  state  prison." 

In  the  early  history  of  the  State  the  convicts  were,  for  a  short  time, 
kept  in  a  hulk  known  as  the  "prison  brig."  As  the  number  increased 
and  additional  accommodations  were  needed,  a  prisou  building  was 
erected.  The  security  of  the  convicts  being  at  that  time  considered  the 
main  thing,  tlie  prison  was  built  between  two  ranges  of  hills,  aftbrding 
excellent  facilities  for  guarding  the  inmates  by  means  of  cannon  planted 
upon  them,  which  swept  the  entire  grounds.  "^  The  only  disadvantage  of 
this  locality  is  that  it  prevents  any  extension  in  the  direction  of  the 
hills,  and  con)i)els  every  eidargement  to  be  made  on  a  line  ])arallel  to 
them,  ^^'ith  this  exception,  a  more  desirable  site  could  hardly  have  been 
selected.  The  prison  originally  consisted  of  one  stone  building,  ISO  feet 
long  by  28  wide,  and  one  story  high.  It  is  said  to  have  contained  at  first 
but  one  room,  into  which  were  crowded  three  hundred  i)risoners.  It 
has  since  been  divided  into  rooms  and  another  story  added.  Other 
cell-buildings,  workshops,  olficjcs,  &c.,  Inive  been  constructed  from  time 
to  tiuu;,  but  so  irregularly  tiiat  the  iiddilioiis  hav(^  made  it  amass  of 
l)at('h-worU, 

The.  j)risi)n  is  situated  at  I'oint  San  (^^uentin,  twelve  miles  north  of 
San  Fiancisco,  on  an  indentation  of  tlie  l)ay  of  th;it  name,  and  within 
three  miles  of  the  ])()puhir  watering  i)l;iee  of  S;in  Kiifael.  The  location 
is  both  hcidthy  and  beautiful.  It  is  surrounded  by  someof  the  finest 
scenei-y  of  the.  coast,  forming  a  ])anoi-aiua  of  iar(^  magnificence,  the  value 
of  which,  in  its  elevat ing  and  jc^fining  inlluences  even  upon  men  who 
Jire  imprisoned  as  felons,  can  hardly  be.  (exaggerated.  'J'he  prison  i)rem- 
ises  einin-acc  ahout  one  hundred  and  thirty  acres,  most  of  the  land,  how- 


PENAL    AND    REFORMATORY    INSTITUTIONS    OF    CALIFORNIA.     377 

ever,  being  of  little  value  except  for  grazing-.  The  prison  grounds  proper 
are  surrouiuled  by  a  wall  2,5  feet  high,  forming  an  inclosure  of  some  six 
acres.  Within  this  inclosure,  besides  a  great  number  of  other  structures, 
there  are  three  prison  buildings,  one  of  which  has  common  dormitories. 
The  other  two  have  an  aggregate  of  I'our  hundred  and  twenty  cells,  each  9 
feet  long,  4  feet  wide,  and  8  feet  high,  designed  as  the  dormitory  of  a  sin- 
gle prisoner,  but  often  receiving  two.  Each  cell  is  sujjplied  with  a  bunk, 
a  straw  bed,  two  blankets,  a  night  bucket,  and  such  other  articles  of 
convenience  or  luxury  as  the  taste  of  the  occupant  may  suggest  and  his 
ability  enable  him  to  buy. 

On  the  hills  Hanking  the  prison  are  immense  reservoirs,  one  of  which, 
now  in  ])rocess  of  construction,  will,  when  completed,  hold  250,000  gal- 
lons. Through  it  the  prison  will  be  supplied  with  pure  mountain-water 
by  an  incorporated  company. 

The  prison  staff  consists  of  sixty-three  persons,  and  their  salaries 
aggregate  $50,34:0  per  annum,  over  and  above  the  su]>ply  of  the  warden's 
table  and  the  board  of  the  other  officers,  making  together  more  than 
one-third  of  the  entire  yearly  cost  of  the  establishment. 

The  industries  carried  on  are  the  manufacture  of  furniture,  saddles, 
harness,  wagons,  and  boots  and  shoes ;  to  which  is  added,  in  summer, 
brick-making.  These  give  employment  to  about  five  hundred  and  forty 
men,  whose  labor  is  let  to  contractors  at  40  cents  a  day.  The  average 
number  of  prisoners  is  about  900,  two  per  cent,  of  whom  are  women.  The 
chapel  will  seat  five  hundred  persons.  It  has  a  handsome  pulpit  and 
sofa,  and  an  excellent  cabinet  organ,  all  purchased  with  money  contrib- 
uted by  the  prisoners.  The  organ  is  played  by  one  of  themselves. 
There  is  no  regular  chaplain,  and  never  has  been.  Public  worship,  how- 
ever, is  held  every  Sunday,  conducted  by  ministers  of  different  denomi- 
nations from  San  Francisco,  who  volunteer  their  services.  All  the 
l^risoners  are  permitted,  though  none  compelled,  to  attend.  About 
three  hundred  are  usually  present.  The  prison  choir  is  composed  of 
convicts,  who  perform  well  that  part  of  the  service. 

After  divine  service  the  prison  school  is  convened,  in  which  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  to  two  hundred  prisoners  are  instructed  in  the  elementary 
branches  of  an  English  education  by  some  of  the  better  educated  of 
their  own  number.  During  the  first  eighteen  months  of  the  existence 
of  the  school  one  hundred  and  eighty  prisoners  were  taught  to  read  and 
write,  and  though  many  of  them  had  been  discharged,  not  one  had  come 
back  to  prison.  When  the  school  closes,  some  twenty  of  the  prisoners, 
who  profess  to  be  striving  to  serve  the  Lord,  meet  for  prayer  and  con- 
ference, and  an  hour  is  spent  in  those  exercises. 

The  prison  library  contains  about  3,000  volumes,  and  is  well  patron- 
ized, 1,(300  books  being  taken  out  every  month.  Occasionally  the  pris- 
oners have  an  ejitertainmeut  of  their  own,  which  consists  of  readings, 
recitations,  and  compositions  prepared  by  themselves.  Once  in  a  while, 
also,  a  familiar  lecture  is  delivered  to  them  by  some  person  invited  to 
that  service,  professors  in  the  State  University  sometimes  visiting  the 
prison  for  this  purpose. 

Formerly  the  principal  means  of  discipline  was  the  lash.  This  is  now 
not  often  used.  The  punishments  at  present  em]doyed  are  loss  of  time 
gained  under  the  commutation  law,  the  dark  cell,  a  reduced  diet,  and 
the  shower-bath  applied  by  means  of  a  hose  and  nozzle.  The  commu- 
tation law  allows  the  convict  a  credit  of  five  days  for  every  month  of 
good  behavior  for  the  first  two  years,  and  an  additional  day  during  each 
succeeding  two  years  up  to  ten,  after  which  he  gains  ten  days  per  month. 
This- law  has  worked  admirably,  and  has  very  much  reduced  the  neces- 


o  <  5  NATIONAL    PRISON    EEFORM    CONGRESS    OF    1S73. 

sity  for  actual  puuisliinent.     Aside  from  this,  no  rewards  are  given  for 
good  conduct. 

Every  convict,  if  without  clothing  of  his  own,  is  supplied,  on  his  dis- 
charge, with  a  suit  by  the  State,  consisting  of  a  coarse  shirt,  a  pair  of 
pants,  a  woolen  jacket,  a  pair  of  brogaus,  and  a  cheap  hat;  and,  in 
addition,  $5  in  money  are  given  to  him. 

The  prisoners'  food,  though  plain,  is  of  good  quality  and  in  abundant 
quantity.  On  Thanksgiving  and  Christmas  a  sumptuous  dinner  is  served 
to  them,  which  is  usually  provided  by  the  benevolent  citizens  of  San 
Francisco  through  a  committee  of  the  California  prison  comniis.sion. 

The  sanitary  state  of  the  prison  is  good.  Only  eight  deaths  occurred 
last  year,  being  a  little  less  than  one  per  cent. 

The  expenses  of  the  prison  for  the  past  year  have  been  $1GG,790,  and 
the  earnings  807,050,  leaving  a  deficiency  of  $99,140. 

The  fees  allowed  the  sheritfs  for  the  transportation  of  prisoners  after 
conviction  are  50  cents  per  mile  for  a  single  prisoner,  and  25  cents  for 
each  additional  i^risoner.  It  thus  costs,  to  get  a  convict  to  the  prison 
from  some  of  the  more  remote  counties,  •$200.  The  entire  cost  of  trans- 
portation for  the  twenty-second  fiscal  year  of  the  prison  was  $19,997.50, 
or  about  $72  per  prisoner. 

The  governing  authorities  of  the  county  jails  are  the  boards  of 
county  supervisors,  but  the  sheriffs  of  the  counties,  elected  for  two 
years,  are  in  immediate  charge.  These  appoint  their  deputies,  so  that 
change  is  as  much  the  order  of  the  day  here  as  in  the  state  prison. 

The  prison  accommodations  of  San  Francisco  are  not  sufficient  for  its 
needs.  The  city  has  two  i^risons — a  ])olice  prison  and  a  city  jail.  The 
police  prison  is  in  the  basement  of  tlie  city  hall.  It  is  damp,  dark,  ill- 
ventilated,  and  greatly  overcrowded.  The  city  jail  is  a  substantial  and 
handsome  building,  but  quite  too  contracted  in  dimensions  for  present 
necessities.  Sixteen  Chinamen  have  been  confined  in  a  cell  10  feet  by 
8,  with  a  ceiling  only  8  feet  high.  The  necessity  for  such  cruel  over- 
crowding has  been,  in  some  degree,  obviated  by  the  erection  of  a  small 
additional  building  in  the  yard  of  tlui  jail.  A  house  of  correction  has 
been  resolved  upon,  which,  when  built  and  in  operation,  will  afford  all 
the  relief  required  for  the  present. 

Tliere  can  be  no  doubt  that  our  prisons  themselves  are  schools  of 
crime.  INIany  are  made  confirmed  criminals  by  being  sent  there,  who, 
in  all  prol^ability,  would  not  become  su(;li  if,  while  undergoing  their  pun- 
ishment, they  could  escape  the  moral  contagion  with  which  these  places 
abound. 

There  is  but  one  reformatory  for  juveniles  in  the  State.  Tliis  bears 
the  name  of  industri;il  s(;ho()l,  and  is  situated  in  the  immediate  neigh- 
l)orh()()d  of  San  Fran(;isco.  The  av(n'ag(Miumber  of  inmates  is  two  hun- 
<lr('d  and  fifty,  all  boys.  The  school  has  a,  farm  of  one  hundred  acres, 
wiiicli  gives  emph)vni(!nt  to  quit<^  a  numh(u'  of  the  children.  Others  are 
engaged  in  shoe-making,  tailoring,  and  household  duties.  A  good  many 
are  too  young  to  labor.  The  forenoon  is  devoted  to  work,  the  after- 
noon to  study,  and  the  evening  to  music,  vocal  ami  instrumental. 
There  is  a  band  (•()mi)osed  of  thirty  boys,  one  of  their  number  acting  as 
leader.  'JMie  jiunishments  are  severe  whipping  with  a  cowhide  or 
leather  strap,  standing  in  a  stooping  posture  on  a  wooden  box  or  iron 
safe,  dark  (icll,  <scc.  I'>s(;apes  arc  IV(!((uent.  Jle(;ently  thirteen  got  away 
within  a  fortnight.  The;  history  of  tlie  institution  for  some  years  past 
lias  i)('en  d('|»loiaI>!(^ ;  but  dc^tails  would  scarcely  be  to  edifi(;ation. 

Of  pn^vcntive  mcasui-es  in  oj^MMtion  among  us  I  jdacc,  lii'st  the  earn- 
est, piayei-fiil  clforts  of  Chi'istian  men  and  wom<;n  ;  and  chief  of  all  the 


PENAL  AND  REFORMATORY  INSTITUTIONS  OF  CONNECTICUT.     379 

influence  of  wise  and  godly  parents.  Next  are  the  preaching  of  the 
word,  the  Sunday-school,  and  other  agencies  for  giving  effect  to  the 
gospel.  Closely  following  these  are  public  and  private  schools. 
Our  orphan  asylums,  where  the  lack  of  parental  culture  is,  to  a  great 
extent,  supplied,  are  greatly  preventive  of  crime.  So  is  the  Ladies' 
Protective  and  Eelief  Society,  with  its  "  home,"  in  which  one  hundred 
and  seventy-three  children,  though  not  orphans,  are  cared  for  and  edu- 
cated. Temperance  societies,  young  men's  Christian  associations,  and 
the  various  other  benevolent  agencies  with  which  our  State,  and  jiartic- 
ularly  the  city  of  San  Francisco,  abound,  are  all  doing  their  part  in 
this  great  preventive  work. 

Little  or  nothing  is  done  for  the  aid  of  discharged  prisoners,  except 
by  the  California  prison  commission,  an  institution  organized  in  1865, 
with  this  as  its  primary  object.  Its  ofiSce  is  in  San  Francisco.  The 
general  agent  gives  his  whole  time  to  the  work.  He  visits  regularly 
the  city  prison  and  county  jail  here,  and  the  state  prison  at  San  Quen- 
tiu.  This  he  does,  not  only  to  converse  with  and  counsel  their  inmates, 
but  also  to  learn  their  purposes  and  necessities,  so  as  to  be  better  pre- 
pared to  deal  with  them  when,  on  their  release,  they  call  upon  him  at 
his  office.  Having  myself  occupied  the  position  for  nearly  five  years, 
and  having  been  ever  since  familiar  with  the  operations  of  the  associa- 
tion, I  am  f)repared  to  speak  in  emphatic  terms  of  the  success  of  the 
agent's  efforts.  The  number  of  discharged  prisoners  variously  aided  by 
him  during  the  past  year  was  402  ;  the  number  of  prisoners  aided  with 
legal  counsel,  116  ;  aided  by  mitigation  of  punishment,  70  ;  discharged 
through  his  interposition,  46;  aided  with  board  and  lodging,  101; 
helped  with  small  sums  of  money,  198;  supplied  with  clothing,  8;  fur- 
nished with  means  to  leave  the  city,  141.  The  whole  number  of  pris- 
oners conversed  with,  counseled,  and  in  some  way  aided,  materially  or 
morally,  was  1,387 ;  whole  number  of  interviews  had  with  these,  2,827. 


2.  Connecticut. 

7)1/  Fitiv.J.  K.  Fessenden,  secretary  of  the  Convecticut  Industrial  Svhoul  for  Girh. 

I.  Preventive  institutions. — By  these  are  meant  institutions  designed 
exclusively  for  children  under  eight  years  of  age,  who,  by  the  death, 
abandonment,  incompetency,  or  vices  of  their  parents,  are  thrown  upon 
society,  but  in  no  proper  sense  to  be  regarded  as  criminals.  Of  these 
there  are  four  Protestant  orphan  asylums,  open  to  children  of  every 
nationality  and  faith.  The  first  was  established  by  ladies  at  New 
Haven  in  1833.  Commencing  without  funds  and  in  a  very  humble  way, 
its  assets  now  amount  to  $36,500,  with  several  large  legacies  in  pros- 
pect. There  are  now  one  hundred  and  twenty-six  inmates,  more  than 
oiie-half  of  whom  are  of  American  parentage. 

Next  to  this  a  similar  institution  was  established  at  Hartford,  which 
has  about  the  same  number  of  inmates,  and  is  already  the  recipient  of 
large  donations  and  legacies. 

Third  in  order  is  the  Bridgeport  asylum,  which  is  of  recent  origin.  It 
^vas  designed  especially  for  the  children  rescued  from  the  city  alms- 
house. 

The  fourth  is  a  small  family-home  for  poor  children.  This  was  started 
by,  and  is  under  the  control  of,  a  benevolent  lady  in  Danbury. 


380  NATIONAL    PRLSON    REFOSM    CONGRESS    OF    1873. 

All  these  lustitutions  are  private  cbarities,  under  tlie  management  of 
boards  of  women,  and  are  aeconiplisbing  a  great  amount  of  good. 

There  are  two  lioinan  Catholic  orphan  asylums,  designed  exclusively 
for  the  children  of  Catholics.  They  are  at  New  Haven  and  Hartford, 
fiespecting  them,  I  have  been  able  to  obtain  no  definite  information. 

During  the  late  civil  war  much  interest  was  excited  in  behalf  of  the 
children  of  soldiers  killed  in  the  service  of  our  coiuitry.  An  association 
was  formed  for  their  care,  to  which  was  given  a  home  at  Mansfield.  Its 
noble-hearted  and  Christian  donor  devoted  himself  to  its  superintend- 
ence during  his  brief  life,  with  the  sole  reserve  of  a  bare  mainten- 
ance. The  school  was  opened  in  ISGO,  and  up  to  Ist  of  June,  1871,  had 
received  one  hundred  and  thirty-two  children,  of  whom  sixty-eight  were 
admitted  during  the  past  year.  It  is  supported  largely  by  the  contribu- 
tions of  the  common  and  Sabbath-schools  of  the  State,  aided  by  dona- 
tions from  other  friends,  and  by  an  appropriation  of  $1.50  per  week  for 
each  inmate. 

A  similar,  though  smaller  institution,  was  established  at  Darien  by 
the  liberality  of  a  wealthy  gentleman,  who  has  largely  contributed  in 
various  ways  to  its  support. 

Of  late  there  have  been  several  other  charitable  institutions  started 
at  Hartford  and  New  Haven,  which  cannot  fail  to  be  preventives  of 
crime.  I  refer  to  associations  for  the  aid  of  the  poor,  under  the  care  of 
the  city  missionaries,  and  also  to  reading  and  refreshment  rooms  for 
news-boys  and  laboring  men.  There  has  also  been  established  at  Hart- 
ford a  boarding-house  for  respectable  young  women,  where  they  can  find 
homes  at  a  moderate  cost  land  enjoy  the  associations  and  benefits  of  a 
respectable  and  virtuous  home. 

IL  lieformutory  institutions. — These  are  the  State  Eeform  School  for 
Boys,  at  West  Meriden  ;  the  Connecticut  Industrial  School  for  Girls,  at 
Middletown;  and  the  Home  for  the  Friendless,  at  New  Haven. 

The  State  lieform  School  for  boys  was  established  in  1851.  It  is  a 
State  institution,  created,  owned,  and,  through  a  board  of  eight  trustees, 
controlled  by  the  State.  It  has  a  valuable,  well- watered  farm  of  one 
hundred  and  sixty  three  acres,  which  has  become  one  of  th'e  model 
farms  of  the  State.  The  institution  has  ample  accommodations  for  three 
hundred  boys,  with  model  dormitories,  s(;hool-rooms,  worksho[)S,  chapel, 
offices,  and  all  the  modern  appliances  lor  the  pro})er  care  and  discipline 
of  the  inmates. 

The  barn  and  other  out-buildings  are  substantial  and  convenient,  and 
the  stock  of  the  farm  very  choice  and  valuable. 

The  system  on  which  the  institution  is  conducted  is  that  known  as 
the  congregate,  in  «listinction  from  the  family  i)lan.  It  is  so  adminis- 
tered as  to  be  ])eivaded  by  a  si)irit  of  wisdom  and  kindness — by  the 
mingling  of  authoiity  with  (lonstant  ajjpeals  to  the  intelligence,  the  best 
con \i(;t ions,  and  the  nobhist  aspii-ations  of  the  boys  who  are  gathered 
undci-  its  (-arc;;  every  day  the  family  of  the  superintendi^nt  and  the 
boys  unite  in  nioiiiiiig  and  evening  de\'otions,  a(;comi>anied  with  tlie 
in.sjtiritiiig  sjii;:jiig  of  hymns  and  with  such  adviiH!  as  its  gifted  super- 
intendent lliinics  proper  to  inijtart.  (Jod's  ])rovidence  and  goodness 
are  iceognized  in  the  convocations  for  morning  and  evening  i)raycr, 
and  ;it  each  succ(!ssive  meal.  For  several  hours  every  one  daily 
attends  one  of  these  graded  K(;hoo]s  of  the  establishment,  under  the 
general  care  of  the  assistant  sM|)eiintendent,  who  from  the  beginning 
lias  managed  lliis  de|)ajtmeiit  with  coiiseiiMitioiis  devotion  and  con- 
summate- ability,  and  who  has  all  tln^  assistancje  iummUmI  in  his  work. 
Se\cral    lnmrs    are    each   A;\\  de\'o|ed   t<»  labor  on   the    I'arm   or  in   the 


PENAL  AND  REFORMATOKi'  INSTITUTIONS  OF  CONNECTICUT.      381 

workshop,  under  tbe  direction  of  skillful  overseers,  and  with  all  the 
necessary  stimulants  to  skill  and  industry.  The  food  and  clothing  are, 
both  in  quantity  and  quality,  all  that  health  and  comfort  require; 
cleanliness  is  exacted,  and  order  and  unhesitatiii,!;'  submission  to  author- 
ity enforced  by  special  reli.uious  services  on  tlie  iSabbath,  ami  by  a 
constant  reference  at  other  times  to  the  laws  and  claims  of  God. 

More  than  eighteen  hundred  boys  have  been  connected  with  this 
school  during  the  nineteen  years  of  its  existence.  The  limit  of  their 
age  is  from  eight  to  sixteen.  Originally  none  could  be  sent  to  the 
school  who  were  not  convicted  by  the  justices  of  the  peace  or  some 
criminal  court  of  an  offense  punisliable  by  law.  But  since  18G9  many 
have  been  committed  under  the  truant  law. 

The  results — financial,  moral,  and  social — of  this  school  are  believed 
to  be  as  favorable  as  those  of  any  other  institution  of  the  kind  in  the 
United  States.  The  superintendent  believes  that  three-fourths  of  the 
boys  become  as  resi)ectable,  virtuous,  and  useful  men  as  the  average  of 
the  common  classes  of  society. 

The  counterpart  of  the  boys'  reform  school  is  the  Connecticut  Indus- ' 
trial  School  for  Girls.     This  is  in  the  beautiful  town  of  Middletown,  on 
a  finely  situated  farm  of  forty-five  acres,  a  mile  and  a  half  from  the  cen- 
ter of  the  city.     This  site  was  the  generous  gift  of  the  town,  at  a  cost 
of  $11,500. 

Uidike  the  boys'  school,  this  institution  is  a  private  charity,  incor- 
porated by  the  State  and  employed  by  it  to  take  charge  of  the  viciOusly- 
iuclined  young  girls  who  may  be  sent  there.  For  this  service  the  State 
stipulates  to  pay  -§3  per  week  for  each  girl  thus  sent.  Unlike  the  boys' 
school,  too,  this  is  organized  upon  the  family  plan,  with  houses  having 
accommodations  each  for  thirty  girls. 

The  school  has  been  in  operation  three  years,  and  has  received  one 
hundred  and  sixteen  inmates,  of  whom  eighty-one  still  remain.  Tlie  dis- 
tinctive features  of  this  school  may  be  thus  concisely  stated  : 

1.  Its  name  is  the  industrial,  not  the  reform,  school  for  girls. 

2.  Itfi  proper  s,nhiects  are  viciously-inclined  girls,  between  the  ages  of 
eight  and  sixteen  years.  They  are  not  simply  orphans,  or  the  neglected 
and  foundling,  nor  yet  are  they  those  who,  as  a  class,  have  fully  entered 
upon  a  course  of  vice  and  crime.  They  are  rather  neglected  and  aban- 
doned children,  thrown  out,  from  whatever  cause,  upon  the  wide  world, 
friendless,  ignorant,  and  under  the  depraving  and  debasing  influences 
of  abject  poverty  and  vicious  associations.  Sixty  per  cent,  of  them  are 
wholly  or  in  part  orphans.  More  than  75  per  cent,  are  the  children  of 
drunkards  and  criminals — of  abandonment  and  prostitution.  Most  of 
them  were  paupers,  beggars,  vagrants,  petty  thieves,  and  too  many  of 
them  have  already  been  drawn  into  the  society,  if  not  the  practice,  of 
lewdness. 

3.  They  are  regarded  and  treated  by  the  law  of  the  State,  not  as  crim- 
inals to  be  convicted  and  punished,  but  as  ignorant  and  exposed 
children — as  sinned  against  rather  than  as  sinners,  and  as  such  to  be 
pitied  and  educated.  The  State  stands  in  the  place  of  a  common  i)areut, 
and,  as  such,  cares  for  them  where  their  parents  or  other  natural  guar- 
dians are  dead,  or  are  incompetent  or  unwilling  proi)erly  to  train  and 
educate  them.  Upon  due  evidence  of  this  fact,  the  State  intrusts  these 
children  to  the  care  and  guardianship  of  the  directors  of  the  industrial 
school  till  they  are  eighteen  years  of  age,  with  the  power  to  restore 
them  to  their  natural  parents,  to  bind  them  out,  or  to  intrust  them  to 
adopting  parents,  or  suitable  guardians. 

4.  At  the  school  the  aim  is  to  bring  tlie  girl  at  once  under  the  nearest 


382  NATIONAL    PEISON    REFORM    CONGRESS    OF    1H73. 

possible  approach  to  the  influences  of  a  well-regulated  Christian  family, 
with  its  household  worship,  sweet  songs,  its  motherly  watchfulness, 
and  its  pious  counsels  and  steady  and  gentle  but  livmly  authoritative 
and  constant  training.  All  in  turn  are  taught  the  duties  of  the  house-' 
hold — to  wash,  to  iron,  to  cook,  to  sew,  and  to  give  to  everything  a  look 
of  tidiness. 

5.  Careful  aitention  is  given  to  scholastic  and  religious  culture  and 
thrift  and  training;  but  it  would  occu[»3' too  much  space  to  go  into 
detail  upon  these  points. 

6.  A  residence  at  the  school  is  not  to  be  too  long  protracted — not 
longer  than  is  needed  to  fit  the  girl  for  a  useful  residence  in  a  private 
family,  and  the  almost  equally  difficult  task  of  finding  a  family  that 
■will  be  willing  to  take  a  friendless  and  often  froward  girl,  and  seek  as 
earnestly  to  complete  the  good  work  begun  as  to  obtain  her  labor  at  the 
lowest  possible  cost. 

7.  It  is  designed  to  leave  the  door  wide  open  at  all  times  for  the  girl's 
return  ^o  the  school  if,  for  an^*  cause,  such  a  return  is  thought  best,  and 
to  follow  those  who  have  gone  from  it  until  there  is  reason  to  believe 
that  they  are  beyond  the  need  of  its  guardian  care. 

There  is  promise  of  the  best  results,  but  it  is  too  soon  to  speak  with 
confidence  on  this  point. 

There  is  a  third  reformatory  institution,  viz,  the  Home  for  the  Friend- 
less, at  New  Haven.  This  is  designed  for  friendless,  outcast,  and  neg- 
lected women  of  every  age  and  condition.  The  Industrial  School  could 
not  receive  those  who  were  far  advanced  in  a  life  of  crime.  Hence 
Christian  women  sought  to  provide  for  all  such  a  refuge  whenever  they 
were  disposed  to  turn  from  their  evil  courses.  Here,  they  say  in  one 
of  their  reports,  "from  the  hospital  the  convalescent,  from  the  jail  the 
culprit,  from  the  alms-house  the  friendless,  find  a  gateway  through 
which  they  can  enter  the  higher  and  purer  paths  to  virtue  and  inde- 
pendence." For  this  purpose  they  have  purchased  and  fitted  up  a  com- 
fortable dwelling  a  few  miles  from  the  city.  It  is  under  the  care  of  a 
board  of  ladies  Avho  superintend  all  its  concerns.  The  charity  of  the 
benevolent  has  thus  far  abundantly  supplied  them  with  the  funds 
needed  for  their  work,  and  in  many  cases  they  have  had  the  joy  of 
knowing  that  their  work  of  love  has  not  been  in  vain. 

III.  Penal  institutions. — Of  these  there  are  three  classes,  the  town 
work-house  or  house  of  correction,  the  county  jail,  and  the  state  prison. 

The  several  towns  have  power  to  establish  work-houses  or  houses  of 
correction,  to  erect  and  provide  suitable  buildings,  with  cells  or  apart- 
ments for  the  confinement  of  oflenders  sentenced  thereto,  and  to  compel 
the  labor  of  the  inmates.  These  are  under  the  care  of  the  selectmen, 
M'ho  ai)i)oint  the  keeper  and  regulate  his  pay.  It  is  a  sad  fact  that  in 
these  town-houses  are  frequently  found,  indiscriminately  mingled,  the 
virtiu)u.s  and  friendless  poor,  the  demented,  the  imbecile,  and  the  mis- 
erable tramps,  vagrants,  ;ind  drunkards,  who  infest  the  streets,  and 
steal  their  living  so  long  as  they  are  able,  and  then  perhaps  appl}'^  to 
the  town-oniccis  for  a  brief  shelter.  \Vith  these,  too,  are  found  the 
refuse  of  tln^  towns  and  cities,  sentenced  there,  time  after  time,  for  sixty 
dijys,  for  diiinkcnnc.ss,  jirostitutiou,  and  i)etty  thelts.  This  class  of 
institutions  arc  a  disgrace  to  the  State,  and  will  continue  to  be  so,  until 
their  triu;  character  and  their  enormity  shall  be  brought  to  light  by  a 
careful  olhcial  investigation,  and  remedied  by  the  strong  arm  of  State 
autliority. 

The  H(!Cond  class  of  i)enal  institutions  is  the  county  jails.  Of  these 
there  arc  eleven,  or  one  for  eiich  of  tin?  county  towns.     As  their  names 


PENAL  AND  REFOKMATOKY  INSTITUTIONS  OF  CONNECTICUT.     6g6 

indicate,  tliey  are  county  institutions,  built,  owned,  and  managed  ex- 
clusively by  the  counties.  Q'he  result  of  this  is  a  great  wnnt  ol"  uniforniity 
in  tbeir  construction  and  nianageuient,  and  as  great  a  diit'erence  in  their 
general  character.  They  are  used  only  as  places  for  the  detention  of 
persons  committed  for  trial  or  convicted  of  minor  offenses. 

Pull  returns  are  made  yearly  through  the  county  conjmissioners  to 
the  secretary  of  state  of  the  number,  color,  sex,  age,  and  nativity 
of  the  prisoners,  as  also  of  their  social  condition,  habits,  education, 
causes  of  commitment,  method  of  discharge,  and  of  the  receipts  and 
expenditures  of  each  jail,  an  abstract  of  which  is  submitted  to  the  legis- 
lature. From  this  we  learn  that  there  were  committed  to  the  jails  during 
1871  two  thousand  seven  hundred  and  forty-five  persons.  The  average 
number  confined  was  three  hundred  and  thirty.  Of  these,  five-sixths 
were  males,  thirteeu-fifteenths  of  foreign  birth,  more  than  half  were  com- 
mitted for  drunkenness,  and  only  one  hundred  and  forty-seven  w'ere 
strictly  temperate.  In  most  cases  there  is  no  other  separation  of  the 
prisoners  than  that  of  the  sexes.  There  is  no  provision  made  by  law  for 
their  secular  instruction,  and  but  little  if  any  given.  The  jail  in  New 
Haven  is  of  modern  construction,  and  is  the  only  one  in  the  State  which  is 
in  any  respect  wkat  it  ought  to  be.  In  Fairfield  and  Hartford  Counties 
new  buildings  are  in  process  of  erection  on  the  most  approved  models. 

The  character  and  influence  of  our  jails  is  thus  sketched  by  the  spe- 
cial commission  on  the  state  i^risou  in  their  report  to  the  legislature  of 
1872: 

Many  of  our  jails  and  houses  of  detention  for  the  idle  and  vicious  hold  about  the 
same  relation  to  the  state  ^)rison  that  the  coniniou  schools  do  to  the  colleges.  We  can- 
not now  enter  into  the  sanitary  condition  of  our  jails  and  work-houses,  though  we  are 
certain  that  it  is  bad  enough  in  most  of  them.  But  we  call  your  attention  to  them  as 
nurseries  of  crime  with  regard  to  the  state  prison.  lu  the  poor-houses  the  innocent 
poor  are  brought  into  contact  with  the  abandoned  and  profligate;  and  those  who 
have  only  slightly  and  for  tlie  first  time,  perhaps,  departed  from  the  way  of  decency, 
associate  with  those  skilled  in  crime  and  hardened  in  shame.  In  the  jails  those  com- 
mitted for  trial,  charged  with  a  first  offense  and  presumed  bj'  the  law  to  be  innocent 
till  proved  guilty,  3,nd  those  young  iu  sin,  have  opportunities  of  association  with  the 
vilest  and  most  abandoned  criminals,  and  the  result  in  both  cases  is  deplorable.  The 
minor  jails  are  not  simply  feeders  of  the  penal  prisons,  but  they  offer  uncommon  faciUiies 
for  the  production  of  criminals.  There  are  jails  in  this  State  which  are  as  wisely  and 
humanely  managed  as  is  possible  under  our  prison  system,  or  rather  our  want  of  sys- 
tem. But  we  are  convinced  that  the  jails  and  poor-houses  of  this  State  need  a  thorough 
examination,  and  that  it  is  time  that  we  had  a  comprehensive  system  for  all  such  in- 
stitutions.    • 

3.  The  State  prison. — From  1773  to  1827,  the  State  prisoners  of  Con- 
necticut were  immured  GO  feet  under  ground  in  an  abandoned  copper 
mine  at  Simsbury.  The  prison  was  known  as  the  Newgate  of  Connecti- 
cut. The  history  of  that  long  period  is  one  of  the  saddest  proofs  of  the 
barbarities  then  practised  by  Christian  States  upon  the  criminal  classes. 

In  1820  the  present  state  prison  at  AVetherstield  was  built,  and  in 
1827  was  placed  under  the  superintendency  of  Moses  Pilsbuiy,  with 
the  assistance  of  his  son  Amos  Pilsbury,  now  of  Albany.  The  latter 
sncceeded  his  father  as  superintendent  in  1830,  and  remained  in  that 
position  for  fifteen  years.  There  is  scarcely  to  be  found  in  the  history 
of  state-prison  management  a  brighter  record  than  that  of  these  years 
under  these  remarkable  men.  The  Connecticut  state  i)rison  became 
the  model  institution  of  the  United  States,  and  was  assigned  the  first 
place  iu  the  report  to  the  French  government  of  the  distinguished  French 
commissioners  on  prisons,  de  Tocqueville  and  de  Beaumont,  in  1830. 

This  pre-eminence,  however,  has  long  since  passed  away.  A  new  order 
of  things  in  respect  to  prison  discipline  has  dawjied  upon  the  world,  and 


384  XATIONAL    PRISON    REFORM    CONGRESS    OF    Ib73, 

lias  greatly  modified  the  systems  and  management  of  other  States,  while 
in  Connecticut  thej"  have  remained  essentially  the  same. 

The  very  able  report  of  the  commissioners  of  1872,  which  has  been 
already  cited,  m<akes  the  following  statements: 

The  commissioners  entered  on  their  work  in  the  belief  that  the  present  prison  might 
he  so  repaired  and  moditied  as  to  suit  modern  ideas,  but  tliey  were  brouj^iht  to  the 
decided  conclusion  that  the  State  needs  a  new  prison  on  a  more  favorable  site,  and 
constructed  on  an  entirely  different  principle  and  scale.  Among-  the  reasons  given  for 
this  conclnsioa  are  the  dilapidated  condition  and  utter  inadequacy  of  the  present 
buildings;  that  there  are  no  suitable  accommodations  for  the  ofticers;  that  there  is  no 
suitable  drainage  of  the  premises;  that  the  cells  are  too  small  and  admit  of  uo  ventii- 
lation,  and  many  of  them  damp  and  unwholesome  ;  that  a  proper  separation  of  the 
sexes  even  is  now  impossible,  and,  indeed,  cannot  be  secured  in  the  same  prison.  While 
they  would  retain  the  present  silent  system,  they  would  greatly  modify  it.  They  recom- 
mend the  construction  of  a  new  prison  which  shall  admit  of  a  proper  grading  of  the 
prisoners,  the  discontinuance  of  the  parti-colored  prison-dress,  the  cropping  of  the  hair, 
and,  indeed,  everything  whiidi  disregards  the  nianliood  of  the  prisoner  and  extinguishes 
hope.  They  would  treat  him  as  a  man  and  a  brother,  though  erring  aiul  falle^i  and 
degraded. 

The  industries  pursued  are  shoe-making,  the  mauufacture  of  car- 
penters' rules,  and  the  burnishing  of  silver  ware.  The  gross  earnings 
of  the  last  year  were  $2G,39'J,  and  the  ordinary  expenses  we^re  $33,187, 
leaving  a  balance  in  favor  of  the  State  of  $3,212. 

lieligious  and  educational  agencies  are  employed  to  a  limited  extent 
in  the  discipline  of  the  prison.  A  chaplain  is  employed,  wbo  conducts 
religious  services  daily  and  also  upon  the  Sabbath,  in  which  lie  reports  most 
of  the  prisoners  manifesting  a  commendable  interest.  A  Sunday-school 
is  helil  every  Sabbath  afternoon,  and  the  men  are  visited  duriug  the 
week  by  the  chaplain  in  their  cells.  Much  interest  was  awakened  last 
year  by  addresses  on  temperance,  made  by  members  of  the  Good  Samar- 
itan Association,  of  Hartford.  Secular  instruction  is  given  in  the  even- 
ing to  a  few  prisoners  in  their  cells. 

The  comuiissioners  recommend  that  the  new  prison  shall  have  every 
needed  facility  for  the  mental  and  religious  instruction  of  its  inmates. 

Prisoners  have  the  power  of  shortening  their  terms  of  sentence  by  good 
conduct,  a  measure  which  has  shown  itself  useful  both  in  a  disciplinary 
and  reformatory  point  of  view.  No  i)r()vision  for  discharged  convicts  is 
made  beyond  tliat  of  giving  them  a  suit  of  clothes  and  $L0  in  money  on 
their  liberation,  lieform  is  urgently  needed  m  this  direction,  either 
through  legislation  or  private  benevolence.  • 


3.  Illinois. 

By  Rfv.  Fred.  II.  Wines,  Hvcrekmj  of  (he  Hoard  of  Slate  Commissioners  ofFiihlic  Charit'us. 

The  jnison  system  of  Illinois  may  be  said,  as  in  all  the  Western  States, 
to  be  still  in  its  inlaney;  and  although  a  new  State  has  one  great  advan- 
tage over  thos(j  which  are  older  in  the  opportunity  thus  alforded  of 
proliting  by  tlu!  experience  of  those  who  have  trodden  the  ]>ath  before 
us,  we  <;annot  in  Illinois  boast  of  having  improved  our  oi)portuiiity,  in 
so  far  as  relates  to  the  laws  and  usages  of  prison^.  The  reason  probably 
is  found  in  the  existence  of  an  almost  universal  apathy  and  indiifereuce 
upon  thd  subject.  TIk^  reformation  of  eriminals  is  regarded  as  a  hope- 
less undertaking.  The  substitution  of  distri(^t  ]»risoiis  for  county  Jails  is 
icsisled  by  tiiose  who  depend  in    jkiiI,  for  their  iiicom(»  ujion  the  protits 


PENAL    AND    REFORMATORY    INSTITUTIONS    OF    ILLINOIS.      385 

of  jail-keei)infr.  The  result  is,  tliat  any  iutelliirent,  systeinat.i(3  effort  at 
the  iutrodaction  of  Uibor  into  prisons  designed  tor  criminals  of  the  lower 
grade,  or  at  intellectual  or  moral  ciUture  of  criminals  of  this  class,  is  at 
Ijresent  impossible.  In  presenting  the  following  brief  sketch  of  the 
prisons  of  the  State,  therefore,  my  only  object  is  to  state  what  is,  not  to 
depict  what  should  be.  For  tlie  realization  of  the  desired  reform  in  our 
prison  system  we  may  be  compelled  to  wait  many  years,  until  persistent 
agitation  and  the  advance  of  popular  intelligence  have  accomplished 
their  work,     lleform,  at  some  time,  is  certain. 

The  count  1/  jails. 

There  are,  in  this  State,  one  hundred  and  two  counties.  In  nearly  all 
of  them,  at  the  county-seat,  there  is  a  jail,  varying  in  size  from  a  single 
cell  to  tifty,  and  in  cost  from  $l,0()U  to  !B!)0,OOU.  A  dozen  of  our  jails, 
at  least,  have  cost  over  $20,000  each.  Nearly  one-fourth  of  the  whole 
number  probably  are  substantially  and  handsomely  built,  commonly  of 
stone,  and  are  furnished  more  or  less  fully  with  approved  appliances  for 
heating,  ventilation,  sewerage,  and  bathing.  Of  the  remainder,  some 
are  under-ground  dungeons  in  the  basements  of  court-houses  or  of 
sheriffs'  residences;  some  are  old-fashioned  block-houses,  sheathed  on 
the  inside  with  iron  ;  some  are  iron  cages,  set  like  safes  for  moneys  and 
valuable  papers,  in  the  entry  or  in  the  upper  story  of  the  jailer's  house  ; 
some  are  virtually  pJvies,  placed  over  open  vaults,  whose  noxious 
gases  circulate  through  the  cells  and  corridors  above  without  let  or 
hinderance.  Most  of  them  are  very  small,  and  it  is  a  pleasure  to  be 
able  to  add  that  many  of  them  are  nearly  always  empty.  The  number 
of  prisoners  in  continement  at  any  one  time  in  Illinois  is  never  large,  if 
we  except  the  convicts  in  the  penitentiary. 

The  following  extract  from  the  (unpublished)  report  of  the  board  of 
charities  will  furnish  a  somewhat  fuller  account  of  the  jails  of  this 
State : 

Our  deliberate  jiulo-ment  is,  tlia  J  the  practical  value  of  jailn,  whether  as  means  of 
prevention  or  of  cure  of  crime,  compareil  with  their  great  cost,  is  very  triflinj^.  We 
find,  upon  inquiry,  that  others  have  arrived  at  the  same  conchision  before  us.  lu  fact, 
this  opinion  is  shared  by  nearly  all  wlio  have  given  the  subject  any  attention.  Prob- 
ably no  other  e(iual  expenditure  of  public  money  is  equally  unproti'tabie. 

In  the  tirst  place,  the  county  jails  of  Illinois,  as  of  other  States,  are  for  the  most 
part  badly  planned,  it  not  badly  built.  Some  of  them  are  very  unsafe;  and  but  for 
the  vigilance  of  the  jailers  in  charge,  escapes  would  be  an  every-day  occurrence.  They 
are  unsafe,  either  through  the  weakness  of  some  i>articular  portion  of  the  structure; 
or  on  account  of  the  facility  of  communication  iu  them,  among  the  prisoners,  and 
even,  iu  many  instances,  with  the  outside  conmiunity ;.  or  because  they  ati'ord  do  ade- 
quate protection  to  the  turnkey  against  sudden  assault. 

Others  are  as  secure  as  any  jail  can  be  made,  but  are  wholly  deficient  in  the  essential 
conditions  of  life  and  health.  They  have  ordinarily  no  sewerage ;  they  are  illy  ventil- 
ated, or  not  ventilated  at  all;  they  are  very  impeifectly  lighted;  some  of  them  are 
jlestitute  of  any  means  of  warming  the  air  in  winter,  and  scarcely  any  of  them  .have 
proper  provision  for  bathing  by  the  prisoners. 

A  jail  may  be  safe  and  comfortable,  and  yet  be  so  constructed  as  to  render  the  classi- 
fieatiou  of  i>risoners  impossible.  There  is  not  a  jail  in  the  State  in  which  the  accused 
are  separate<l  from  the  sentenced.  Witnesses  are  often,  but  not  always,  confined  in  a 
separate  apartment,  known  as  the  "debtors'  prison."  In  some  of  the  jails  there  is  uo 
means  of  separating  the  sexes;  iu  others,  the  only  separation  is  by  cells,  opening  into 
a  common  corridor;  in  others,  female  prisoners  are  confined  in  the  debtors'  prison  ;  in 
others,  a  female  departmeut  has  been  extemporized  iu  the  sheriff's  jirivate  residence, 
by  Kh<'athing  an  ordinary  wHidow  with  sheet  iron  ;  in  a  few,  the  female  prison  is  prop- 
erly planned  a!ul  built.  The  nuuiber  of  witnesses  and  women,  however,  ia  coutiiue- 
uicnt  in  this  State,  at  any  one  time,  is  very  small. 

As  to  the  internal  management  and  discipline,  generally,  there  is  not  much  oocasioB 
for  complaint.     We  are  satisfied  that  where  food  is  so  abvuulaut  aud  clieap,  the  temp- 

H.  Ex.  185 25 


386  NATIONAL    PRISON    KEFOKM    CONGKES.S    OF    187;}. 

tatiou  to  stint  piisoiicis  in  their  diet  is  wautiuj;-;  and  iu  many  counties  tbcy  are  feil 
from  the  jailer's  own  table;  many  counties  even  furuisliiu;^'  clothin<f,  in  extreme  cases, 
at  public  expense.  The  jails  are  not  always  as  neatly  kept  as  tbey  might  be,  and  per- 
sonal clt^anliness  on  the  part  of  the  inmates  is  not  sntilicicutly  insisted  upon.  In  some 
cases,  a  little  more  care  to  provide  reading  matter  would  be  commendable.  But  in  all 
our  experience,  we  liave  found  no  evidence  or  intimation  of  personal  cruelty  to  pris- 
oners. 

There  are  two  particulars,  and  these  of  paramount  importance,  in  which  the  very 
best  jails  iu  the  State  are  as  oljjectiouable  as  the  worst.  We  refer  (1)  to  the  hourly  in- 
tercourse of  prisoners  witli  each  other,  and  {2)  to  their  lack  of  any  useful,  honorable 
employmeut.  It  is  this  association  in  idleness,  ^vhich  is  the  curse  and  coudenniatiou  of 
our  present  jail  system. 

Coulrnement  in  sei)arnte  cells  is  a  partial  but  very  imperfect  barrier  to  association  ; 
because  communication  between  the  cells  is  not  impossible,  and  communication  in  the 
corridors  is  generally  allowed,  to  a  certain  extent.  It  is  also  customary  to  place  front 
two  to  six  prisoners,  when  necessary,  iu  a  single  cell,  on  account  of  the  want  of  suffi- 
cient room  iu  the  majority  of  jails. 

The  effect  of  association  is  to  increase  the  number  of  criminals,  and  to  develop  their 
<-riminality.  The  innocent  and  the  (comparatively  iunoceut  are  corrupted  by  the  ex- 
ample, the  conversation,  and  the  direct  teaching  of  more  experienced  ti'ansgressoi's. 
The  lessons  taught  in  county  jails  are,  contempt  for  authority,  human  or  divine;  hos- 
tility to  law  and  to  its  officers ;  the  delights  of  vicious  indulgence ;  tlie  duty  of  revenge 
n])(ui  society  for  imaginary  wrongs;  the  necessity  of  violence,  of  daring,  and  of  sullen 
.-submission  to  punishment;  the  hopelesness  of  all  ettbrt  at  amendment;  and  the  best 
methods  of  success  iu  criminal  undertakings.  Past  exploits  are  here  recounted  ;  future 
<ieeds  of  darkness  are  planned.  The  history  and  character  of  noted  criminals  and  of 
-well-known  oHiL-ials  are  tliscussed.  Lewd  songs  aud  conversation,  pi'ofanity  and  ribald 
jests,  till  up  the  day.  In  many  jails  card-playing  is  freely  allowed.  In  a  few,  liquor  is 
not  absolutely  prohibited,  provided  that  the  prisoner  ordering  it  is  able  to  pay  liberally 
for  the  indulgence.  Every  jail  is  a  school  of  vice.  More  than  one  hundred  of  such 
-schools  are  niaintained  in  Illinois,  at  public  expense;  and  the  public  furnishes  an  edu- 
cation in  crime,  iit  its  own  cost,  annually,  to  hundreds  of  criminals,  in  this  State  alone. 
"\Ve  admit  the  necessity  for  i)risons  ;  but  are  we  not  right  in  asking  whether  prisons  of 
this  particular  class  do  not  work  as  much  harm  as  good  to  the  comnumity  ? 

But  the  evils  of  promiscuous  association  are  enhanced  by  the  universal  reign  of 
idleness  in  count \  prisons.  This  idleness  is  compulsory;  it  is  a  necessity  of  the  situa- 
tion. The  State  ai)points  as  the  presiding  f/cniiis  loci,  the  mother  of  all  villauy,  instead 
Mt'  labor,  the  mother  of  every  a' irtue.     No  policy  could  be  more  shortsighted. 

Idleness,  in  prison,  is  a  premium  u])on  crime.  Multitudes  of  men  conmiit  larceny 
every  autumn,  simply  to  secure,  free  of  cost  to  themselves,  comfortable  board  and 
lodging,  with  agreeable  company,  through  the  winter  months.  They  do  not  dread  the 
confinement,  and  care  nothing  for  the  disgrace. 

In  enforcing  idleness,  the  State  voluntarily  relinquishes  the  most  etVective  means 
both  of  the  punishment  and  of  the  ])revention  of  crime.  "What  makes  men  criminals  f 
Iu  nine  cases  out  of  ten,  it  is  aversion  to  labor,  aud  the  couvii-tion  that  a  life  of  crime 
is  c^asier  and  fuller  of  enjoyment  than  a  \H\;  of  indus(rv.  Make  labor  compulsory  in 
all  prisons,  and  the  ])risou  at  once  bei'omes  a  terror  to  evil-doers.  •  Couliueinent  at  hard 
labor  is  to  tiie  majority  of  criminals  the  severest  itossibie  punishmenl.  I>ut  t»he  present 
system  ignores  tiiis  mosf  obvious  tl'uth. 

Tilt-  pliysical  and  moral  eH'ect  of  protracted  idleness  U|>ou  individuals  is  deterioration. 
The  muscles  become  ilaeeid,  lynqdi  accunnilates,  the  nervous  system  loses  its  tone,  the 
^^ill  is  eiifi-ebled,  the  moial  natun;  is  depraved;  and  at  the  expiration  of  his  imprison- 
ment, tin;  olleiider  goes  Ibrth,  to  T'ccomnu'iuie  his  criminal  career,  with  his  i)ower  to 
earn  an  honest  liv(Oihoo<l  and  to  resist  tem])tation  diminished  ius1<'a<l  of  augmented. 

'iliese  facts  are  well  known  to  all  county  officials,  .-iiiil  gi\'e  rise  to  mueh  lamentation 
on  tile  part  of  all  sensible  men  who  have  the  caust^  of  i)ublie  virtiu!  at  all  at  heait. 
One  of  the  worst  (fleets  of  the  jircsent  s>stem  is  its  intluenee  n]>on  circuit  and  connly 
judges,  in  inducing  them,  against  their  ow  n  inclination,  to  sentence  men  lor  the  shortest 
periods,  when  justice  (bonands  a  maximum  sentenc(i,  instead.  But  a.  judge  in(nitably 
Ibink.'i  of  tli(!  cdst  to  the  county  of  )>rotracted  im]>risoument ;  he  knows  its  futility; 
;iiid  be,  asks  himself,  what  is  tln^  use  .'  The  consequence  is,  that  crime  is  not  ade(iuately 
imnished  ;  transgressors  are  emboldened  ;  crime  increases;  and  too  ol'teu  an  outraged 
<-omt)mnity  takes  the  a  dm  i  nisi  rat  ion  of  justice  into  its  own  hands.  This  is  the  origin 
of  lynch  law.  tli;it  blot  upon  Anieriean  ci\  ili/al  ion.  Lyiseli  law  is  iiat  nic's  ow  u  remedy 
toi-  weal.ne^N  iu  the  ciiniinal  administration  ol"  any  go\ crnmeiit. 

1  lie  jx'nUenHmy. 

Ilif,  llIiiK.i.s  Sliilc  ].)('iiit(iili;iry,  ;il  .I(»!i«'l,  is  diic  oi'  Hie  liir.ocsl.  iiii(l 
iiiost  «iiiioiiific('iif  sliiicliiiN's  ill  llic  liiitcd  Stales.     Jt  is  coiistiiiclcil  on 


PENAL    AND     KKFOKMATOliV    IXSTll  ITIONS    OK    ILLINOIS.      387 

the  plan  of  Ji  center  building-  with  two  wings,  and  the  necessary  shops 
are  in  the  yard.  The  number  of  prisoners  averages  about  twelve 
hundred  and  tifty,  of  whom,  perhaps,  twenty  are  women.  Tlie  cellular 
system  is  followed,  in  the  arrangements  for  eating  and  for  sleeping, 
but  the  labor  is  on  the  congregate  plan.  Solitary  conlinement  during 
the  term  of  sentence  is  resorted  to  in  tlie  last  extn'inity  as  a  punishment 
for  the  incorrigible  refractory.  The  branches  ot  labor  pursued  are 
cigar-making,  cooperage,  the  manufacture  of  shoes  and  harness,  and 
also  of  butts,  and  stone-cutting.  For  stone-cutting  and  quarrying,  the 
immense  fields  of  stratified  limestone,  at  Joliet,  atford  peculiar  facilities. 
The  new  state-house  now  building  at  KSpringfield  is  constructed  of  this 
stone,  and  the  cutting  is  done  by  the  inmates  of  the  jienitentiary. 

The  average  sentence  of  convicts  at  Joliet  is  about  three  years. 
Seventy  criminals  have  been  sentenced  to  imprisonment  for  life  in 
Illinois  during-  the  past  seventeen  years,  of  ^^hom  seven  died  in  prison, 
one  was  sent  to  the  insane  asylum,  and  twenty-three  have  been  pardoned, 
after  serving'  for  a  longer  or  shorter  time,  as  shown  in  the  following 
statem<Mit : 

Three  served  1  year;  2  served  2  years;  4  served  3  years;  2  served  4 
years ;  1  served  5  years ;  0  served  6  years ;  2  served  7  years ;  2  served  8 
years  ;  1  served  10  years — 23  served,  on  an  average,  less  than  ti  ve  years 
each. 

Of  the  thirty-nine  life  convicts  still  in  confinement,  2  have  served  11 
years ;  1  has  served  8  years ;  2  have  served  7  years ;  5  have  served  (5 
years ;  G  have  served  4  years ;  7  have  served  3  years ;  C  have  served  2 
ye'ars ;  3  have  served  1  year ;  7  have  served  less  than  one  year — 39  have 
served,  ou  an  average,  about  three  and  one-half  years  each. 

About  four-fifths  of  the  commitments  are  for  crimes  against  property, 
and  one-fifth  for  crimes  against  the  person.  About  one-fourth  of  those 
committed  are  foreigners.  The  ratio  of  foreign  convicts  to  the  foreign 
population  of  the  State  is  no  larger  than  that  of  native  convicts  to  the 
native  population,  one-fourth  of  our  entire  population  being  foreign - 
born. 

A  library  of  three  thousand  volumes  has  been  provided  for  the  use  of 
prisoners.  A  school,  numbering  two  hundred  or  two  hundred  and  fifty, 
has  been  organized,  and  a  teacher  employed.  Keligious  services  are 
held  in  the  chapel  on  the  Sabbath,  and  the  chaplain  visits  the  men 
nightly  in  their  cells. 

For  many  years  this  penitentiary  was  leased  by  the  State  to  the 
highest  and  best  bidder.  A  few  years  ago  the  system  of  leasing  was 
abandoned,  and  the  discipline  and  financial  management  on  behalf  of 
the  State  were  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  warden,  subject  to  the  direc- 
tion of  a  board  of  commissioners.  On  the  1st  of  December,  1870,  the 
indebtedness  of  the  institution  was  stated  by  the  warden  at  $332,832.18. 
The  general  assembly,  after  making  an  appropriation  for  the  payment 
of  the  existing  indebtedness,  authorized  the  leasing  of  the  7a^or  of  the 
inmates,  retaining  the  general  management  and  discipline  in  the  hands 
of  the  prison  officers,  and  the  result  is  that  during  the  past  year,  for 
the  first  time  in  its  history,  the  penitentiary  has  earned  $35,000  or 
$40,000  above  the  actual  expenses. 

The  State  yefonn  .school. 

At  Pontiac,  ou  the  Chicago  and  Saint  Louis  Eailroad,  a  State  reform 
school  has  been  established,  which  was  opened  June  1,  1871.  One 
hundred  boys  have  been  received  as  inmates  since  that  date. 


388  NATIONAL    PRISON    KPIFORM    CONGRESS    OF    1873. 

The  reform  school  of  Illinois  differs  from  siujilar  institutions  in  other 
States,  in  the  light  in  wliich  it  is  regarded  by  the  supreme  court, 
namely,  as  a  ^;>/60u  for  juvenile  offenders.  No  boy  can  be  received 
except  under  sentence  of  a  court,  nor  can  any  boy  be  retained  during 
his  minority,  but  all  must  be  discharged  on  the  expiration  of  the  sentence. 
All  the  inmates  have  been  committed  lor  high  crimes,  and  for  periods 
varying  from  one  month  to  ten  years.  The  average  sentence  is  one  year 
and  nine  mouths.  Under  the  decision  of  our  supreme  court,  the  in- 
stitution fails  to  meet  the  design  of  its  originators  and  best  friends; 
but  the  internal  discipline  is  like  that  of  a  reform  school,  and  the 
authorities  are  allowed  to  discharge  boys  on  ticket-of-leave. 

DiscJi a rgcd  eon  c lets. 

Xo  agency  exists  in  this  State  for  the  aid  of  discharged  convicts,  nor 
is  there  any  voluntary  society  to  take  the  place  of  a  State  agency. 

Central  overmjld. 

Illinois  has  a  "  board  of  public  charities,"  charged  with  the  duty  of 
annual  visitation  and  inspection  of  all  county  jails  and  almshouses 
within  her  borders,  but  the  commission  has  no  authority  or  power 
beyond  that  of  inspection  and  report. 


4.  Indiana. 

By  Charles  F.  Coffin. 

The  State  of  Indiana^  was  admitted  into  the  Union  in  ISIG.  The  pop- 
ulation was  then  small,  probably  not  exceeding  20,000.  Most  of  its  ter- 
ritory was  thickly  covered  with  trees,  and  the  labor  of  clearing  and  ren- 
dering it  habitable  was  great;  hence  its  i)rogress  for  several  years  was 
slow.  Its  inhabitants  were  nujstly  farmers,  crime  was  rare,  and  pun- 
ishment speedy  and  of  a  primitive  character.  By  a  statute  of  1807, 
horse  stealing,  treason,  murdcM-,  and  arson  were  punishable  with  death. 
"Whipping  might  be  intlicted  for  burglary,  robbery,  larceny,  hog-stealing, 
and  bigamy,  also  for  striking  a  ])arent  or  master.  I'rovision  was  made 
for  conlinement  in  jail  for  some  olVenses.  The  first  jails  erected  were 
merely  snmll  buildings  of  scpuired  logs  so  arranged  as  to  keep  a  crimi- 
nal safel^'.  The  writer  well  remembeis  one  of  this  kind  in  which  a  mur- 
(Icrer,  who  was  afterward  hung,  was  confined  some  time.  With  the  grad- 
ual growth  of  the  State  these  were,  in  most  cases,  rei)laced  with  small 
brick  buildings,  often  with  but  one  secuie  room,  having  a  small  grated 
window,  and  no  other  provision  for  light  or  ventilation,  into  this  were 
])Ut  indiseiiiuiuately  all  who  violated  the  statutes  of  the  State  and  sub- 
jected themselves  to  imprisoumeiit.  I'ood  was  providcnl  and  brought 
by  the  jaiier,  and  of  course  its  (piality  and  (]uantity  depended  much 
upon  his  will,  and  such  attention  was  }>ai<l  to  the  neatness  and  cleanli- 
ness of  the,  (;ells  as  he  thought  i)roper,  subject  to  an  occasional  insi)ec- 
tion  by  the  grand  jury  or  <;ouuty  commissioners.  Courts  werci  but  sel- 
dom held,  and  olten  j)risoiM'rs  remained  sev«^ral  months  awaiting  trial. 
Many  su(;h  jails  are.  stdl  found  in  tlui  agiiciiltural  counties  where  there 
are  no  large  towns  and  but  little  crime  exists,  and  they  ar«'  mui^h  of  the 
time  without  a  tenant.     But  the  Stat<'  has-growu  rapi<ily  and  now  nuni- 


PENAL    AND    KEFORMATORY    INSTITUTIONS    OF    INDIANA.      389 

bers  about  1,800,000  inhabitants;  railroads  and  turnpikes  have  been 
■constructed  in  almost  cv^cry  part  oi'  it;  vast  bodies  of  coal  and  other 
minerals  have  been  found,  which  have  already  given  it,  in  many  places, 
the  characteristics  of  a  manula(;turiiig  and  mining  community;  large 
towns  and  cities  have  grown  up,  and  as  a  natural  consequence  crime 
has  increased.  In  some  of  the  county-seats  new  jails  have  been  built, 
in  which  much  more  attention  has  been  paid  to  the  laws  of  health  and 
to  the  physical  comfort  of  the  prisoners,  and  yet  too  many  of  these  have 
been  built  with  iron  cells  and  grated  doors,  affording  little  obstruction 
to  free  conversation  and  communication  among  the  prisoners;  a  mis- 
taken idea  of  kindness  has  caused  most  jailers  during  the  day  td  allow 
the  prisoners  i)romiscuously  to  intermingle  in  the  halls  and  corridors, 
thus  opening  the  way  for  the  hardened  criminal  to  indoctrinate  those 
leas  so,  and  for  the  younger  to  take  lessons  in  crime  from  the  older. 
We  believe,  however,  that  as  public  attention  is  called  to  the  matter, 
more  care  will  be  taken  in  the  construction  and  management  of  jails ; 
and  already,  in  some  counties,  fine  buildings  are  being  erected  for  pris- 
ons. The  prisoners  are  not  required  to  labor  in  any  of  these  prisons, 
but  are  kept  in  total  idleness.  Book^  are  sometimes  furnished  by  the 
benevolent,  and  religious  instruction  is  given  occasionally  by  those  who 
•do  it  voluntarily. 

A  system  of  district  prisons,  in  which  several  of  the  agricultural  coun- 
ties are  united,  for  those  convicted  of  minor  offenses  and  for  the  untried, 
where  the  prisoners  can  be  kept  at  labor  and  some  attention  given  to 
their  moral,  educational,  and  religious  improvement,  is  much  needed, 
and  it  is  hoped  may  gradually  be  introduced.  There  are  ninety-two 
counties  in  the  State;  in  many  of  them  the  jails  are  untenanted  most 
of  the  year. 

A  state  prison  was  first  erected  at  Jefferson ville,  opposite  Louisville, 
Kentucky',  on  the  Ohio  River,  about  the  year  1822.  As  was  the  case  with 
many  of  the  county  jails,  the  cells  w^ere  built  of  hewed  logs  about  fifteen 
inches  square,  securely  dovetailed  together.  The  doors  were  of  thick  oak 
planks  bound  with  iron  bands.  A  hole  in  the  center  of  the  door  three  inches 
square  was  the  only  arrangement  for  ventilation.  The  first yearthere  were 
seven  convicts;  three  lessees  had  charge  of  them,  who  received  from  the 
State  a  bonus  of  $300,  in  addition  to  the  proceeds  of  the  labor  of  the 
prisoners.  In  the  course  of  a  few  years  this  temporary  building  was 
followed  by  a  brick  one,  which  was  occupied  until  the  present  building  was 
erected,  in  1847  and  1848.  It  is  of  brick,  and  is  surrounded  by  a  brick  wall 
3h  feet  thick  and  20  feet  high,  inclosing  about  four  acres  of  ground,  in 
which  are  situated  the  shops  as  well  as  cell-houses.  The  cells  are  7.] 
feet  by  4  and  Gi  feet  high,  with  no  light  or  ventilation  except  through 
the  grated  door.  There  are  now  four  hundred  and  six  prisoners  (about 
twenty  of  whom  are  women)  confined  in  the  prison.  The  building  is 
considered  wholly  unsuitable,  and  the  directors  of  the  prison  and  the 
governor  of  the  State  unite  in  urging  its  abandonment.  The  system  of 
.leasing  was  abandoned  in  lS5t>,  and  the  present  plan  adopted,  by  which 
the  labor  of  the  prisoners  is  let  to  contractors  at  a  fixed  price  per  day. 
Most  of  them  are  now  employed  in  the  manufacture  of  railroad-cars, 
under  the  dii^ection  of  foremen  and  men  furnished  by  the  car  company. 

The  management  and  government  of  the  prison  is  in  the  hands  of  a 
board  of  three  directors,  elected  by  the  legislature.  These  directors 
choose  a  warden,  chaplain,  ])hysician,  and  moral  instructor.  The  warden 
has  the  api)ointment  of  a  deputy,  clerk,  and  such  number  of  assistant 
keepers  as  the  directors  may  deem  necessary.  The  discipline  at  pres- 
^ont  is  kind,  and  the  officers  efficient  ami  good  men.     Provision  is  mad© 


390-  NATIONAL    riv'l.SON    KEFOK'M    CONGRESS    OF    1873. 

by  law  lor  tlit^  moral  instructor  to  teach  such  convicts  as  the  warden 
may  think  proper  "the  artofreading-,writiug',  ai'ithmetic,  and  geography."' 
It  is  the  (hity  of  the  moral  instructor  to  "  superintend  the  rnental 
and  moral  iiuprovemeut  of  the  convicts,  instruct  them  once  every  Sab- 
bath, visit  tbem  wheu  sick,  have  charge  of  the  library,  and  superin- 
tend the  distributiou  and  use  of  the  books,  and  adopt  such  other  means 
for  the  reformation  of  the  convicts  as  himself,  the  warden,  and  directors 
may  deem  expedient.'' 

The  increase  of  ])risoners,  together  with  the  fact  that  the  Jeft'erson- 
ville  prison  is  located  at  the  extreme  southern  part  of  the  State,  led  the 
legislature,  iu  185!).  to  pass  a  law  for  the  erection  of  another  prison,  at 
Michigan  City,  on  Lake  ^lichigan,  in  the  north  part  of  the  State.  This 
has  been  completed  and  in  operation  several  years,  and  now  contains 
three  huiulred  and  forty-one  prisoners.  The  laws  and  regulations  for 
the  government  of  the  Jeffersonville  prison  are  in  force  for  that  at  Mich- 
igan City,  and  the  same  methods  of  labor,  discipline,  &c.,  are  used.  The 
bnildiiig  is  a  good  one,  cells  well  ventihited  and  lighted,  and  sufficient 
provision  is  made  for  tlie  health  and  comfort  of  the  prisoners. 

The  whole  number  of  convicts  jn  both  the  state  prisons  at  present  is 
seven  hundred  and  twenty-seven  men  and  twenty  women.  These  re- 
ceive by  law  $15  when  discharged,  "and  every  article  of  value  which 
they  may  have  had  in  their  jjossession  when  received."  No  other  pro- 
vision is  made  by  law  for  discharged  convicts,  nor  are  there  any  asso- 
ciations in  existence  for  the  purpose.  A  bill  is  now  before  the  Indiana 
legislature  i)roviding  for  a  State  board  of  prison  commissioners,  which 
shall  have  charge  of  the  prisons  of  the  State,  witli  a  view  of  bringing 
about  a  classification  of  i)visoners  and  other  useful  improvements  iu  the 
prison  system. 

The  constitution  of  Indiana  (adopted  1851)  contains  a  clause  that 
"  the  general  asscml)ly  shall  provide  houses  of  refuge  for  correction 
and  reformation  of  juvenile  otfenders."  This  was  not  practically  carried 
into  effect  until  18(»7,  when  the  legislature  passed  a  law  for  that  purpose,, 
in  accordance  with  which  a  house  of  refuge  for  boys  was  built  at  Plain- 
field,  fourteen  miles,  west  of  Indiana])olis.  It  is  u))on  the  family  system 
and  has  two  hundred  boys,  in  four  separate  family  buildings,  who  are  em- 
])loyed  at  work  on  the  farm  of  two  hundred  and  twenty  acres;  also  iu 
cane-seating  chairs,  shoe-making,  tailoring,  and  domestic  work.  Since  the 
opening  of  the  institution  about  one  hundred  and  sixty  boyshave  passed 
through  it  and  been  discharged,  most  of  whom  are  filling  useful  places 
in  the  community,  a  few  only  having  fallen  back  into  crime.  The  re- 
sults on  the  whole  hav*;  been  highly  satisfactory.  There  is  a  constant 
pressure  for  the  admission  of  boys,  and  it  is  hoped  that  the  present  ses- 
sion of  the  h'gislatuie  will  make  an  ai)pro])riation  for  its  enlargement. 

A  law  was  jtasscd  by  the  general  assembly  in  18(i*.>,  establishing 
"The  Indiana  ReCormatory  Institute  for  AVomen  ami  (Hrls,"  intended 
as  a  state  ])rison  for  woriuMi  and  a  girls'  reformatory,  in  separate  depart- 
ments, u?idcr  the  sanu;  numagenuMit,  and  a  building  has  been  erected, 
but  iu)t  yet  (completed.  Jt  is  much  needed,  in  onler  to  furnish  a  place 
for  the  lew  women  prisoners  now  confined  at  Jett'ersonville,  as  well  as 
for  a  girl.s'  reformatory. 

In  four  ov  fivf^  of  the  cities  of  the  Sfaf<'  ther<>i  are  "  homes  foi-  frierul- 
less  women,"  suppoi  ted  W\   pri\  ate  cout  ribuf  ions. 


MKNAL    INSTITl^TIONS    OF    IOWA    AND    KANSAS.  391 

•J.   JOWA. 

Jiy  Mai  till  Heixci/,  latt  uiirdtit  of  tlic  SUilc  jjciiiliiiliiirif. 

Tiic  institutions  establLslied  in  the  State  of  Iowa  for  the  punishment 
and  prevention  of  crime  are  a  state  i)rison,  a  state  reforiu  school,  and 
connry  jails  in  most  of  the  ninet.y-ei<;ht  counties  of  the  State. 

The  state  prison  is  at  Fort  Madison,  in  the  southeastern  part  of  the 
State;  but  another  penal  institution  is  in  process  of  construction  at 
Anamosa,  near  the  center.  The  discipline  aims  to  be  at  once  deterrent 
and  reformatory.  Experience  has  show.n  that  in  the  great  majority  of 
cases  kindness  and  appeals  to  reason  and  manhood  are  efficacious  with 
the  most  hardened  characters.  Special  attention  is  given  to  cleanliness, 
and  the  dietary,  though  plain,  is  abnndant  and  wholesome.  The  result 
is  that  we  have  very  little  sickness,  and  a  death  very  seldom  occurs. 
The  whole  number  of  prisoners  last  year  was  two  hundred  and  eighty^ 
of  whom  only  one  was  a  woman. 

The  prison  has  a  chaplain,  who  gi\eshis  whole  time  to  the  moriil  and 
religions  instruction  and  reformation  of  the  convicts,  preaching  to  them 
on  the  Sabbath,  and  laboring  with  them  personally  during  the  week. 
Every  convict  is  provided  with  a  Bible. 

There  is  a  flourishing  Sunday-school  in  connection  with  the  peniten- 
tiary. The  average  attendance  is  about  two  hundred  and  thirty.  The 
school  is  conducted  as  Sunday-schools  generally  are.  The  citizens  in 
thp  vicinity  show  their  interest  by  taking  part  in  the  instruction.  The 
good  effects  of  the  Sunday-school  are  seen  in  these  notew^orthy  facts. 
First,  there  is  less  punishment  required  to  preserve  the  discipline  of  the 
prison  by  more  than  one-half  than  before  the  establishment  of  the 
school.  Secondly,  the  men  do  more  work  and  do  it  better.  Thirdly, 
alacrity  and  cheerfulness  have  taken  the  place  of  moroseness  and  suUeii 
discontent. 

The  common  jail  system  needs  great  reforms.  Numbers  of  the  jail  s 
are  deficient  in  nearly  all  the  requisites  for  prisons  of  that  sort. 

A  state  reform  school  was  established  in  1808,  at  Salem,  the  results 
of  which  have  been  highly  gratifying. 


6.  Kansas. 

By  Htnnj  HopUnH,  ivardcn  of  the  State  penitetitiary. 

It  wonld  be  difticnlt  to  say  what  is  doing,  or  has  been  done,  through- 
ont  the  State,  by  individuals,  outside  of  the  officials  immediately  con- 
nected with  the  prison.  We  liave  to  contend  with  a  very  general  feel- 
ing of  indifference  as  to  present  or  future  welfare  of  those  committeed 
to  or  discharged  from  ])rison.  This  is  apt  to  be  greater  in  new"  than 
is  usually  the  case  in  older  States.  Crime  is  more  prevalent  in  States 
newly  organized,  into  which  the  criminal  class  has  been  driven  by 
advanced  civilization  from  other  localities. 

The  principal  institution  organized  for  the  treatment  of  criminals  is 
the  State  penitentiary,  at  Leavenworth,  now  only  about  one- third  com- 
pleted. It  is  to  consist  of  a  main  building,  composed  of  two  wings  oi" 
250  by  60  feet  each,  with  a  cell  block  of  four  tiers,  numbering  six  hun- 
dred and  eighty-eight  cellsin  all.  Ijetween  these  wings  will  be  a  building 
80  feet  square  and  four  stories  high.     A  wall  G  feet  thick  and  21  feet 


392  NATIONAL    PKISON    KEFORM    CONGRESS    OF    1873. 

high  incloses  a  space  of  ten  acres.     This  inch)snie  will  contain  all  the 
necessary  out-buildings  and  \vorivsho{)s. 

The  discipline  is  intended  to  l)e  reformatory  in  its  administration,  the 
prison  being  conducted  on  the  congiegate  silent  system.  Cha])el  services 
are  held  every  Sabbath,  and  all  prisoners  are  required  to  attend.  After 
the  general  services  a  i)risoners'  meeting  is  held,  at  which  any  who  wish 
may  remain  aud  take  a  part  in  the  exercises.  A  school  is  also  organized 
for  secular  instruction,  in  which  reading,  writing,  and  arithmetic  are 
taught  to  those  who  are  deficient.  The  prisoners  partici])ate  in  their 
earnings  to  the  amount  of  about  $12  each  year,  conditioned,  however, 
on  obedience  to  the  prison  rules.  The  ])rison  is  supplied  with  a  well- 
selected  library.  The  prisoners  are  allowed  to  api)ly  their  earnings  for 
the  i)urchase  of  books  and  literaiy  papers,  or  for  the  benefit  of  their 
families. 

Commutation,  that  is,  abbreviation  of  sentence  and  a  restoration  to  the 
rights  of  citizenship,  are  allowed  to  all  who  by  good  conduct  merit  these 
rewards.  Permission  is  given  to  write  letters  once  each  mouth,  and  to 
receive  letters  once  each  week  from  relatives  and  friends. 

The  object  is  to  establish  such  trades  as  can  be  followed  in  this  State 
after  discharge,  and  to  every  prisoner,  whenever  possible,  is  taught 
either  an  entire  tiade  or  so  much  of  a  trade  as  will  enable  him  to  gaiu 
a  livelihood  when  discharged.  For  the  general  good  of  the  prisoners 
sedentary  trades  are  excluded  as  much  as  possible. 

Punishment  is  avoided  in  every  case  where  the  same  result  can  be 
obtained  by  other  means.  Violations  of  prison  rules  are  always  noticed 
in  some  manner,  and  the  i)unishment  of  offenders  is  only  administered 
by  the  warden  or  his  deputy.  Close  attention  is  paid  to  the  physical 
requirements  of  the  prisoners,  and  a  ready  and  diligent  performance  of 
labor  is  demanded.  The  intention  is  to  make  the  prison  pay  all  expenses, 
and,  if  possible,  to  produce  a  revenue,  because  we  believe  that  so  the 
prisoners  may  be  most  certainly  reformed. 

Emi)loyment  is  provided  for  as  many  as  desire  it.  on  discharge,  when- 
ever it  can  be  found.  This  duty  devolves  especially  ou  the  chaplain, 
who  resides  at  the  prison  aud  devotes  his  entire  time  to  the  duties  of  his 
office. 

The  contract  system  is  not  in  use  here,  the  industries  being  carried 
on  by  the  State,  with  the  exception  of  twelve  men.  This  I  consider  far 
l>referable  to  contracting,  as  it  is  seldom  that  a  contractor  takes  any 
interest  in  tlu^  reformation  of  the  prisoners,  his  great  aim  being  to  make 
as  mucli  money  out  of  them  as  ])()ssil)]e.  The  idea  of  the  discipline  in 
this  prison  is  to  make  better  men  of  those  sent  to  it,  and  at  the  san)e 
time  to  so  administer  it  as  to  deter  otliers  irom  making  it  necessary  to 
send  them  here.  Make  it  corre(;tive,  and  you  thereby  make  it  repul- 
sive,    ('orrection  is  naturally  repugnant  to  tiie  human  heart. 

We  have,  as  yet,  no  ])reventive.  institution  in  Jvansas  uiuler  that 
name,  but  tlie  Home  for  Fi-iendiess  Wonu'n,  at  Leavenworth,  subserves 
that  end  very  elTectively,  as  far  as  it  goes,  as  tlie  following  extract  from 
its  first  report  shows  : 

Miicli  fjood  lias  lifcn  .•iccuniiilislicd  l>y  tliis  iii^cucy,  ;i.s  it  Ii.is  hci'ii  llic  iiicniis  of  saving 
many  from  a  (M'iiiiinal  lil'«-. 

Two  ycarM  niiico  Mm  Kansas  li';rislatiiro  ;;avo  $IO,(i()i)  wifli  wliicli  In  )iiiilil  a  "  lTi>mo." 
Tlu>  city  (if  li(rav<inwortli  ;;avi'  lof.s  wuilli  ^'^.OOK,  on  wliicli  to  liiiiM.  'I'lic  (Mlitico  ia 
now  <;(nn))lc.tt',(l.  Il,  Ih  l!!  Iiy  itlj  fiK^f,  composed  ol'  four  istoiicvs,  iiu'linliii'^  liasi^imnifc  ;  if> 
of  brick,  and  of  fasfcfid  di'.Hi;4n.  It  was  ibrnnilly  opdMcd  October  l>,  l-^l  I,  and  has  nu»t 
tlio  in-cds  of  llic  association.  Witii  barn,  Anioc.s,  ,snl»sia,ntial  Hfonc  walk,  and  j^rounds 
lilli'd  witli  fr'nit  tscr-.s  and  slinililicry,  if  is  an  oniannMif  to  tlm  cily.  ami  sfaiuls  a  jxn'- 
jx'finil  <"icr)ini:ini  of  tin'  lit"  r.ilily  and  I'lmrilv  of  tlir  Slate  wliiili  luiili  and  llir  lownn 


PENAL    AND    KEFOKMATOKV    INSTITL'TIONS    OF    MAINE.        393 

wbicli  furiiisbcd  it.  There  is  no  oiidowimuit,  and  no  ono  conuecti'd  with  tho  institu- 
tion receives  a  dollar's  pay  for  tinic;  or  labor,  except  its  matron.  Even  oiir  jdiysicians' 
ouorons  services  arc  {gratuitous.  It  has  extended  aid  to  over  two  hundred  and  fifty 
women.  Durinj^  tho  last  year  one  hundred  and  ten  have  bceu  admitted,  and  twenty 
children  have  been  born  under  its  rooi'.  Of  these  inmates  comparatively  few  have 
belonged  to  Leavenworth.  Tlio  ))oor  and  friendless,  whom  we  feed,  slielfer,  and 
befriend,  are  not  ours  alone.  They  come  from  other  towns  and  ncigbliorhoods.  They 
comprise  respectable  women  Avho  reach  Leavenworth  out  of  money,  and  needing  tem- 
porary help,  a  few  meals  and  lodging,  until  they  can  hear  from  iVieuds.  Or  they  are 
forsaken  wives,  who,  perhaps,  find  themselves  on  the  eve  of  maternity  without  friends 
or  shelter.  Often  they  are  young  girls  fiom  the  country  seeking  (Employment,  and 
while  doing  so  come  to  ns  for  refuge,  and  if  we  fail  to  give  it  they  are  easily  fonnd 
of  "her  whose  house  inclineth  unto  death  and  her  paths  to  the  dead."  We  also  have 
many  cases  of  young  girls  from  other  localities,  who  leave  their  homes  hoping  to  hide 
their  shame  among  the  crowds  of  a  strange  city.  Caring  for  these  through  the  hour 
of  woman's  greatest  trial — and,  when  they  wish  it,  adopting  their  children — we  can 
often  save  those  unpitied  mothers  from  further  degradation,  and  return  them  to  their 
iiomes  and  better  lives. 

And  last,  but  not  least,  we  wish  to  keep  open  a  refuge  for  the  only  class  agaioisi 
which  a  cold  world  seems  savagely  to  bar  the  door  of  vA'orm— fallen  hut  repentant 
women. 

There  are  two  ori)li;m  asylums  (one  Protestant  and  one  Catbolic) 
organized  in  the  State,  wliicli  are  doing  much  good  for  the  outcast  youth- 
ful population.  Good  homes  are  secured  for  all  when  they  arrive  at 
suitable  ages,  and  they  are  watched  over  after  discharge  from  the  in- 
stitutions. 

It  is  in  contemplation  to  organize  a  house  of  refuge  at  an  early  day. 
All  these  indications  show  that  the  people  are  becoming  aroused  to  the 
necessity  of  providing  for  existing  wrongs. 

Our  system  of  free  schools  is  not  excelled  by  that  of  any  State  in  the 
Union,  and  its  fund  is  inexhaustible.  Two  State  normal  schools  are  now 
organized,  and  every  school  district  in  the  State  has  its  substantial 
school-building,  and  is  supplied  with  competent  teachers. 

Compulsory  education  is  gaining  fovor  throughout  the  State.  This, 
if  properly  applied,  will  act  as  a  great  preventive  of  crime.  Would  it 
not  be  well  to  re-establish  the  old  Jewish  law,  and  require  every  boy  to 
learn  a  trade,  as  it  is  seldom,  indeed,  that  a  good  mechanic  is  sent  to 
prison  from  any  cause  ' 


7.  Maine, 

/)//  Ber.  J.  K.  Ma^nni,  former  chaplain  of  the  state  iJrison. 

The  State  of  Maine  was  formerly  a  "district  of  Massachusetts,"  and, 
singular  as  it  may  seem,  })resented  the  phenomenon  of  a  district  several 
tiuies  larger  than  the  State  to  which  it  belonged.  In  1820  it  became 
itself  a  State. 

In  regard  to  penal  and  refomiatory  institutions,  Maine  is  behind  several 
of  her  sister  States.  This  results  in  part  from  having  given  her  atten- 
tion more  to  the  causes  than  thecureof  crime  ;  to  what  makes  criminals 
of  men  than  to  what  will  make  men  of  criminals.  The  grand  question 
has  been  how  to  preserve  her  population  industrious,  sober,  and  moral, 
and  thus  safe  and  prosperous.  Thus  reformatory  systems  and  discipline 
have  been  somewhat  overlooked,  until  of  late.  Maine  is  clear  in  her 
conviction  that  something  more  is  to  be  done  for  her  fallen  ones,  but  is 
neverthplcss  quite  as  cleai'that  she  must  look  first  at  the  causes  of  their 
fall.  The  so-f';tllod  Mnino  i;i\v  in  regard  to  the  sale  of  intoxicating 
liqnois  is  r.iif  <»f(iie  ri'snUs  of  tiiis  roiivi'-tMH.  ;in<l  not  n  tupv*^  "fanatical 


394  NATIONAL    PIUSON    KEFORM    CONGKESS    OF    lb73. 

wbiiu,"'  as  some  have  tliouf;ht.  If  it  be  true,  as  facts  demonstrate,  that 
at  least  tbree-foiirtlis  of  all  the  convicts  in  the  State  penitentiary  are 
there  through  the  influence  of  intoxicating  li((uors,  it  has  seemed  that 
wise  men,  and  certainly  (/ood  men,  could  not  be  at  a  loss  where  to  apply 
some  State  force.  The  wonder  is  that  any  are  blind  enough,  either 
through  prejudice  or  ignorance,  to  snfter  an  evil  that  is  so  monstrous  to 
eoutinue  its  havoc  and  necessitate  these  jienal  institutions  everywhere 
as  exponents  of  its  accursed  entail. 

The  Stat«^  penitentiary  is  located  at  Thoniaston,  and  is  in  a  coixlition 
i)f  great  industrial  and  tinancial  prosperity.  In  this  respect,  the  past 
year  has  exceeded  every  other  in  its  history.  I  think  I  hazard  nothing 
in  saying  that  it  is  unexcelled.  It  is  conducted  on  the  congregate  plan, 
and  every  man  who  is  physically  able  must  work  at  some  trade,  which  . 
he  is  stimulated  in  various  ways  to  become  master  of,  so  that  he  may 
have  resources  within  himself  that  will  in  the  futnre  diminish  his  temp- 
tation to  crime.  His  educational  and  religions  wants  are  so  cared  for, 
under  the  direction  of  a  chaplain,  that  he  has  no  excuse  for  further.igno- 
rance  or -va  ickedness.  The  amount  of  instruction,  however,  in  both, 
might  be  largely  increased  by  means  of  additional  facilities.  The  sani- 
tary arrangements  are  good  ;  food  plenty  and  wholesome;  an  occasional 
holiday  granted,  when  a  sumptuous  dinner  is  given  and  opportunity  af- 
forded for  social  intercourse  foran  hour  or  two,  under  the  eyeof  the  ofticers 
and  a  few  friends.  Personal  cleanliness  is  insisted  on  as  a  virtue  indis- 
pensable to  both  physical  and  moral  health.  It  is  the  aim  of  the  gov- 
ernment in  all  its  rules  and  practical  applications  to  inspire  courage  in 
the  convicts — to  lift  them  into  as  high  a  measure  of  manhood  as  possible 
with  their  present  surroundings — and  to  tit  those  whose  sentences  are 
not  perpetual  to  go  forth  to  society  and  the  world  again  with  habits  of 
patient  industry,  a  remunerative  trade,  and  some  educational  acquire- 
ments ;  controlled  by  principles  or  purposes  of  integrity  and  sobriety, 
and  stimulated  to  a  faith  and  hope  that  will  help  them  through  a  great 
many  unavoidable  dilliculties  and  discouragements. 

The  Hon.  W.  W.  Itice,  who  has  been  warden  for  the  past  nine  years, 
not  believing  in  the  policy  of  the  contract  system  of  labor,  has  held  the 
specific  control  of  the  industrial  and  business  matters  in  his  own  hands, 
giving  personal  attention  to  the  various  details.  He  believes  that  that 
has  been  one  of  the  grand  secrets  of  its  industrial  and  tinancial  success. 
Under  a  less  energetic  and  able  financier,  the  balance-sheet  might  show 
footings  not  so  favorable. 

The  warden  is  ap])ointed  by  the  governor  and  council  for  the  term 
of  four  years,  and  has  control  and  is  made  responsible  for  all  the 
subordinate  officers,  concurrently  with  the  ins])ectors.  One  of  the 
inspectors,  who  are  also  api>ointed  by  the  executive  of  the  State,  is 
icipiired  to  visit  the  prison  at  least  once  each  month,  and  the  entire 
board  once  in  thrcM^  months,  to  make  careful  investigation  in  regard 
to  all  the  interests  of  the  i>rison.  Tlicie  is  a  comnuitation  law  by 
whi(;li  tile  executive  may  deduct  a  certain  portion  from  the  sentence  of 
every  (tonvict  for  industry  and  obe<lience.  This  operates  as  a  constant 
incentive  to  all  who  are  not  utterly  ami  hoi>elessly  incorrigible. 

The.  jiresent  numVn'r  of  convicts  is  onci  liundred  and  sixty-four,  oue- 
lifth  of  whom  are  nnd<'r  twenty  one  years  of  age.  About  two-thirds 
under  twenty-seven. 

Our  county  Jails  arc  by  no  means  what  tln\v  should  be,  but  I  forbear 
a  (U'scriptioii  of  them  as  llicy  arc,  since  they  are  now  undergoing  care- 
ful study,  and  the  probaliility  is  that  they  ^vill  be  speedily  reconstructed 
in    sncli    iiiannei-,    as   to  ha\e   connected    tlierewitb   facilities   (or   vari- 


PENAL    AND    EEFORMATOKY    INSTITUTIONS    OF    MAINE.        095 

ous  iiidustiies,  and  for  classifying  their  iumates ;  and  some  of  them 
appointed  as  places  of  detention,  discipline,  industry,  and  other  appli- 
ances of  penal  and  reformatory  treatment  for  a  class  of  criminal.^ 
whose  antecedents  hardly  warrant  the  practice  hitherto  followed  of 
degrading  them  as  the  worst  of  criminals  by  commitment  to  the  state 
prison. 

Our  State  Eeform  School  for  Boys  is  located  at  (Jape  Elizabeth,  a 
suburb  of  the  city  of  Portland,  and  is  at  present  in  charge  of  the  IJev. 
E.  VV.  Hutchinson  as  superintendent.  It  has  existed  for  nineteen  years 
and  been  attended  with  somewhat  varied  success.  This  school,  for  cer- 
tain reasons,  does  not  accomplish  all  that  was  hoped  from  it.  One  of 
these  is,  doubtless,  to  be  found  in  the  statutory  i^rpvision  that,  under 
certain  specified  circumstances,  the  several  towns  or  cities  patronizing 
it  shall  contribute  $1  per  week  for  each  inmjite  they  furnish.  The  result- 
is  that  they  send  as  few  as  possible,  and  the  rural  towns  ignore  it  almost 
wholly.  Of  the  fifty-nine  commitments  the  past  year  nearly  one-half 
were  from  the  single  city  of  Portland.  From  three  other  principal  cities 
not  a  single  commitment  was  recorded.  If  that  ])rovision  of  the  statute 
were  repealed  and  another  substituted  requiring  the  parents  to  pay  such 
a  part  of  the  expense  as  the  town  or  city  assessors  might  consider  them 
able  to  do,  a  demand  of  justice  would  be  met,  a  difficulty  remedied, 
and,  perhaps,  a  stimulus  created  that  would  operate  favorably  in  regard 
to  home  discipline. 

This  institution  is  conducted  after  the  congregate  system  ;  is  under 
the  general  direction  of  a  board  of  trustees,  who  appoint  the  superin- 
tendent and  assistant  superintendent,  matron,  physician,  and  chaplain, 
and  all  the  subordinate  officers,  and  assign  their  position  and  duties. 
The  whole  is  under  the  general  supervision  of  the  governor  and  council. 
There  is  a  large  farm  connected  therewith,  the  cultivation  of  which  is 
carried  on  by  the  labor  of  the  boys  with  a  moderate  degree  of  success. 
The  shoe  business  affords  employment  for  a  score*  or  two  of  the  bo^'s, 
and  chair-bottoming  for  as  nmny  more ;  and  a  large  number  of  the 
youngest  are  employed  at  knitting,  sewing,  &c.,  for  the  older  ones.  The 
various  other  kinds  of  work  about  the  institution  are  done  by  the  in- 
mates, under  the  direction  of  departmental  overseers.  The  educational 
department  is  in  charge  of  several  teachers,  selected  with  reference  to 
the  different  grades,  according  to  which  the  inmates  are  classified. 
Most  of  the  boys  make  good  proficiency. 

The  Sabbath-school  Avork  is  carried  on  by  the  voluntary  efforts  of 
Christian  men  and  women  from  the  city.  Based  on  the  influence  of  thia 
and  on  the  accpiiring  of  habits  of  industry,  of  which,  on  entering,  nearly 
all  are  destitute,  the  friends  have  learned  to  recognize  their  main 
reliance  for  reform.  At  the  close  of  1871  the  school  numbered  one 
hundred  and  thirty-four,  twenty-six  less  than  the  |)receding  year.  The 
whole  number  committed  in  eighteen  years  of  its  history  is  one  thou- 
sand two  hundred  and  eighty-one,  of  ages  varying  from  seven  to  nine- 
teen years. 

Of  the  whole  number,  more  than  one-third  had  intemperate  parents; 
another  third  had  relatives  in  i)rison  5  two-thirds  were  habitually  idle. 
More  than  two-fifths  were  truants;  nearly  one  half  were  Sabbath- 
breakers;  more  than  three-fourths  were  untruthful,  and  more  than 
two-thirds  were  profane :  a  sad  commentary  on  the  places  many  children 
are  allowed  to  call  "  home,"  and  still  worse  on  the  character  of,  their 
parents. 

The  institution  is  sustained  by  the  products  of  its  own  labor  as  far 
as  that  will  go ;  the  residue,  about  one-half  or  two-thirds  of  the  expenses. 


396  NATIONAL    PRISON    EEFORM    CONGRESS    OF    1373. 

being  provided  for  by  appropriations  direct  from  the  State  treasury. 
All  its  business  transactions  are  conducted  on  the  cash  basis. 

x\u  industrial  school  for  i,''irls  is  i)artial!y  inaugurated,  and  it  is  ex- 
pected that  the  current  year  will  see  it  in  operation. 

Maine  believes  that  penalty  should  be  administered  as  far  as  possible 
in  the  interest  of  reform. 


8.  Maryland. 

By  G.  S.  Grifith,  j^rcsiclenf  of  fJic  Maryleind  Frisoiiera'  Aid  Assodafioti. 

The  prominent  penal  reformatory  and  preventive  institutions  of  Mary- 
land are  situated  iu  the  city  of  Baltimore  and  its  immediate  vicinity. 

The  prisons,  properly  so  called,  are  the  kState  penitentiary,  the  Bal- 
timore jail,  and  twenty-one  other  jails  in  tke  several  counties  additional 
to  that  of  Baltimore. 

The  State  penitentiaryis  in  Baltimore.  The  whole  number  in  the  prison 
at  the  close  of  1872  was  598 ;  of  whom  541  were  males,  and  57  females ;  of 
the  males,  371  were  colored  ;  of  the  females,  5L*.  There  were  received 
into  the  prison  in  1869,  317  prisoners  ;  in  1870,280;  in  1871,262;  iu 
1872,  188.  This  statement  would  indicate  a  gradual  decrease  of  crime 
iu  Maryland  within  the  last  four  years. 

AVhile  the  discipline  is  positively  deterrent,  it  earnestly  aims  to  be 
reformatory.  The  agencies  employed  are  moral  suasion^  positive  discip- 
line, labor,  and  rewards.  Kewards,  however,  are  more  relied  upon  thau 
punishments,  and  with  the  best  results. 

The  general  condition  of  criminals  in  point  of  educatiou,  on  their  com- 
mitment, is  lamentable.  Unhappily  no  systematic  effort  is  made  for  their 
mental  imin-ovemeut  while  in  prison.  The  penitentiary,  however,  con- 
tains a  very  good  library  for  the  use  of  the  convicts. 

The  labor  of  the  i)risoners  is  let  to  contractors.  It  is  believed  that 
this  institution  will  l»e  hereafter  self-sustaining,  the  opportunities  and 
organization  of  labor  having  been  im[)roved  by  the  enlargement  of  the 
worksho])s. 

There  are  no  religious  agencies  ofhcially  employed,  but  the  Prisoners' 
Aid  Association,  to  be  hereafter  spoken  of,  takes  charge  of  this  work. 
It  has  established  two  nourishing  Sunday-schools  in  the  prison,  which 
are  taujiht  by  ladies  and  gentlemen  who  volunteer  their  services.  These 
religious  exercises  are  much  ])rized  by  the  prisoners,  and  excite  the 
lively  interest  of  all  who  witness  thorn.  Sacred  music  is  taught  to  the 
l)risoners  as  an  element  of  re-form.  On  Sunday  afternoons  the  nuilcfind 
female  <-onvicts  are  assembled  in  separate  <'hapels  for  divine  service. 
T\^c  offirjafing  ministers  are  siilected  from  dilferent  dc^nominations.  It 
is  optional  w  ith  the  jn-isoners  to  attend  or  not.  Three  hundr<Hl  and  forty- 
thr<'e  availed  themselves  of  the  i)rivilege  last  year. 

Tin;  Baltimore,  v'ity  .Jailis  a  sul)stanlial  stone  building,  of  striking 
architectural  piojjortions.  In  its  construction  and  arrangements  it  may 
be  regarded  as  a  model  institution.  iMost  of  the  other  county  jails  are 
<lefectiv(5  in  all  the  attrii)ut(;s  of  ai  good  jtrison.  Under  the  auspices  of 
the  aid  association,  icligions  exercises  are  regularly  (U)ndueted  on  Sun- 
day afternoons  in  the  <-,ha])el  of  l-hc!  iialtiinore  jail. 

The  reformatory  and  ]>reventive  institutions  of  Maryland  are  the 
Baltimore^  Houk(;  of  Refuge,  the  Maryland  Inebriate  Asylum,  the  Jlome 
^)f  the  (lood  Shepherd  for  Women,  the  iMaryland   Industrial  School  lor 


PENAL    AND    REFORMATORY    INSTITUTIONS    OF    MARYLAKU.      397 

Girls,  the  Home  for  Fallen  Women,  tbe  Saint  Mary's  Industrial  School 
for  Boys,  the  Manual  Labor  School,  the  Chihlren's  Aid  Society  for  Boys 
and  Girls,  the  Ilon>e  of  the  Friendless  for  Children,  and  the  Ilouse  of 
Reformation  and  Instruction  for  Colored  Children. 

The  House  of  Eefuge  is  situate<l  two  miles  from  Baltimore,  in  a  high 
and  healthy  location.  The  building  is  constructed  with  a  view  to  de- 
veloj)  the  physical  as  "well  as  the  moral  and  mental  growth  of  the 
inmates.  This  is  the  most  Important  reformatory  in  Mary  hind  for  juve- 
nile delinquents.  It  is  designed  to  receive  the  youth  of  our  State  who 
become  too  insubordinate  to  be  governed  by  their  parents  or  guardians, 
and  for  those  who  are  sentenced  by  the  criminal  courts  and  magistrates 
for  committing  public  offenses.  They  are  sent  to  the  care  of  this  insti- 
tution until  they  become  of  age,  unless  otherwise  provided  for  by  the 
board  of  managers  in  consideration  of  great  moral  imi)roveme!it,  which 
often  occurs  under  the  excellent  administration  of  the  superintendent, 
Mr.  William  R.  Lincoln. 

Religious  instruction  is  given  without  any  denominational  bias. 
The  institution  contains  a  commodious  chapel.  Divine  service  is  con- 
ducted every  Sunday  afternoon  by  clergymen  invited  from  various  de- 
nominations. The  congregational  singing  is  led  by  Mrs.  Lincoln,  (he 
worthy  wife  of  the  su[)erintendent,  who  presides  on  all  occasions  with 
perfect  command  of  the  organ. 

The  usual  exercises  of  a  Sunday-school  are  regularly  observed ;  the 
helpers  in  this  good  work  consist  of  a  faithful  corps  of  teachers,  who  go 
out  from  the  city  every  Sunday  morning. 

Music  is  a  particular  element  of  education  of  the  boys.  Thej'  have 
organized  a  brass  band,  which  is  the  source  of  much  pleasure  on  public 
days  and  festive  occasions.  They  are  frequently  invited  to  the  city,  to 
play  at  fairs,  and  other  entertainments  held  for  benevolent  purposes. 
The  other  branches  taught  are  those  of  a  primary  common  school.  The 
larger  boys  receive  instruction  equal  in  grade  to  that  of  the  grammar- 
schools,  including'  the  elements  of  natural  philosophy,  ])hysiology,  alge- 
bra, &c.  The  refuge  is  at  t)uce  a  benevolent,  reformatory,  and  educa- 
tional institution.  Since  it  was  opened  in  1855,  li,150  minors  have 
passed  under  its  control,  of  whom  1,942  were  boys,  and  217  were  girls. 
At  the  present  date  there  remain  under  care  331,  of  whom  315  are  boys 
and  16  girls. 

Labor  is  found  to  be  a  most  desirable  adjunct  in  the  eftbrt  of  reform. 
The  workshop,  next  to  the  Sunday-school  and  secular  instruction,  is  the 
best  corrective  of  evil  habits.  Here  the  boys  are  employed  in  the  har- 
ness shop,  shoe  shop,  tailor's  shop,  broom  and  basket  shop,  in  caning 
chair-seats,  «&c.,  and  in  tanning  and  gardening,  besides  assisting  in  the 
work  of  the  household.  The  products  of  the  farm  and  garden  last  year 
amounted  to  $2,21:8.28.  The  institution  is  in  part  self-supporting,  yield- 
ing a  profit  from  the  mechanical  labor  of  the  inmates. 

The  Saint  Mary's  Industrial  School  for  the  city  of  Baltimore  is  a 
Roman  Catholic  institution.  Its  object  is  to  receive,  teach,  and  train  to 
virtue  and  industry  orphans  and  other  destitute  boys.  It  has  an  impos- 
ing building  and  a  farm  of  one  hundred  acres.  The  boys  are  committed 
to  this  school,  not  for  crime,  but  on  account  of  destitution  and  to  pre- 
vent crime.  It  has  received  in  all  two  hundred  and  sixty-nine  boys,  of 
whom  iilty-one  have  been  apprenticed  to  farmers. 

The  Baltimore  Manual  Labor  School,  for  indigent  boys,  was  estab- 
lished in  1842,  and  has  had  an  average  of  forty-tive  boys.  It  is  neither 
penal  nor  reformatory,  but  preventive.  It  receives  only  orphans  or 
Lalf-or[)hans.     It  has  a  farm   of  one   hundred    and  forty  acres.     Tbe 


398  NATIONAL    PRISON    REFOPfM    CONGRESS    OF    1873. 

boys,  on  loaviiig  the  institntiou,  are  apprenticed  to  some  mechanic  or 
farmer. 

The  Boys'  Home  is  not  a  reformatory,  sncli  as  the  liouse  of  refuge, 
nor  is  it  a  honse  of  correction,  wliere  coercion  or  force  can  be  employed 
to  coni])el  obedience.  It  is  a  large  household,  Avherein  obedience  is  recog- 
nized as  a  duty,  and  love  is  the  incentive  to  its  exercise.  Like  any  well- 
regulated  family  circle,  it  has  its  daily  separations  and  reunions.  After 
breakiast  each  member  goes  out  to  hi-s  appointed  labor.  The  directors 
find  the  system  of  encouraging  volunteer  labor  to  work  admirably. 
The  boys  are  assisted  to  find  work,  and  get  fair  wages.  Most  of  them 
are  h_\irning  mechanical  trades.  Those  who  have  employment  are 
<'harged  the  small  board  of  ^=1.75  per  week.  The  balance  of  their  earn- 
ings is  put  into  a  savings-box  until  the  end  of  the  year,  and  then  returned 
to  them.  This  arrangement  generates  feelings  of  independence  and 
self-respect.  Under  the  genial  iulluences  of  the  Home,  thej"  are  taught 
habits  of  economy,  cleanliness,  virtue,  industry,  obe<Uence,  and  self- 
reliance.  It  prevents  vagrancy,  pauperism,  crime,  and  juvenile  delin- 
•!)uency.  This  is  a  great  saving  to  taxpayers,  and  sound  political 
economy. 

The  Maryland  Industrial  School  for  (xirls  is  designed  to  rescue  girls 
between  twelve  and  eighteen  years  of  age,  who  have  lost  their  virtue  or 
are  in  danger  of  losing  it,  from  vagrancy  and  exposure  to  evil  influ- 
ences. Since  the  opening,  in  1868,  seventy-two  girls  have  been  received. 
The  discipline  of  the  school  is  that  of  a  Christian  family.  Its  law  is 
kindness.  There  are  no  walls  or  bolts.  No  corjioreal  punishment  is 
permitted.  Deprivation  of  privileges  and  meals,  with  detention  of  the 
refractory  in  her  room  until  penitent,  is  sufficient.  The  ordinary 
branches  of  a  common-school  education  are  taught,  with  singing  and 
Bible  lessons.  Instruction  is  also  given  in  all  branches  of  household 
labor,  and  in  canning  fruits  and  vegetables.  The  improvement  of  the 
girls  in  all  respects  has  been  very  marked  and  gratifying  while  in  the^ 
institution.  Thirty-four  have  been  restored  to  their  friends,  twenty- 
three  have  l)een  i)rovided  with  situations,  ttvo  have  died ;  the  rest  are 
oither  now  in  the  school,  or  have  been  discharged  for  disease  or  other 
<;auses.     lleligious  instruction  has  been  regularly  given. 

The  Children's  Aid  Society  is  a  recognized  temporary  asylum  for  all 
truant  and  stray  children  picked  uj)  in  the  streets  by  the  police,  and  for 
children  whose  j^arents  have  been  committed  to  the  Jail  or  almshouse  for 
disorderly  conduct  or  vagrancy.  In  many  cases  they  receive  food  and 
shelter  until  tfiey  are  fouiul  by  their  parents,  or  reclaimed  by  others 
afte.r  they  are  released  from  confinement.  Since  the  institution  was 
opened,  in  Js()(>,  ],()!)!'  children  have  received  its  protection.  At  present 
SM  are  in  good  homes  ])i(>vided  for  tlicm  either  in  Maryland  or  in  the 
lu'ighboring  Slates  of  I'ennsylvania  ami  Viiginia.  Their  lost  er- pa  rents, 
or  those  wlio  lake  them  in  charge,  are  rejpiired  by  the  board  of  mana- 
gers to  maUe  monthly  i'e)»orls  concerning  llieir  welCare. 

'llie  Home  for  the  I'^riendless  is  a  i)re\'entive  institution  under  a  board 
of  lady  managers.  It  receives  small  boys  a)id  girls,  tln^  n<\glected,  de- 
serted, nnliciilthy,  maimed,  (tri])pled,  and  also  the  incurably  al'tlicted. 
The  total  numbei-  of  inmates  received  since  it  was  organized  is  l,()4li. 
Of  these  tliere  remain  at  jiresent  date  i;5(l,  many  of  whom  aie  under 
eight  years  of  age. 

The  Ilousi'  of  Reformation  iiiul  instruction  for  Colored  Children  was 
iticoij)orat(Ml  by  the  general  assembly  of  jNIaiyland  at  the  rlanuary  ses- 
sion, 1S70.  Maiyland  has  a  large  colored  ]»o]»ulation,  esp(>cially  since 
:!"•  emancipation  of  shives.     'i'his  population,  \\  hich  has  hei'etolbre  been 


PENAL    AND    REFOKMATOKV    INSTITUTIONS    OF    MARYLAND.      .j09 

ilei)rivt>d  of  Ibe  l>enefits  of  education,  is  now  thrown  upon  us  in  a  de- 
plorable state  of  ignorance.  Ignorance,  idle  habits,  and  crime  generally' 
go  hand-in-haud  together,  and  become  an  element  of  danger  to  the  com- 
munity. The  board  of  visitors  of  the  Baltimore  city  jail  report  the  fol- 
lowing commitments  of  colored  persons  during  the  past  year  :  For  the 
Violation  of  the  peace  and  for  drunkenness,  1,890:  for  larceny,  375;  for 
v'agrancy,  70 ;  in  all,  '2,0^5,  many  of  whom  were  children  between  the 
age  of  eight  and  ten  years. 

A  farm,  containing  700  acres,  in  Prince  George's  County,  has  been 
purchased  for  this  institution.  Ap[)ropriations  have  been  made  by  the 
8tate  legislature  of  $10,000  for  two  succeeding  years,  making  a  total 
of  $20,000.  Twenty  thousand  dollars  additional  have  been  centributed 
for  this  object  by  Enoch  Pratt,  esq.,  and  ten  thousand  dollars  more  by 
subscription. 

Such  is  a  brief  and  imperfect  sketch  of  the  preventive  and  reform.i- 
tory  institutions  of  Maryland. 

What  is  the  chief  cause  of  crime  !  Xeglect  of  the  early  right  training 
of  children.  What  is  the  chief  preventive  of  crime  ?  Increase  the  forces 
a  hundredfold  to  save  the  children.  The  unrestrained  boys  and  girls 
of  our  community  are  the  roots  of  that  cancer  which  grows  into  public 
injury.  It  is  a  sad,  stern  truth  that  some  of  those  who  are  now  boys 
and  girls  are  to  be  the  paupers  and  criminals  of  the  future.  No  one 
doubts  that  many  noble  and  useful  citizens  come  from  the  ranks  of  the 
]>oor.  Yet  it  is  no  less  true  that  paupers  and  criminals  spring  almost 
entirely  from  the  untrained  outcasts  of  society,  such  as  neglected 
orphans,  children  of  drunkards,  the  illegitimate  children  of  prisoners 
and  paupers,  and  the  children  of  thieves. 

The  situation  of  the  reformatory  and  preventive  institutions  of  Mary- 
land is  a  subject  worthy  of  note.  They  are  located  in  the  most  healthy 
sections  of  the  city  or  county  of  Baltimore,  on  broad  streets,  wide  ave- 
nues, or  eligible  farms,  the  sanitary  advantages  having  been  always^ 
considered  in  selecting  a  site.  The  buildings  are  erected  on  high 
grounds,  affording  spacious  yards  or  areas  for  exercise  during  the  hours 
of  recreation.  They  are  constructed  with  large  windows,  wide  pas- 
sages, and  broad  stairways,  with  a  view  to  obtain  the  unobstructed  rays 
of  light  from  the  rising  to  the  setting  of  the  sun,  and  afiee  and  full  cir- 
culation of  pure  air.  It  is  a  fact  which  marks  the  history  of  these 
various  institutions,  that  the  inmates  are  exempt  in  an  extraordinary 
manner  from  epidemics  or  even  sporadic  diseases.  Their  list  of  mor- 
tality records  fewer  deaths  than  occur  ia  common  households  among  the 
same  number  of  children  and  youth. 

Experience  teaches  that  the  essential  elements  of  health  will  promote 
the  moral  as  well  as  the  physical  growth  of  human  natui'c.  The  genial 
influences  of  air  and  sunshine,  will  Denetrate  the  heart  and  generate 
kindly  feelings,  stimulate  bright  rlionghts,  and  excite  the  hands  to  useful 
works. 

The  work  of  aiding  discharged  i)risoners  is  well  organized  in  this 
8tate.  The  jMarylaud  I'risoners'  Aid  Society  was  established  early  in 
18G9,  and  has  been  ever  'since  working  with  zeal,  eflSciency,  and  success. 
The  sphere  of  action  of  this  society  begins  in  the  State  penitentiary, 
iind  extends  to  all  the  jails  and  almshouses  throughout  the  State  of 
Maryland.  The  ofiicers  and  wardens  seem  willing  to  co-operate  in  any 
measures  the  association  may  suggest  to  ini{)rove  the  condition  of  the 
inmates  under  their  ciuugc.  The  ])rincii)]es  on  which  it  works,  and  the 
work  itself,  haxe  secured  the  hearty  ni)proval  of  both  the  criminal  courts 
and  tlie  piisou  aathoiities.as  the  following  testimonies  abur.dantly])rove. 


400  NATIONAL    PRISON    REFORM    CONGRESS    OF    1873. 

Judge  GiliDor,  of  the  crimiual  court  of  Baltimore,  says:  "I  take  great 
interest  in  the  successful  operations  of  this  society,  which  I  regard  as 
one  of  the  best  and  most  important  of  onr  public  charities.  It  has 
already  accomplished  much  good,  and  if  the  welfare  of  tliat  large  chiss 
whose  condition  it  is  its  aim  to  relieve,  is  not  deriving  all  the  benefit  it 
should,  it  is  only  because  enough  of  our  charitable  citizens  have  not.as* 
yet  come  forward  to  unite  in  and  contribute  toward  the  objects  pro- 
posed by  the  association." 

In  their  last  annual  report  the  board  of  visitors  of  the  Baltimore  city 
jail  remark:  "The  Prisoners'  Aid  Association,  of  which  Rev.  Penfield 
Doll  is  the  agent,  and  whose  benevolent  work  among  the  fallen  and 
guilty  it  has  more  than  once  been  onr  pleasure  to  acknowledge,  is  con- 
tinuously at  work,  and  making  its  inliuence  for  good  widely  felt." 


9.  Massachusetts. 

By  F.  B.  Sanhorn,  member  of  the  Massachnsetls  Board  of  State  Charltic-i. 

ifassachusetts,  which  by  the  census  of  1870  had  a  population  of  1,457,- 
351,  now  contains  more  than  a  million  and  a  half  inhabitants,  of  whom 
oidy  about  14,000  are  colored  persons,  while  nearly  400,000  are  of  foreign 
birth,  and  more  tlian  030,000  of  foreign  parentage.  It  has  been  estima- 
ted that  from  25,000  to  30,000  of  these  inhabitants  belong  to  what  may 
be  called  the  crimimU  class,  including  drunkards  and  vagrants,  who, 
under  Massachusetts  laws,  are  punishable  with  imprisonment.  The 
actual  number  of  different  persons  imprisoned  in  a  single  year  (exclusive 
of  pupils  in  reformatories)  is  now  probably  about  15,000,  and  steadily 
increasing.  The  number  of  persons  convicted  of  greater  and  smaller 
offenses,  in  1872,  was  about  8,000,  probably  ;  but  of  these  only  160  were 
Sent  to  the  state  ))rison  at  Charlestown.  Tiie  average  number  in  all  the 
prisons,  commonly  so-called,  incdiuling  persons  waiting  trial,  or  held  as 
witnesses,  was  3,218,  of  whom  51.']  were  in  the  Charlestown  prison,  and 
298  in  the  State  woi k-honse  at  Biidgewater,  making  841  under  direct 
State  control;  something  less  than  2,000  were  in  houses  of  correction 
and  other  convi(;t  prisons  under  city  and  county  control,  and  429  were 
in  the  county  jails.  The  whole  number  in  ])rison  in  Massachusetts  on 
the  1st  of  .laiiuary,  1873,  was  about  3,280;  naniely,  570  in  the  state 
prison  at  Charlestown,  228  at  the  Biidgewater  State  work  house,  1,440 
in  thirteen  county  houses  of  correction,  582  in  the  Boston  work-house 
or  house  of  industry,  and  454  in  seventeen  county  jails.  Add  to  these 
the  number  tem[)orarily  imprisoned  that  day  in  guard  houses,  police- 
stations,  &c.,  and  the  aggregate  would  exceed  3,350.  The  figures  of  the 
census  of  1870,  in  regarcl  to  crime  in  Massachusetts,  are  very  incorrect. 

Tiie  number  in  the  State,  city,  and  county  ])risons,  exclusive  of  the 
guard-houses  and  station-houses,  on  the  1st  of  October,  1872,  was  re- 
])()rted  as  i'.,|(;i,  of  whom  502  were  at  ('harlestown,  207  at  Biidgewater, 
057  in  the  lloslon  house  oi"  industry,  140  in  the  South  IJoston  lunise  of 
correction,  250  in  tln^  lloston  jaii,  2()(>  in  the  C!ainbridge  house  of  correc- 
tion, 152  in  the  New  JJedCdid  house,  of  correitlion,  and  112  in  that  at 
Ips\vi(;h.  The  whole  number  in  the  jails  was  then  552  ;  in  the  houses  of 
correction  I,t2.'{:  aii<l  tiie  aggregate,  3, 101,  was  the  largest  ever  rej)orted 
in  Massaehusi't fs. 

In  the  three  large  jiublie,  refv)rma(oiies  of  JMassachusetts,  the  State 
Itefbrm  Seliools  at  West  lioioiigh  and  Lancaster,  and   the  Boston  House 


PENAL    INSTITUTIONS    OF    MASSACHUSETTS.  401 

of  Eefornuition,  controlled  by  the  city,  the  whole  number  of  inmates, 
January  1, 1873,  was  725,  namely:  297  boys  at  Westborouf]jh,  128  girls 
at  Lancaster,  and  300  (boys  200,  jiirls  40)  at  Boston.  The  average 
number  for  the  year  1872  was  somiething  more  than  this,  namely  :  267 
at  Westboroufth,  122  at  Lancaster,  75  at  the  School-Ship,  (now  discon- 
tiouetl,)and280atBoston;  in  all  about  740.  Theaveragenumberconfined 
in  prisons  and  reformatoriesin  Massachusetts  may  therefore  be  stated  in 
round  numbers  at  about  4,000,  though  there  are  a  few  small  city  reform- 
schools  which  would  bring  the  aggregate  above  that  amount.  In  the  pre- 
ventive schools,  such  as  the  State  Primary  School  at  Monson,  with  an 
average  last  year  of  3G1,  the  House  of  the  Angel  Guardian,  (a  Roman 
Catholic  school,)  in  Boston,  with  an  average  of  175  pui)ils,  the  Boston 
Farm  School,  with  100  pnjnls,  and  a  few  other  establishments,  there 
were  between  700  and  1,000  inmates.  Therefore  the  constant  jiopula- 
tion  of  the  penal,  reformatory,  and  preventive  establishments  in  Massa- 
chusetts, public  and  private,  may  be  taken  as  not  exceeding  5,000,  or 
one  in  every  300  of  the  inhabitants. 

The  prisons. 

1.  The  Charlestown  state  prison  is  one  of  the  oldest  in  tke  country, 
having  been  begun  in  1800,  and  opened  in  1804.  It  has  been  conducted 
on  the  Auburn,  or  silent  congregate  system,  since  1827,  when  it  was  re- 
built, but  has  since  been  much  enlarged,  containing  now  about  COO 
cells.  A  plan  has  been  submitted  to  the  legislature  of  1873  for  build- 
ing a  new  state  prison  at  a  greater  distance  from  Boston,  and  it  is 
probable  that  the  Charlestown  site  will  be  abandoned  within  the  next 
five  years. 

No  women  have  been  sentenced  to  Charlestown  for  more  than  fifty 
years,  or  since  1820,  and  no  man  is  sentenced  there  for  a  less  period 
than  one  year.  Of  502  convicts  there,  October  1,  1872,  02  were  sen- 
tenced for  life,  11  for  twenty  years  and  upwards,  50  for  ten  years,  31 
for  })eriods  between  ten  and  twenty  years,  106  for  five  years,  84  for  pe- 
riods between  five  and  ten  years,  104  for  three  years,  47  for  periods  be- 
tween three  and  five  years,  and  65  for  less  than  three  years.  The  num- 
ber of  colored  prisoners  was  40;  97  were  born  in  Ireland,  30  in  Great 
Britain,  21  in  the  British-American  provinces,  and  382  in  the  United 
States  ;  of  these,  however,  nearly  one-half  were  probably  of  foreign  pa- 
rentage. Of  the  562,  77  were  recommitments,  and  of  160  convicts  re- 
ceived in  1872,  24  were  recommitments.  The  whole  number  in  prison 
during  the  year  was  703,  of  whom  19  died,  16  were  pardoned,  3  sent  to 
lunatic  hospitals,  and  1  escaped.  The  average  number  in  prison  being 
543,  an  average  of  1*1  w  ere  reported  as  unfit  for  contract  labor.  The 
other  452  convicts  earned  by  contract  labor  the  sum  of  $126,010,  or 
about  $10,000  more  than  it  cost  to  support  the  prison.  The  average  price 
per  day  for  contract  labor  was  99  cents,  which  is  believed  to  be  41  cents 
less  than  its  real  value  to  the  contractors.  The  expenses  of  the  Charles- 
town [uison  for  the  year  1872  were  about  $116.,000,  of  w  hich  something  less 
than  $800  was  paid  for  the  education  of  prisoners,  about  $37,000  for  pro- 
visions, arid  $42,362  for  the  salaries  of  oflicers.  A  school  numbering 
from  100  to  150  convicts  is  held  about  two  evenings  in  the  week,  and 
there  is  a  Sunday-school  of  something  more  than  100  convicts.  The 
number  of  volumes  in  the  prison  library  is  2,236,  of  which  about  100  are 
daily  lent  to  the  convicts. 

li.  The  Bridgewater  state  workhouse  is  a  new  institution,  being  cre- 
ated in  1866,  and  opened  the  same  yeariu  the  old  buildings  of  the  state 
H.  Ex.  185 36 


402  NATIONAL    PRISON    REFORM    CONGRESS    OF    8173 

almshouse  at  Biidgewater,  near  Plymouth.  Its  iumates  are  mostly 
drunkards,  vagrants,  prostitutes,  &c.,  who  apply  to  the  State  or  to  the 
municipalities  for  support,  and  are  sentenced  to  support  themselves 
by  labor.  A  great  majority  of  them  are  women,  and  i|  is  proposed 
by  Governor  Washburn,  iu  his  last  message,  now  before  the  legis- 
lature, to  make  this  workhouse  a  prison  for  women  exclusively.  It  is, 
in  fact,  a  prison  of  the  same  grade  as  the  county  houses  of  correction 
and  the  Boston  House  of  Industry.  The  whole  number  of  convicts 
therein  187li  was  59G;  the  average  number  was  298,  and  the  cost  of 
their  support  was  $31,602.  Their  earnings  from  labor  were  $1,654,  and 
the  net  cost  of  their  support  was  about  $33,000. 

III.  The  Boston  House  of  Industry  was  established  about  forty  years 
ago,  and  is  the  city  prison  of  Boston  for  vagrants,  drunkards,  prosti- 
tutes, &G.,  containing  more  convicts  than  any  other  prison  iu  the  State. 
A  majority  of  these  are  women,  as  in  the  state  workhouse.  The  aver- 
age number  of  both  sexes  in  1872  was  576,  the  cost  of  su[)porting  them 
$76,853,  and  the  earnings  from  their  labor  $13,987,  showing  a  net  cost 
of  $62,866.  This  prison,  like  the  South  Boston  House  of  Correction,  is 
controlled  by  the  city  authorities. 

IV.  The  county  prisons  are  numerous  and  various,  there  being  four- 
teen counties  in  Massachusetts,  and  each  being  entitled,  should  ic  need 
them,  to  maintain  one  or  more  jails,  and  as  many  houses  of  correction. 
The  distinction  between  these  two  classes  of  prisons  in  law  is  simply 
that  in  our  jails  labor  is  not  required,  while  it  is  compulsory  in  houses 
of  correction.  But  in  practice  (although  a  few  persons  are  still  sen- 
tenced to  jails)  convicts'alone  go  to  houses  of  correction,  and  persons 
awaiting  trial,  or  the  execution  of  sentence,  remain  iu  jails.  Where 
the  sentence  is  a  fine,  as  in  more  than  half  the  cases  tried  in  Massachu- 
setts it  probably  is,  the  person  fined,  if  unable  or  unwilling  to  pay  it, 
generally  goes  to  jail  for  a  short  tinie.  There  are,  in  fact,  eighteen 
jails  and  sixteen  houses  of  correction  in  the  fourteen  counties,  which 
were  used  as  prisons  in  1872;  but  of  these  only  four  jails  (at  Boston, 
Salem,  Lowell,  and  Newburyport)  and  two  houses  of  correction  (at  Ips- 
wich and  South  Boston)  were  separate  establishments.  The  other 
fourteen  county  prisons  contained  each  a  jail  and  house  of  correction 
under  the  same  roof  and  management,  so  that  there  are  but  twenty  dis- 
tinct county  i)risons,  which  are  located  two  at  Boston,  and  one  each  at 
Barnstable,  IMttsfield,  New  Bedford,  Edgartown,  Ipswich,  Lawrence, 
Newbury i)()rt,  Salem,  Greenfield,  Springfield,  Northampton,  Cambridge, 
Lowell,  Nantucket,  Dcdliain,  Plymouth,  Fitchburgh,  and  Worcester. 
At  Taunton  a  new  jail  is  building,  to  re[)lace  an  old  one.  The  number 
of  prisoners  in  these  twenty  establislmu'uts  ranges  from  one  to  four 
hundr(Ml  and  fifty  in  each,  and  almost  every  variety  of  prison  architec- 
ture and  prison  management,  except  the  best,  may  be  found  in  them. 
The  larg('st  jail  is  in  iioston,  situated  on  the  Charles  Kiver,  between 
the  two  l)ridges  leading  to  Caml)ri<lge,  and  containing  an  average  of 
more  than  tw(^  hundred  prisoners,  whose  supi)ort  in  1872  cost  not  far 
from  $25,000,  or  nearly  $2.50  a  week  jxr  capita.  The  largest  house  of 
correction  is  also  in  lioston,  with  an  average  number  of  convicts,  in 
1872,  of  120,  who  eaiiied  $7,7.'>3  above  their  expenses.  The  whole  num- 
ber commitled  lo  all  the  jails  was  above  (),000,  to  tlui  houses  of  correc- 
tion above  5,000,  but  ni;iny  wer<',  identical  in  tin;  two  classes  of  i)risons. 
The  average,  number  in  all  the  jails  was  12!> ;  in  all  the  houses  of  cor- 
rection, i,.')72;  in  all  the  county  jtrisons,  1,801.  The  cost  of  all  these, 
above  their  earnings,  was  $151,711.  There  was  ])aid  for  officers'  sal- 
aries in  these   county    pnsons,  $82,000;  for   provisions,  $103,000;  for 


PENAL    INSTITUTIONS    OF    MASSACHUSETTS.  403 

purposes  of  education,  mostly  chaplains'  salaries,  $2,700;  for  clothing 
and  bedding,  $21,500;  for  fuel  and  lights,  $40,000.  The  average  net 
cost  for  each  prisoner  was  within  a  fraction  of  $SG  a  year,  or  nearly 
$1.70  a  week. 

The  gross  expenditure  was  $283,847,  and  the  earnings  from  labor 
$129,130..  The  difference  between  these  two  aggregates  represents  the 
net  cost,  as  above  given.  A  little  more  than  one  in  ten  of  the  jail 
l^risoners  are  women,  and  nearly  one  third  of  these  are  in  the  houses  of 
correction.  More  than  one-half  of  both  sexes  were  foreign  born,  and 
probably  four-fifths  were  of  foreign  parentage. 

An  attempt  is  now  making,  in  the  legislature  of  1873,  to  change 
materially  the  management  of  the  county  prisons.  To  show  the  need 
of  some  better  system  than  exists  at  present,  a  passage  may  be  quoted 
from  a  paper  submitted  from  the  United  States  to  the  London  Prison 
Congress  of  last  July : 

There  is  no  better  illustration,  probably,  of  the  ^Yhirnsical  lack  of  all  proper 
ceutralization  of  prison  authority  in  the  United  States,  than  the  present  condition  of 
the  laws  and  their  admiuistratlon,  as  regards  i)rison  inspection  and  manaoeiuent  iu 
Massachusetts — the  State  which  is  ofreu  considered,  and  certainly  considers  itself,  as 
foremost  in  prison  discipline,  not  only  in  America,  but  in  the  whole  world.  In  some 
respects,  no  doubt,  Massachnsetts  holds  an  advanced  position,  but  whether  this  is  true 
of  her  system  of  prison  management  may  be  judged  from  the  facts  now  to  be  stated. 
Within  her  borders  are  three  distinct  classes  of  prisons — those  of  the  State,  of  the 
fourteen  coiinties,  and  of  the  cities  and  towns.  There  are  two  state  prisons,  viz,  at 
Charlestown,  near  Boston,  and  at  Bridgewater,  not  far  from  Plymouth,  wholly  distinct 
in  their  management,  except  that  hhe  board  of  State  charities,  which  has  the  power 
of  discharge  at  Bridgewater,  has  the  general  inspection  of  both,  but  with  no  authority 
to  appoint  otttcers  or  to  establish  rules  in  either.  The  governor  and  council  of  the 
State  have  also  general  powers  of  inspection,  and  can  pardon  convicts  iu  the  Charles- 
town  prison,  as  well  as  appoint  the  chief  ofHcers  of  both  state  prisons.  But,  besidea 
these  two  boards  of  inspection,  there  is  also  a  board  of  inspectors  for  Charlestown,  and 
another  for  Bridgewater,  quite  independent  of  each  other;  and  these  two  boards,  iu 
concert  witii  the  warden  or  master  of  either  prison,  manage  all  the  details  of  its  affairs, 
and  report  both  to  the  governor  of  the  State  and  to  the  board  of  State  charities. 
There  is  a  prison  commission  also,  which  has  no  duties  concerning  the  Charlestown 
prison,  but  which  may  visit  and  inspect  the  other;  there  is  an  "  advisory  board"  of 
ladies,  to  assist  the  prison  comnnssion  ;  and,  finally,  there  is  every  year  a  prison  com- 
mittee of  the  State  legislature,  which  visits  and  reports  upon  both  state  prTsons,  but 
has  no  power  to  do  anything  further.  Thus  there  are  seven  distinct  commissions  to 
look  after  these  two  prisons,  including  in  all  no  less  than  thirty-seven  official  persons, 
all  more  or  less  charged  with  the  duty  of  inspection,  but  without  any  practical  co- 
operation with,  or  subordination  to,  each  other.  Then  there  are  fonrteen  counties  in 
the  State,  each  containing  one  jail,  and  several  containing  two  or  three  each,  which 
are  nnder  the  control  of  the  county  sheriffs,  chosen  by  the  people,  for  terms  of  three 
years,  and  of  a  board  of  commissioners  in  each  county  chosen  in  the  same  way.  But 
iu  the  largest  county  (Suffolk)  and  the  smallest  (Nantucket)  there  are  no  county  com- 
missioners, the  municipal  governments  of  Boston  and  of  Nantucket  Town  taking  their 
place.  These  jails  are  also  iuspected  by  the  board  of  charities  (when  it  chooses)  and 
by  the  prison  commission,  the  advisory  board,  and  the  prison  committee  of  the  leo-is- 
lature;  and  may  be  inspected  by  the  governor,  who  has  power  to  remove  the  county 
sheriffs.  There  are  nineteen  of  these  jails,  each  controlled  and  inspected  bv  six  dif- 
ferent boards,  including  in  all  about  seventy-tive  official  persons.  Then  there  are 
fifteen  other  county  prisons  for  convicts,  called  houses  of  correction,  thirteen  of  which 
are  managed  by  the  county  commissioners  above  mentioned  ;  one  by  the  "  selectmen  " 
of  Nantucket  Town;  and  one,  the  largest  of  all,  by  a  Boston  board,  called  the  directors 
of  public  institutions  of  the  city  of  Boston  ;  which  also  has  under  its  control  another 
great  Boston  prison,  known  as  the  house  of  industry.  In  each  county  the  commissioners 
appoint  another  board,  called  overseers  of  the  house  of  correction,  who  are  to  inspect 
those  prisons  and  have  some  control  of  their  management;  these  number  in  all  about 
forty,  and  the  Boston  board  has  twelve  members,  thus  adding  some  fifty  more  official 
persons  to  the  long  list.  All  the  houses  of  correction  may  be  visited  and  inspected  by 
the  board  of  charities,  the  prison  commission,  the  advisory  board,  and  the  prison  com- 
mittee, as  well  as  each  by  its  own  overseers  and  commissioners,  or  directors,  and  by 
.the  governor  and  council,  who  have  the  pardoning  power  jointly  with  the  overseers; 
so  that  there  are  eight  distiuct  boards,  comprising  about  li<50  persons  for  these  fifteen 


404  NATIONAL    PRISON    REFORM    CONGRESS    OF    1873. 

prisons.  The  Boston  house  of  industry,  howerer,  is  exempt  from  all  inspection  save 
by  its  own  directors  and  the  prison  conunittee  of  the  legislature.  Next  come  the  city 
and  town  guard  houses,  or  police  stations,  of  which,  perhaps,  there  are  one  hundred 
and  twentj^  in  the  whole  State,  under  the  charge  of  the  municipal  governments,  and 
rarely  iuvspected  by  anybody  else.  The  managers  of  these  small  prisons  probably  num- 
ber about  300,  and  are  annually  elected  by  the  people.  Finally,  there  ate  the  city  and 
town  work-houses,  large  and  small,  numbering,  perhaps,  a  dozen  in  all,  and  managed 
by  a  few  of  the  same  300  municipal  officers.  In  all,  we  may  count  up  for  the  Massa- 
chusetts prisons  not  less  than  350  different  official  persons  concerned  in  their  manage- 
ment and  inspection;  the  number  of  prisoners  in  them  all  never  exceeding  3,.500  at 
any  one  time. 

From  this  we  might  infer  that  the  Massachusetts  prisons  were  ihoroughly  inspected, 
however  perplexiug  might  bo  the  system  under  which  it  was  done.  But,  in  fact,  there 
is  no  municipal  inspector  who  has  been  in  all  the  municipal  prisons;  no  county  inspector 
who  has  been  in  all  the  county  prisons;  few  State  inspectors  who  have  been  in  all  the 
county  prisons  or  any  of  the  municipal  ones;  and  no  one  official  person  in  the  State 
who  has  ever  visited  half  of  the  prisons  it  contains.  Consequently,  there  is  no  proper 
knowledge  anywhere  of  the  relation  of  one  part  of  the  prison  system  to  the  rest,  and 
no  proper  system  at  all,  but  only  a  confusion  of  laws,  rules,  boards,  and  details.  There 
are  wheels  in  plenty,  and  wheels  within  wheels,  more  than  the  sacred  prophet  saw  in 
his  vision;  but  there  is  no  "spirit  within  the  wheels"  by  which  they  are  regulated 
and  made  to  move  harmoniously.  Probably  no  other  State  enjoys  so  complicated  and 
various  a  prison  system  as  Massachusetts,  in  which  are  as  many  devices  and  contriv- 
ances as  in  the  cabinet  where  the  Abbe  Sieyes,  in  Burke's  famous  satire,  manufactured 
constitutions  for  France.  Unfortunately  these  devices,  however  ingenious,  result  in 
neutralizing  responsibility,  deadening  the  public  vigilance,  and  opening  the  door  to 
culpable  neglect  and  to  petty  corruption.  The  instruction,  the  reformation,  the  disci- 
pline, and  even  the  life  of  poor  prisoners  may  be  sacriliced  in  the  medley  and  delay  of 
so  much  legal  machinery;  for  each  of  these  important  things,  like  Johnson's  hero,  is 

Condemned,  a  needy  supplicant,  to  wait 
Wliilo  ladies  iuteipose  and  boardu  debate. 

In  connection  with  the  Massachusetts  prisons,  three  isolated  facts  otfer  themselves 
to  the  recollection  of  the  present  writer,  not  connected  by  any  necessary  chain  of  cause 
and  effect  with  the  system  just  described,  but  perhaps  illustrative  of  it.  During  a 
debate  concerning  one  phase  of  the  prison  question  in  the  Massachusetts  legislature  on 
the  Gth  of  May  last,  a  Boston  member,  who  had  probably  never  seen  the  inside  of  ten 
among  the  150  prisons  of  his  State  remarked  complacently,  and  evidently  with  the 
approval  of  the  house,  that  "Massachusetts  had  the  best  prison  system  in  the  Avorld." 
A  few  weeks  previous — in  consequence  of  the  acceptance  of  a  gift  by  the  highest  prison 
superintendent  in  the  State,  at  the  hands  of  a  contractor,  who  gave  it  for  the  manifest 
purpose  ©f  securiug  a  favorable  bargain  for  himself  from  the  prison  government — the 
last  touch  had  been  given  to  tiiis  perfect  system,  in  the  same  legislature,  by  the  passage 
of  a  law  forbidding  anj^  prison  officer  to  take  bribes.  And  just  a  week  after  the  speech 
above  cited,  that  is  on  the  13th  of  May,  the  grandson  of  one  of  the  most  illustrious 
statesmen  of  Massachusetts  in  former  years,  a  youth  of  amiable  character,  but  unfortu- 
nate habits,  was  fatally  burned  in  a  Boston  guard  house,  through  the  neglect  of  the 
policomati  who  had  locked  hiui  up  there,  alone  and  helpless,  and  in  the  midst  of  com- 
bustible materials.  Thus,  on  ouo  side  of  the  official  eulogist  is  corruption  in  the  chief 
officer  of  the  highest  prison,  long  undetected  and  still  unpunished  ;  while  on  the  other 
side  is  a  horrible  casualty  in  the  lowest  prison,  of  which  official  uegligouce  was  the 
direct  cause.  It  may  not  be  unjust  to  consider  these  events  as  a  commentary  on  the 
intricate  prison  system  of  Massachusetts,  itself  the  successive  growth  of  umny  years 
epciiit  in  trying  to  avoid  what  can  alone  govern  prisons  well,  a  central,  simple,  aud 
vigilant  method  of  control  aud  inspection. 

In  tlio  a])ove  statement  some  repetitions  of  what  had  before  been  said 
may  bo  ii()ti(;ed;  and  also  soaie  additional  facts  and  some  discrepancies 
as  to  the  nniiili(;r  of  county  prisons.  Tiie  latter  resnlt  from  the  varying' 
nse  ot  these  piison  buildings  in  smicessive  years,  and  are  only  a])parent 
discr('i)ancies.  Jn  tiie  main  tlie  passaiL^o  (jnoted  is  still  trnc  to  tin;  facts; 
hut  sliould  the  rccommemiations  of  Governor  Washbnrii  and  of  the 
prison  commission  l)e  accepted  by  the  le,i?islature,  mnch  of  this  ridiciilons 
jnmble  of  i)etty  Jinthoritics  vvoidd  bo  done  away  with.  The  plan  is  to 
brin^  all  the  connty  jjrisons  and  the  Boston  House  of  Indnstiy  under 
HtiiUt  coidrol,  by  esta.l)lishiiis  a  system  of  distri(;t  prisons,  the  details  of 
which  arc  set  foitli  in  the  report  of  the  Massachiiselts  prison  commission- 


PENAL    INSTITUTIONS    OF    MASSACHUSETTS.  405 

ers  forl872,  lately  submitted  to  the  legislature.  The  districts  proposed  are 
seven  in  number,  of  very  unequal  population  and  criminal  conditions,  but 
arranged  with  reference  to  the  present  county  lines,  and  to  the  prison 
buildings,  which  will  continue  to  be  occui)ied,  though  with  a  dilferent 
classification  of  prisoners,  if  the  new  plan  is  adopted.  The  districts  pro- 
posed are  Suftolk  and  Norfolk,  with  a  population,  in  1870,  of  300,245, 
but  now  increased  to  380,000,  and  containing  four  prisons,  three  in  Bos- 
ton and  one  in  Dedham;  Middlesex,  with  a  population,  in  1870,  of  274,- 
353,  now  increased  to  nearly  300,000,  with  two  ])risons,  at  Cambridge 
and  at  Lowell;  Essex,  with  a  population  of  200,843  in  1870,  now  in- 
creased to 210,000,  with  two  prisons,  at  Lawrence  and  at  Salem;  Wor- 
cester, with  a  population,  in  1870,  of  192,710,  now  increased  to  more 
than  200,000,  and  containing  two  prisons,  at  Worcester  and  at  Fitch- 
burgh  ;  Southern  Massachusetts,  including  the  five  counties  of  Uarnstable, 
Bristol,  Plymouth,  Dukes,  and  Nantucket,  with  a  population,  in  1870, 
of  208,905,  now  increased  to  215,000;  the  Connecticut  Valley,  including 
the  three  counties  of  Hampden,  Hampshire,  ami  Franklin,  with  a  popu- 
lation, in  1870,  of  155,432,  now  iucreas^d  to  100,000;  and  Berkshire,  the 
seventh  and  last  district,  with  a  population,  in  1870,  of  04,827,  now  in- 
creased to  08,000.  The  prison  population  of  these  seven  districts,  Octo- 
ber 1,  1872,  was  1,400  in  the  Suftolk  district,  358  in  Middlesex,  300  in 
Essex,  180  in  Southern  Massachusetts,  (exclusive  of  207  at  Bridgewater,) 
172  in  Worcester,  130  in  the  Connecticut  Valley,  and  74  in  Berkshire; 
in  all  2,032,  exclusive  of  the  829  at  Charlestowu  and  Bridgewater,  under 
State  control. 

The  Southern  Massachusetts  district  will  have  two  chief  prisons,  at 
New  Bedford  and  at  Taunton,  with  small  jails  at  Plymouth,  Barnstable, 
Edgartown.  and  Nantucket;  the  Connecticut  Valley  district  two  chief 
prisons,  at  Springfield  and  at  Northampton,  with  a  jail  at  Greenfield; 
and  the  Berkshire  district  one  prison,  comprising  jail,  work-house,  and 
house  of  correction,  under  a  single  roof.  In  each  of  the  six  larger  dis- 
tricts there  is  to  be,  by  this  plan,  a  work-house  and  a  house  of  correc- 
tion in  separate  buildings,  and  generally  in  different  cities,  the  former  for 
vagrants,  drunkards,  &c.,  who  now  make  up  more  than  half  our  convicts, 
and  the  latter  for  more  heinous  offenders.  In  each  prison  will  be  jail- 
cells,  to  be  used  as  the  jails  now  are,  except  Jthat  in  Suffolk  County  the 
Boston  jail  will  receive  all  such  prisoners.  Each  of  the  seven  houses  of 
correction  is  to  be  governed  by  a  resident  master,  appointed  by  the 
.governor  and  council,  and  each  master  is  to  appoint  a  resident  deputy 
to  govern  the  work- house  in  his  district.  The  jails  are  to  remain  in 
part  under  the  control  of  the  county  sheriffs,  as  at  present. 

The  new  scheme  is  by  no  means  free  from  complications  and  incon- 
sistencies, and  is  probably  too  extensive  to  be  carried  as  a  whole;  but 
it  is  a  great  improvement  on  the  present  system,  and  some  part  of  it 
will  probably  soon  be  adopted.  Gradually  the  superior  advantages  of 
district  prisons  over  county  prisons  will  be  seen,  a,nd  the  so  much  needed 
classification  of  prisoners,  now  almost  wholly  neglected  in  Massachusetts, 
can  in  time  be  attained.  With  that  will  come  better  prison  schools,  a 
better-organized  system  of  labor,  and  more  thorough  and  therefore  more 
successful  efforts  to  make  our  prisons  truly  reformatory.  At  present 
they  are  so  only  to  a  very  slight  degree ;  nor  do  they  perceptibly  check 
crime,  which,  since  1804,  has  apparently  increasedjn  a  much  greater  ratio 
than  our  population.  In  1805  there  were  less  than  2,000  inmates  of  all 
the  Massachusetts  prisons;  five  years  later,  October  1,  1870,  there  were 
3,121:  at  the  same  date  in  1871  there  were  3,224;  m  1872,3,401;  and 
at  the  beginning  of  1873  about  3,280,  as  has  been  said.     The  average 


406  NATIONAL    PRISON    REFORM    CONGRESS    OF    J  873. 

prison  population  111  1870,  ^A'as  2,971;  in  1871,  3,145i;  and  in  1872,3,218. 
There  has,  therefore,  been  in  seven  years  an  apparent  increase  of  more 
than  GO  per  cent,  in  the  number  of  criminals,  while  the  populaticJn  has 
not  gained  more  than  25  per  cent. 

Trisjus  for  women. 

There  is  not  in  Massachusetts,  nor  has  there  ever  been,  a  distinct 
l)risou  for  women,  though  the  average  number  of  women  in  prison  here 
has  been  from  GOO  to  800  for  the  last  eight  years.  Of  the  prisoners  in 
confinement  October  1, 1870,  751  were  women  ;  at  the  same  date  in  1871, 
758  were  women;  October  1, 1872,  there  were  770  women  in  prison.  The 
recommendations  of  Governor  Washburn,  seconded  by  the  prison  com- 
mission, include  the  conversion  of  the  State  work-house  at  Bridgewater 
into  a  State  prison  for  women  alone,  to  which  those  now  in  the  county 
and  city  prisons  would  be  sent.  It  is  probable  that  this  plan,  which 
meets  with  much  popular  favor,  will  be  put  in  practice  the  present  year 

Prison  scJiools. 

Little  has  yet  been  done  in  Massachusetts  to  give  school  instruction 
to  prisoners.  The  importance  of  this  branch  of  prison  discipline  has 
been  urged  upon  the  legislature  and  the  i^rison  ofticers  bj^  the  board  of 
State  charities  ever  since  1805,  and,  in  consequence,  a  few  prison  schools 
have  been  opened.  That  at  Charlestown  is  the  largest  and  the  most 
useful,  but  is  far  from  equaling,  either  in  plan  or  management,  the  ex- 
cellent schools  of  jMr.  Biockway,  at  Detroit.  In  the  county  prisons  and 
at  the  Bridgewater  work-house  a  few  prisoners  have  received  instruc- 
tion. But  the  officers,  as  a  rule,  do  not  understand  the  necessity  for 
prison  schools,  and  the  contractors  are  practically  opposed  to  them. 
Should  the  proposed  (ihanges  in  our  prison  system  be  made,  the  educa- 
tion of  i^risoners  could  and  probably  v\^ould  be  much  better  cared  for. 

Cost  of  our  iirisons. 

The  cost  of  the  present  lirison  buildings  and  lands,  incurred  during 
the  last  seventy-three  years,  cannot  have  been  less  than  $3,000,000,  al- 
though an  exact  computation  is  impossible.  About  a  third  part  of  this 
sum  has  been  paid  for  construction,  enlargement,  »&c.,  at  the  Charles- 
town  prison  alone  ;  and  the  estimated  cost  of  a  reconstruction  of  that 
prison  at  Newton,  or  in  some  other  convenient  locality  near  ]3oston,  is  a 
million  of  dollars,  to  bo  reimbursed  in  great  part  bv  the  sale  of  the 
estate  at  Charlestown.  The  annual  interest  on  $3,00(),000  is  $180,000, 
or  an  average  for  each  prisoner  of  more  than  $50  a  year,  or  about  a  dol- 
lar a  week.  The  actual  current  expenses  of  the  ])risons  above  named, 
for  the  year  ending  Octobei-  1,  1S72,  were  about  $511,000,  to  wliich, 
if  w(!  add  tin;  cost  ol' maintaining  the  one  hundred  and  thirty  town  and 
city  prisons  for  t('n)]»orary  detention  or  occasional  sentence  of  ])etty 
offenders,  we  shall  June,  a  total  of  about  $550,000.  I^'rom  this  should 
be  deducted  the,  earnings  from  labor  of  convicts,  fees  of  visitors, 
and  jtetty  sales,  amounting,  in  the  year  1872,  to  about  $275,000; 
leaving,  as  the  net  c(»?;t  of  maintaining  some  ,".,300  i)risoners,  (the  con- 
stant average,)  about  $275,000,  or  more  than  $80  ea(;h.  This  is  a 
largei-  net  cost  and  a  greater  number  of  i)iisoiiers  than  for  several  years 
l)ast,  but  the  prison  earnings  ani  also  greater  than  in  any  year  before. 
In  the  county  prisr)iis  these  earnings  have  very  much  increased  since 


PENAL    INSTITUTIONS    OP^    MASSACHUSETTS.  407 

the  close  of  the  war.  In  18G5,  witli  an  nxera^e  immber  of  1,050,  the 
county  prison  earnings  were  but  $34,094;  in  1808  tliey  had  more  than 
doubled,  being  $69,025  for  1,554  prisoners;  and  now  tliey  have  almost 
doubled  again,  being  $129,180  for  1,850  prisoners.  Yet  even  now  they 
are  from  $50,000  to  $100,000  less  than  they  might  be  if  the  county  pris- 
ons were  properly  classified,  and  the  most  thorough  labor  system  em- 
ployed. We  see  "that  543  convicts  at  Charlestowu  have  earned  almost  as 
much  as  1,850  in  the  county  prisons;  or  to  be  more  exact,  as  much  as  1,370 
convicts  in  16  houses  of  correction,  for  the  jail  prisoners,  mostly  waiting 
trial,  are  not  compelled  to  labor.  There  is  no  good  reason  why,  with 
the  exception  of  these  jail  prisoners,  averaging  from  400  to  500,  and 
costing  from  $75,000  to  $100,000  a  year  for  their  support,  the  whole 
annual  cost  of  our  ]>risons  should  not  be  paid  by  the  labor  of  the  con- 
victs, who  would  thus  become  self-supporting.  Few  of  them  are  too 
feeble  to  do  any  work,  more  than  two  thirds  of  them  are  men,  and  the 
demand  for  such  work  as  they  can  do  is  constant  and  remunerative. 
The  largest  contractors  for  prison  labor  in  the  State,  the  Tucker  Manu- 
facturing Company,  who  grumbled  because  the  authorities  made  them 
pay  $1  a  day  for  skilled  mechanics,  have  lately  paid  to  another  contractor 
$15,000  for  the  right  to  use  his  100  men  at  90  cents  a  day,  for  a  single 
year.  This  is  about  50  cents  a  day  additional,  or  $1.40  for  each  man, 
which  the  state  prison  inspectors  say  is  a  fair  contract  price  for  them. 
Probably  they  earn  for  the  contractor  at  least  $2  a  day.  In  the  county 
prisons  the  labor  is  not  so  well  trained  nor  so  valuable,  but  at  the  South 
Boston  house  of  correction  the  whole  number,  some  450,  both  men  and 
women,  earn  their  support,  and  something  more;  and  the  surplus  that 
might  be  earned  by  the  strong  and  more  skillful  would  make  good  the 
deficit  on  the  weaker  and  worse  trained  workmen  in  the  county  prisons. 
At  the  same  time,  such  a  classification  of  the  convicts  as  would  make 
their  labor  most  profitable  would  render  it  easier  to  give  them  school 
instruction,  religious  discipline,  sanitary  advantages,  and  all  that  tends 
to  make  prison  life  reformatory. 

The  reformatories. 

If  an  examination  of  the  Massachusetts  prisons  is  far  from  satisfactory, 
and  shows  that  they  need  immediate  and  thorough  re-organization,  this 
is  by  no  means  the  case  with  the  reformatories  for  young  offenders. 
These  were  never  in  so  bad  a  condition  as  our  prisons,  and  they  have 
been  for  several  years  growing  better,  and  doing  their  work  more  thor- 
oughly. The  nautical  reformatory,  or  school-ship,  which  had  outlived 
its  usefulness,  and  become  a  burden  instead  of  a  help  to  the  reformatory 
work  of  the  State,  was  finally  abolished  in  July,  1872;  the  prevent- 
ive institution  at  Monson,  known  as  the  State  Primary  School,  estab- 
lished by  law  in  1866,  has  gone  steadily  forward  in  a  very  useful  work; 
while  the"  Visiting  Agency,"  providing  homes  in  families  for  young 
delinquents,  and  neglected  or  orphan  children,  has  almost  revolution- 
ized the  old  policy  of  the  State  and  of  the  courts.  All  these  changes 
may  be  said  to  have  grown  out  of  the  action  taken  by  the  board  of 
charities,  which  first  established  a  visiting  agency  in  1866,  in  connection 
with  the  Monson  Primary  School,  and  first  called  attention  to  the  de- 
fective condition  of  the  nautical  reformatory  in  the  same  year.  In  the 
six  years  that  have  since  gone  by,  such  changes  have  taken  i^lace  as 
would  scarcely  be  credited  but  for  the  unimpeachable  evidence  of  sta- 
tistics. In  1867,  when  the  new  policy  first  began  to  take  effect,  the 
average  number  of  j)upils  at  the  State  reformatories  was  752,  and  the 


408  NATIONAL    PRISON    EEFORM    CONGRESS    OF    1873. 

sum  drawn  from  the  State  for  their  support  was  more  than  $140,000 ;  in 
1872,  the  average  number  of  pupils  was  but  401,  including  75  on  board 
the  school-ship,  and  the  sum  drawn  from  the  treasury  for  their  support 
was  but  $96,095,  including  $23,703  for  the  school-ship,  now  abolished. 
During  the  current  year,  1873,  the  average  number  of  pupils  will  scarcely 
equal  400,  and  the  sum  drawn  from  the  treasury  will  be  but  little  more 
than  $70,000,  or  half  what  it  was  six  years  ago.  In  the  mean  time  our 
population  has  increased  about  200,000,  while  juvenile  crime  has  de- 
creased. Especially  siuce  1870,  when  the  existing  visiting  agency  was 
established  by  statute,  and  had  its  powers  greatly  enlarged,  this 
decrease  has  been  manifest.  On  the  1st  of  October,  18G9,  there  were  97 
children  under  seventeen  in  the  county  prisons ;  a  year  later  there  were 
but  54 ;  in  October,  1871,  but  33,  and  on  the  1st  of  last  October  only 
25.  At  the  same  time  there  is  at  least  twice  the  personal  attention  given 
by  pnblic  officers  to  the  circumstances  and  temptations  of  young  offend- 
ers and  neglected  children  ;  the  moral  condition  of  the  whole  class  from 
which  these  culprits  come  receives  more  consideration,  both  from  the 
authorities  and  the  community  in  general ;  and  the  result,  as  we  now 
see  it,  is  eminently  gratifying.  The  reports  of  the  State  Visiting  Agent, 
Mr.  Tufts,  may  well  be  consulted  for  further  information  in  regard  to 
the  new  policy  in  Massachusetts,  and  its  good  eflects.  This  policy  is 
based  upon  the  belief  that  much  of  the  vice  and  crime  among  the  young- 
comes  from  a  lack  of  attention  to  their  individual  circumstances,  and 
the  want  of  a  good  home ;  and  the  main  object  of  the  State,  in  its  deal- 
ings with  neglected  and  culpable  children,  is  to  find  them  good  homes. 
This  is  done  to  a  much  greater  extent  than  formerly,  and  the  persons 
who  receive  these  children  are  so  held  to  such  a  constant  responsibility, 
that  the  abuse  of  children  i)laced  out  from  the  public  establishments  is 
much  less  than  it  used  to  be.  The  State  pays  less  money,  the  com- 
munity is  better  protected  from  juvenile  crime,  the  children  themselves 
are  better  cared  for,  and  their  employers  are  kept  from  injustice  and  the 
oppression  which  ''maketh  a  wise  man  mad'' — much  more  a  child  who 
has  little  chance  to  learn  wisdom.  AVhile  there  are  still  many  evils  to 
bo  corrected,  and  some  that  may  have  come  in  with  the  new  i)olicy,  its 
general  results  are  everywhere  acknowledged  to  be  happy. 

The  State  reformatories. 

There  are  now  but  two  of  these :  the  reform  school  for  boys  at  West- 
borough,  founded  by  the  late  Theodore  Lyman,  in  1848,  and  still  aided 
by  a  portion  of  his  endowment,  but  mainly  sup[)orted  by  the  State;  and 
the  industrial  scliool  (or  girls,  at  l^iincaster,  founded  in  185G.  The  school- 
ship,  or  nautical  reformatory,  established  in  18'J0,  was  closed  in  July, 
1872,  and  a  few  of  its  boys  are  still  held  in  confinement  at  Westborough. 
The  limit  of  age  for  admission  at  Westborough,  which  used  to  be  four- 
teen years,  is  now  s(»vcnteen,  and,  on  the  other  hand,  fewer  young  boys 
are  sent  thither.  The  consequcMice  is  that  the  average  age  of  the 
inmates  is  considciably  increased,  and  when  the  board  of  (charities  last 
viKit(!d  Wesfborougii,  (.lannary  11,  1873,)  more  than  three  fifths  of  the 
303  boys  i)resent  W(Me  over  fifteciu  years  old.  The  average  age  of  admis- 
sion would  seem  to  b((  now  about  thirteen  and  one-half  years,  or  from 
one  to  two  years  greatei-  Ihan  formerly.  During  the-  year  ending  Octo- 
ber J,  1872,  the  whole  number  at  any  finui  in  the  school  was  174;  but  of 
these  ordy  90  were  new  eommif  ments,  !.'>  were  received  from  the  school- 
shij)  and  from  Monson,  and  09  were  returned  to  the  school  from  various 
I)lace8.     The  average  nundxr  during  the  year  was  207;  the  number 


REFORMATORY    INSTITUTIONS    OF    MASSACHUSETTS.  409 

October  1,  1872,  was  254;  and  January  1,  1873,  it  was  297.  The  eatab- 
lishnient,  as  for  several  years  past,  has  «i  main  buililing  where  about  200 
boys  are  kept  together,  under  lock  and  key,  and  three  family  houses,  in 
which  about  75  boys  are  generally  kept  and  trusted  with  greater  free- 
dom. There  are  seven  school-rooms,  and  during  most  of  the  year  seven 
schools  are  kept  up.  The  labor  of  the  boys  is  about  equally  divided 
between  the  farm  of  203  acres  and  the  mechanical  work  of  chair-seating. 
The  cash  earnings  from  lab@r  in  1872  were  $8,113,  or  about  $30  for  each 
boy.  For  the  current  year  they  are  likely  to  be  $10,000,  being  $2,000 
for  the  tirst  quarter  of  the  official  year,  from  October,  1872,  to  January, 
1873.  The  whole  expenditures  in  1872  were  $50,531,  including  $1,309 
paid  from  the  income  of  the  Lyman  fund,  now  amounting  to  more  than 
$30,000.  From  this  should  be  deducted  the  earnings  from  labor  and 
sales,  amounting  to  $8,188,  leaving  the  net  cost  of  supporting  207  boys 
$42,010,  or  about  $3  a  week  for  each  boy.  Of  this  net  cost,  however, 
the  State  treasury  paid  but  $33,375,  the  sum  of  $7,302  being  paid  by 
cities  and  towns  for  the  partial  support  of  their  boys,  and  $1,309  coming 
from  an  invested  fund. 

The  girls'  industrial  school  at  Lancaster  is  conducted  wholly  on  the 
family  system ;  the  122  girls,  making  up  the  average  number  for  1872, 
residing  in  five  family  houses,  each  under  the  charge  of  a  matron,  and 
each  containing  a  school  and  school-teacher.  The  whole  number  at 
Lancaster  during  the  year  was  171 ;  the  number,  October  1,  1872,  was 
121 ;  and  January  1,  1873,  it  was  128.  Much  attention  is  paid  to  the 
school  exercises  and  to  religious  instruction,  less  to  labor,  especially  to 
productive  earnings.  The  age  of  the  pupils  increases,  as  at  Westbor- 
ough,  and  for  similar  reasons.  In  both  schools  the  difficulty  of  mana- 
ging and  reforming  the  pupils  is  thereby  increased.  A  majority  of  the 
girls  at  Lancaster  are  now  persons  who  have  lost  their  chastity,  and  a 
consi<lerable  number  of  them  have  been  prostitutes.  In  this  respect 
the  school  has  changed  for  the  worse;  but  it  probably  renders  as  great 
a  service  as  ever  to  the  community.  The  average  age  of  girls  when 
committed  is  about  fourteen,  and  they  remain  for  about  two  years  at 
Lancaster,  on  an  average.  A  farm  of  185  acres  is  connected  with  the 
school,  but  the  girls  do  little  in  horticulture  or  the  care  of  the  dairy. 
For  their  support  in  1872,  $23,987  was  drawn  from  the  State  treasury, 
and  may  be  assumed  as  the  cost  of  the  school  for  the  year.  The  earn- 
ings from  labor  were  $543.03,  or  nearly  $4.50  for  each  girl ;  the  net  cost 
for  the  year  was  about  $22,770,  or  $3.00  a  week  for  each  girl.  The 
towns  and  cities  paid  $3,280,  however,  so  that  the  net  cost  to  the  State 
treasury  was  about  $19,500.  During  the  present  year  the  net  cost  of 
both  the  State  reformatories  to  the  State  treasury  will  probably  be  but 
little  more  than  $50,000,  while  the  cities  and  towns,  which  now  pay 
about  a  sixth  part  of  the  expense  of  the  children  sent  from  them,  will 
contribute  some  $10,000  more,  and  the  income  of  invested  funds  will 
add  $1,500  more. 

Both  the  State  reformatories  are  managed  by  boards  of  trustees, 
seven  at  Westborougli,  and  five  at  Lancaster,  appointed  by  the  gov- 
ernor of  the  State.  The  other  large  public  reformatory,  the  Boston 
house  of  reformation,  which  dates  back  to  1820,  is  controlled  by  the 
city  "  board  of  directors  for  public  institutions,"  who  also  manage  the 
city  prisons.  With  one  of  these  prisons  the  house  of  reformation  is 
connected,  being  situated  on  Deer  Island,  in  Boston  harbor.  The 
boys  in  this  reformatory  are  under  the  same  roof  with  the  house-of- 
industry  convicts,  but  the  girls  are  in  a  smaller  house  close  by.     The 


410  NATIONAL   PRISON    REFORM    CONGRESS    OF    1873. 

whole  mimber  of  i^upils  in   a  year  is  about  500,  of  whom  about  ODe- 
eiglith  are  girls. 

The  average  number  in  1872  was  312 ;  and  the  number  January  1, 
1873,  was  about  300  of  both  sexes.  No  earnings  are  separately  reported 
in  this  reformatory,  nor  is  its  annual  cost  very  exactly  given  ;  it  is 
probably  about  $35,000,  or  somewhat  less  than  at  Westborough.  The 
number  of  pupils  in  these  three  reformatories  at  the  i)resent  time  is  not 
far  from  720 ;  a  few  years  ago  it  was  more  than  1,000  in  the  four  large 
public  reformatories  then  existing.  At  Lowell  and  several  of  the  other 
cities  there  are  small  municipal  reformatories  or  truant-schools,  to  which 
juvenile  offenders  are  sentenced;  the  average  number  of  such  sentenced 
children  in  the  whole  State  is  perhaps  100  ;  making  above  800  children 
now  held  in  public  reformatories.  The  "House  of  the  Angel  Guardian" 
is  a  private  Catholic  reformatory,  with,  perhaps,  175  boys  in  it,  but  they 
are  not  nuder  sentence.  It  is  located  at  Iloxbury,  within  the  city  limits 
of  Boston. 

Preventive  agencies. 

The  most  important  means  of  prevention  furnished  by  the  State  to 
check  juvenile  crime  are  the  State  primary  school  at  Monson  and  the 
State  visiting  agency,  both  dating  from  1866,  but  the  latter  established 
by  special  law  only  since  1869.  This  has  already  been  spoken  of,  and 
any  further  information  concerning  it  that  may  be  needed  will  be  found 
in  the  annual  reports  of  the  board  of  charities,  of  vrhich  it  is  a  depart- 
ment. The  Monson  school  holds  a  place  of  its  own  among  the  public 
establishments  of  Massachusetts,  and,  since  last  June,  when  it  was  sep- 
arated from  the  almshouse  with  which  it  had  been  joined,  to  its  great  dis- 
advantage, has  a  special  claim  upon  the  consideration  of  persons  who 
have  at  heart  or  on  their  hands  the  care  of  poor  children.  The  Mon- 
son school  is  filled  with  sons  and  daughters  of  the  poor— children  who, 
if  neglected,  would  grow  up  to  be  paupers  and  criminals,  as  many  of  their 
relatives  have.  Formerly  such  children  were  themselves  esteemed  i)au- 
pers  and  treated  as  such ;  now  they  are  by  law,  and  will  soon  become 
by  custom,  the  State's  wards  and  pupils,  free  from  any  stigma  of  panper- 
ism,  and  often  outgrowing  their  hereditary  tendencies  and  the  unfor- 
tunate associations  of  their  early  childhood.  The  school  now  occupies 
exclusively  the  premises  of  the  former  State  almshouse,  and  has  a  farm 
of  230  acres.  The  buildings  have  been  tlioroughly  repaired  and  greatly 
improved;  they  are  now  warmed  by  steam,  lighted  by  gas,  sup])lied 
with  a  new  laundi-y,  bath-rooms,  and  other  conveniences — none  of  them 
too  good  for  the  use  of  tlx'se  poor  children.  The  number  of  diiferent 
]»ui)ils  (hiring  the  year  1872  was  about  570;  the  average  number  361, 
the  numl)(!r  remaining  October  1,  1872,  .'Ml,  and  on  January  1,  1873, 
357.  A  little  more  than  a  fourth  of  these  pupils  are  girls.  Their  aver- 
age age  is  between  nine  and  ten,  and  few  are  allowed  to  remain  beyond 
the  ag(;  of  sixteen.  They  are  sent  to  INIonson  from  the  State  almshouse,  or 
])l;iced  there  by  the  visiting  agent,  when  he  believes  they  do  not  need 
the  icstraints  of  Westborougli  or  Tjancaster,  and  has  no  family  on  liis 
list  siiitabh;  to  receive  them.  The  average  attendance  in  the  sixschool- 
looms  (biiing  tin;  year  was  .311  ;  the  cost  of  sui)p()rling  tlu^  ])ui)ils  of  the 
jtrimaiy  school  was  something  more  than  $10,000,  which  was  ])aid  wholly 
iif)m  tlie  State  treasiii-y.  'i'lie,  labor  ol"  tlu^  ])npils  <lo<'s  something  to 
<limiiii.sh  the  cost  of  their  maint<Miance,  which  is  about  $2.50  a  week  for 
each  child;  l)ut  their  cash  earnings  have  been  small  and  are  not  likely 
to  increase  gieatly.     ^J'lie  sui)('rint<'n(lent  is  now  about  to  introduce  the 


PENAL    INSTITUTIONS    OF    MICHIGAN.  411 

same  employment  that  is  pursued  at  Westborougli — cliaii-seating.  It 
is  the  rule  of  the  establishnient  to  place  the  pupils  in  families,  as  soon 
as  tliey  can  be  provided  with  suitable  places,  which  prevents  the  long 
continuance  in  school  of  any  except  the  very  young  or  the  less  desirable 
children. 

The  Boston  farm  school  is  a  private  charity,  receiving  and  supporting 
about  one  hundred  poor  children  at  a  time.  It  has  existed  nearly  forty 
years  in  its  present  form  and  location,  Thompson's  Island,  near  South 
Boston,  and  exercises  a  good  influence,  so  far  as  its  means  extend.  Its 
pupils  are  not  under  sentence,  nor  are  they  boys  who  have  committed 
offenses,  generally  speaking.  In  this  respect  they  resemble  the  pupils 
atMonson:  but  the  farm-school  boys  are  of  a  better  stock,  physically, 
mentally,  and  morally,  than  those  at  Monson.  There  are  other  private 
charities,  or|)han  homes,  t&c,  which  do  in  a  less  degree,  and  for  younger 
children,  what  the  farm  school  does. 

Discharged  prisoners. 

There  are  two  societies  in  Massachusetts  which  aid  discharged  pris- 
oners; and  both  have  in  former  years  received  State  appropriations. 
The  older  is  the  "Prisoners' Aid  Society"  or  "  Agency  for  Discharged 
Convicts,"  to  which  the  State  in  1871  made  an  appropriation  of  $3,000, 
the  'greater  part  of  which  went  to  pay  the  salary  of  the  agent.  The 
other  is  a  society  in  aid  of  women  discharged  from  prison,  and  main- 
tains the  "Temporary  Asylum  for  Discharged  Female  Prisoners"  at 
Dedham.  Both  societies  are  doing  a  good  work  on  rather  a  small  scale, 
but  more  and  more  each  year.  Could  these  agencies  be  connected,  as 
they  are  in  Ireland,  with  the  government  and  the  school-instruction 
of  the  main  prisons,  more  could  be  done  by  them  to  assist  the  convict 
in  regaining  by  an  honest  course  the  good  opinion  of  society. 

Few  general  remarks  have  been  made  in  tliis  report,  because  the  whole 
subject  of  our  penal  and  reformatory  establishments  has  been  frequently 
discussed  in  the  reports  of  the  board  of  charities  and  the  prison  com- 
missioners. Mr.  Edward  L.  Pierce,  secretary  of  the  board,  who  con- 
veys this  paper  to  the  congress,  has  made  himself  familiar  both  with 
the  principles  and  the  details  of  the  subject-matter,  and  will  doubtless 
answer  an}-  questions  or  make  any  explanations  which  may  be  desired. 


10.  MiCHiaAN. 

By  Hon.  C.  L  Walker,  chairman  of  the  hoard  of  commissioners  for  the  oeneral  supervision  of 
penal,  pauper,  charitahle,  and  reformatory  institutions  of  the  State  of  Michigan. 

The  State  of  Michigan  ranks  eleventh  in  population  of  the  States  of 
the  American  Union.  It  is  rapidly  growing,  having  increased  the  num- 
ber of  its  inhabitants  more  than  one-third  within  the  last  ten  years.  It 
has  a  fertile  soil,  is  rich  in  agricultural  and  mineral  v/ealth,is  traversed 
by  a  net-work  of  railroads,  and  nearly  encircled  by  inland  seas,  giving 
it  commercial  advantages  which  but  few  States  possess.  Its  laws  are 
liberal,  and  bespeak  an  advanced  public  sentiment,  many  of  the  old 
forms  of  jurisprudence,  like  capital  punishment  and  the  grand-jury  s^'s- 
tem,  having  been  abolished,  and  with  favorable  results.  Its  institutions 
are  established  upon  a  broad  basis,  and  wisely  adai)ted  for  such  im- 
provements as  time  and  experience  may  prove  worthy  of  adoption. 


412  NATIONAL    PRISON    REFORM    CONGRESS    OF    1873. 

Within  the  last  year  crime  has  decreased  within  its  limits,  a  result,  per- 
haps, in  a  great  measure  due  to  the  increased  efficiency  of  these  insti- 
tutions, and  to  the  use  of  more  effective  means  for  the  proper  discipline 
of  offenders. 

The  preventive  and  penal  system  of  the  State  for  the  repression  of 
crime  may  be  summed  up  in  brief  as  follows  : 

First.  Prevention  of  the  increase  of  criminals,  by  provision,  through 
a  State  institution,  for  the  training  and  education  of  truant,  vagrant, 
and  de})eudent  children  ;  they  being  the  great  source  from  whence  crime 
draws  recruits  to  its  ranks. 

Second.  The  reform  school  for  juveniles  of  tender  years,  who  have 
actually  committed  crime,  and  whose  guilt  has  been  duly  proven. 

Third.  The  jail  for  the  detention  of  prisoners,  arrested  and  charged 
with  the  commission  of  crime,  until  they  can  be  tried ;  and  for  the  safe 
keeping  of  such  as  have  been  tried  and  found  guilty,  until  they  can  be 
conveyed  to  the  place  of  punishment ;  and  for  the  imprisonment  of 
l)etty  offenders. 

Fourth.  The  Detroit  house  of  correction,  as  an  intermediate  prison 
or  work-house  for  persons  convicted  of  minor  offenses  or  of  grave 
charges,  who  give  hope  of  reformation. 

Fifth.  The  state  prison  for  confirmed  or  dangerous  criminals,  con- 
victed of  high  crimes. 

[N.  B. — At  this  point,  the  report  goes  at  some  length  into  a  statement 
of  the  character  and  objects  of  the  first  of  the  above-named  institutions. 
A  special  report  on  the  same  subject  was  also  handed  in  by  the  Hon.  C. 
D.  Eaudall,  secretary  and  treasurer  of  the  commissioners  in  charge  of 
the  institution,  who,  as  chairman  of  the  joint  legislative  committee  of 
1871,  on  penal,  reformatory,  and  charitable  institutions,  was  chiefly  in- 
strumental in  originating  this  very  important  agency  in  the  prevention 
of  crime.  But,  as  Mr.  Brockway,  reporting  for  the  committee  on  prison 
discipline,  (see  p.  332,)  has  fully  explained  this  institution,  both  state- 
ments are  omitted  here  for  economy  of  space. — E.  C.  W.] 

The  reform  school  receives  boys  between  the  ages  of  ten  and  sixteen 
years  who  have  been  convicted  of  the  commission  of  crime.  They  are 
sent  to  the  school  until  they  reach  the  age  of  twenty-one  years,  but  most 
of  them  are  dis(;harged  long  before  they  arrive  at  their  majority,  being 
retained  in  the  institution  oid^^  an  average  period  of  about  three  years. 

Farming  has  received  a  large  share  of  attention,  and  many  of  the 
larger  boys'are  mainly'employed  at  it. 

The  institution  is  designed  to  reform  rathet  than  to  punish  those  com- 
mitted to  its  charge,  and  religious  and  secular  instruction,  as  well  as 
labor,  are  relied  u[)on  as  ]>rominent  agencies  in  the  work  of  reclama- 
tion. Every  boy  is  required  to  attend  school  a  stated  number  of  hours 
eacii  week  day.  Excellent  progress  is  made.  There  is  a  fair  library 
and  ])icture  gallery  attached. 

This  institution  is  conducted  on  the  congregate  and  family  system 
combiru'd.  In  addition  to  the  large  l)uiUlings  occupied  by  most  of  the 
boys,  two  "family  houses"  receive  the  bett(;r  class,  whoare  graded  into 
them,  and  th(M(^  have  more  freedom  and  nearly  all  the  |)rivileges  of  a 
good  home.  Tliey  eat  at  the  same  table  witli  tlic  family,  have  large 
bedrooms,  and  arc  treated  <|uite  as  well  as  boys  generally  are  on  agood 
farm.  The  scdiool  is  doing  an  excellent  woik  in  saving  numbers  from  a 
lif(^  of  Clinic. 

The  St;it('  of  Michigan  is  divided  into  seventy  counties,  most  of  which 
liave  jails.  I'he  jails  contain  ;in  avcirage  population  of  about  threehun- 
dred  persons,  and  foi-  their  su)»erintenden('e  and  care  em[)Ioy  a  force  of 


PENAL    INSTITUTIONS    OF    MICHIGAN.  413 

about  oue  hundred  and  fifty  persons.  In  construction  and  appearance 
they  are  very  unlike.  They  vary  from  the  cheap  log  pen  to  expensive, 
showy,  and  imposing  edifices,  some  costing  less  than  one  hundred  dol- 
lars, others  fifty  or  sixty  thousand.  In  the  majority  of  them  the  safe- 
keeping of  prisoners  seems  to  have  been  the  principal  object  in  their 
construction,  yet  most  are  insecure  for  the  detention  of  skillful  and  dan- 
gerous criminals.  Breaking  jail  is  of  frequent  occurrence,  and  without 
a  great  deal  of  watching,  the  adroit  rogue  is  quite  apt  to  find  his  way 
out. 

A  small  cell,  destitute  of  furniture  or  decent  bedding,  fronting  on  a 
hall  or  corridor  five  or  six  feet  in  width,  without  much  light  or  proper 
means  of  ventilation,  and  so  constructed  as  to  deprive  the  occupant  of 
a  full  supply  of  that  necessity  to  health,  pure  air,  constitutes  the  apart- 
ment generally  provided  for  a  prisoner.  In  some  of  them  two,  and  even 
three,  persons  are  lodged  in  bunks,  one  above  tlie  other.  The  air  in 
these  cells  is  frequently  foul  from  the  odors  of  the  privy,  and  the  supply 
of  light  in  many  of  them  is  so  insufficient  that  those  confined  therein 
can  only  with  difficulty  see  to  read  in  the  day-time.  In  some  of  the  jails 
prisoners  are  locked  up  in  the  cells  (many  of  which  are  damp  and  musty) 
all  the  time,  but  in  the  most  of  them  they  mingle  together  promiscuously 
in  the  corridor  during  the  day,  and  are  only  locked  in  separate  cells  at 
night. 

The  prisoners  have  no  work,  no  instruction,  nothing  to  do  but  to  atBuse 
themselves  as  best  they  can.  Here  are  to  be  found  in  intimate  associa- 
tion the  old  offender  and  the  wayward  youth,  the  former  relating  his 
exploits,  glorying  in  his  crimes,  and  inspiring  the  latter  with  a  desire 
for  similar  adventures.  The  novice  is  thus  made  familiar  with  the  "  tricks 
of  the  trade,"  and  goes  forth  prepared  to  operate  with  all  the  skill  of  the 
accomplished  rascal,  save  experience. 

In  the  best  and  most  expensive  jails,  as  well  as  in  the  poorest,  this 
association  is  of  daily  occurrence.  In  the  most  costly,  during  the  present 
year,  we  have  witnessed  wayward  little  girls  caged  up  with  notorious 
prostitutes,  and  truant  boys  made  the  companions  of  degraded  and  des- 
perate characters.  In  the  very  nature  of  things,  imprisonment  without 
labor,  and  the  unrestrained  association  of  offenders  of  different  grades, 
must  have  the  effect  to  increase  rather  than  diminish  the  number  of 
criminals. 

While  most  of  our  jails  are  tolerably  clean,  some  of  them  scrupulously 
so,  there  are  others  that  are  in  a  filthy  condition — dirt,  vermin,  and  dis- 
order reigning  supreme.  Scarcely  any  have  bathing  facilities,  and  in 
some,  water  for  the  ordinary  purpose  of  washing  the  hands  and  face  is 
not  always  to  be  had. 

In  not  a  few  of  the  jails  prisoners  are  required  to  wash  and  iron  their 
own  under  garments,  or  go  witbout  clean  clothes;  and  some  under  such 
circumstances  have  gone  for  months  without  clean  shirts.  The  effect 
of  confinement  under  these  circumstances  is  to  make  men  filthy  and 
degraded. 

Persons  violently  insane  may  frequently  be  found  in  our  jails  for  the 
want  of  other  places  for  their  safekeeping  ;  and  in  some  of  them  there 
is  no  provision  for  a  separation  of  the  sexes. 

Witnesses  and  debtors,  guilty  of  no  crime  whatever,  are  sometimes  for 
months  shut  up  with  the  vilest  felons,  and  theinnoceut  and  the  guilty  are 
thus  mixed  together.  Instead  of  presuming  every  man  innocent  until  he 
is  duly  tried  and  his  guilt  proven,  our  manner  of  treating  men  in  jail  who 
are  awaiting  trial  seems  to  presume  them  guilty  and  sent  to  the  jail  for 
punishment  instead  of  detention.     A  large  proportion  of  those  commit- 


414  NATIONAL    PRISON    REFORM    CONGRESS    OF    1873. 

ted  are,  on  examination  or  trial,  acquitted,  and  thus  innocent  men  merely 
suspected  of  crime  are  thrown  into  these  jails,  and  caged  and  cared  for 
in  a  manner  disgraceful  to  our  civilization. 

These  statements  briefly  present  the  true  condition  of  many  of  our 
jails,  and  we  think  an  examination  of  tliem  must  satisfy  any  fair-minded 
man  that,  as  generally  conducted,  they  are  simply  training  schools  to 
make  adepts  in  crime.  We  have  yet  to  leaxn  a  single  instance  where 
a  person  has  been  bettered  or  reformed  by  a  committal  to  jail,  while,  on 
the  other  hand,  we  can  point  to  numbers  who  we  believe  have  been 
made  worse  thereby. 

The  Detroit  house  of  correction,  although  a  municipal  prison,  owned 
and  controlled  by  the  city  of  Detroit,  in  which  the  State  has  no  direct 
interest  of  ownership,  is  nevertheless  entitled  to  be  ranked  among  the 
foremost  of  our  State  penal  institutions,  for  the  reason  that  it  receives 
annually  from  all  parts  of  the  State,  as  well  as  from  the  city  of  Detroit, 
criminals  convicted  of  misdemeanors,  and  forms  one  of  the  most  impor- 
tant links  in  our  Avhole  prison  system,  being  especially  adai)ted  for  that 
class  of  oifenders  who  ought  not  to  be  committed  to  the  jails  or  to  the 
state  penitentiary.  Besides,  this  is  the  only  prison  that  receives  to  any 
considerable  extent  the  female  convicts  of  the  State.  It  has  acquired  an 
extended  reputation,  and  is  recognized  throughout  the  country  as  a 
model  institution  of  its  kind.  With  a  superintendent  who  has  made  the 
management  of  prisons  not  only  a  study  but  the  practical  business  of 
years,  devoting  all  his  best  energies  to  the  work,  this  prison  has  been 
in  many  respects  a  remarkable  success. 

The  house  of  correction  has  not  only  proved  self-sustaining,  but 
during  its  nine  years'  existence  has  earned  $103,000  over  and  above  cur- 
rent expenses  of  every  kind. 

Prisoners  in  this  institution  are  principally  employed  in  the  manu- 
facture of  chairs  and  cigars.  The  contract  system  is  not  adopted.  The 
superintendent  purchases  stock,  causes  it  to  be  made  u[),  and,  when 
manufactured,  disposes  of  the  goods. 

The  discipline  is  very  simple.  Obedience,  order,  and  cleanliness  are 
strictly  enforced.  There  are  no  grades  in  the  male  department,  and 
none,  unless  it  be  a  transfer  to  the  house  of  shelter,  in  the  female  de- 
partment. Itewards  for  good  conduct  are  used  only  to  a  very  limited; 
extent,  the  privilege  of  over-work,  or  a  chair,  or  some  other  little  article 
of  cell-furniture,  being  about  the  only  stimulus  of  this  kind  given  to  the 
prisoners,  ^'he  prison  dress  is  not  in  use,  and  flogging  with  the  lash  or 
otherwise  has  been  abolished. 

The  educational  training  which  this  institution  gives  to  its  inmates  is; 
one  of  its  most  distinguishing  and  excellent  features. 

The  house  of  shelter,  established  in  connection  with  the  house  of  cor- 
rection, to  which  i<Mnale  prisoners  from  the  latter  are  transferred  for  good 
conduct,  is  a  commodious  and  well-furnished  home,  i)rovided  with  all  the 
comforts  and  conveniences  of  a  well-to-do  family.  Here  is  a  (;ompany 
of  wayward  girls  taken  from  bad  influences,  forming  a  little  society  of 
tlKMT  own,  and  i)y  industry,  education,  and  refining  a-ssoeiations,  fitting 
themselves  for  lives  of  respec-tability  and  usefulness.  Ivach  inmate  is 
[)rovide,(l  witii  :in  oidinary-sized  bedroom,  fitted  with  the  furniture 
usually  found  in  a  room  of  this  kind.  Tiiey  take,  tiuMr  nu'als  together 
at  a  table  in  tlie  dining-hall,  covered  with  a  neat  table  cloth,  and  fur- 
nished with  (.'xeellent  tabh;  ware  and  nupkins.  Most  <>f  the  day  is 
devot(;d  to  work,  mainly  sewing  and  making  linen  coats  and  j)anta- 
lortns.  Singing,  music  on  a  |)arlor  organ,  evening  school  and  reading, 
with  a  weekly  evening  gathering  for  conversation  and  social  entertain- 


PENAL    INSTITUTIONS    OF    MICHIGAN.  415 

ment,  constitute  the  principal  exercises.  Caltar.e  of  tbis  kind,  amid 
such  surroundings,  cannot  fail  to  be  productive  of  great  good  in  pre- 
paring those  who  receive  it  for  useful  home  life,  and  we  cannot  but 
regard  the  house  of  shelter  as  one  of  the  best  agencies  for  saving  those 
likely  to  fall  that  it  has  been  our  province  to  find. 

The  success  of  the  Detroit  house  of  correction  seems  to  us  not  so  much 
due  to  the  adoption  of  any  particular  system  for  the  government  of  its  in- 
mates, unless  it  be  the  extraordinary  elforts  in  the  direction  of  education, 
as  to  the  zeal  and  efhciency  of  the  superintendent.  Mr.  Brockway  is,  em- 
phatically, the  head  of  the  institution,  and  every  department  of  it  is 
pervaded  with  his  enthusiasm  and  inspiration.  He  has  shown  himself 
one  of  the  most  active,  intelligent,  and  zealous  of  th,e  prison  meu  of  the 
country,  being  among  the  foremost  in  the  great  work  of  prison  reform, 
and  it  is  matter  of  deep  regret  that  he  is  about  to  sever  his  connection 
with  the  establishment. 

The  state  prison  is  the  principal  penal  institution  of  the  State,  and  is 
nearly  as  old  as  the  State  government,  having  been  established  in 
1839,  three  years  after  the  admission  of  Michigan  into  the  Federal 
Union.  Located  at  the  city  of  Jackson,  in  the  central  part  of  the  State, 
amid  a  net-work  of  railroads,  it  is  convenient  and  easy  of  access.  The 
prison  grounds  embrace  some  thirt}^  acres  of  land  within  the  corporate 
limits  of  the  city,  and  the  prison  walls,  which  have  recently  been  recon- 
structed in  a  good  and  substantial  manner,  inclose  about  ten  and  a  half 
acres. 

The  system  of  imprisonment  is  that  known  as  the  congregate  or 
Auburn.  The  prisoners  work  in  association  by  day,  under  the  rule  of 
silence,  and  at  night  are  locked  up  in  cells,  some  of  which  have  been 
carpeted  and  ornamented  with  pictures  in  a  very  tasty  manner  by  the 
convicts  occupying  them,  thus  showing  that  even  behind  prison  bars 
meu  still  appreciate  and  enjoy  order  and  beauty. 

The  prisoners  labor  about  an  average  of  nine  hours  each  week-day 
daring  the  year,  in  workshops  withiu  the  inclosure.  The  principal 
business  carried  on  is  the  manufacture  of  furniture,  wagons,  agricultural 
implements,  cigars,  boots  and  shoes.  The  labor  of  the  convicts  is  let  to 
contractors,  who,  at  hxed  periods,  of  which  due  notice  is  given,  bid  and 
compete  for  it.  The  present  rates  paid  for  this  labor  range  from  50  to 
76  cents  per  day  for  each  man. 

Tasks  are  assigned  to  many  of  the  meu,  which  they  accomplish  before 
the  close  of  working  hoars.  The  remainder  of  the  time  they  generally 
spend  in  idleness. 

In  their  last  report  the  inspectors  of  the  prison  say  :  "  The  discipline 
of  the  prison  has  been  greatly  modihed  and  improved  within  the  past 
year.  Kind  but  decided  and  firm  treatment  has  been  employed  as  the 
principal  means  of  control,  and  we  think  with  decided  success.  Infrac- 
tions ot  the  rules  have  been  less  frequent,  and  there  has  been  a  gratify- 
ing decrease  of  the  necessity  for  severe  punishment.  Good  order  has 
been  maintained  and  punishment  seldom  required.  No  class  of  men 
appreciate  kindness  and  humane  treatment  more  than  convicts  do.  Shut 
out  trom  the  world,  and  deprived  of  the  ordinary  privileges  of  life,  they 
caretuUy  note  and  remember  every  little  kindness,  and  we  believe  are 
more  easily  and  better  governed  thereby  than  by  the  use  of  harsher 
means.  We  have  heard  discharged  convicts,  about  to  go  from  the  prison, 
recount  the  little  kindnesses  that  have  been  extended  to  them,  and  seen 
them  with  tears  of  gratitude  in  their  eyes  thank  the  ofticers  for  the  inter- 
est they  had  manifested  in  their  welfare.  We  have  made  it  a  point,  as  far 
as  possible,  to  ascertain  what  we  could  with  respect  to  the  conduct  of 


416  NATIONAL    PRISON    REFORM    CONGRESS    OF    1873. 

such  as  have  gone  o»t  of  the  prison,  and  we  are  happy  to  be  able  to 
state  that  the  great  majority  have  so  conducted  tbeniselves  as  to  give 
the  assurance  that  they  will  in  the  future  lead  better  lives.  Only  a 
very  few  have  returned  to  their  former  practices.'^ 

The  ordinary  and  most  frequent  punishment  is  the  bare  cell  and  short 
rations ;  for  more  flagrant  offenses  an  addition  of  tying  the  hands  be- 
hind the  body  and  fastening  them  to  the  cell  door.  As  a  last  resort/for 
personal  violence  or  a  deliberate  outrage,  the  lash  is  still  held  in  reserve, 
although  the  instances  for  its  use  are  seldom  found  necessary.  When- 
ever convicts  have,  or  conceive  that  they  have,  cause  of  complaint 
against  officers  or  any  free  men,  they  are  always  at  liberty  to  bring 
their  complaint  to  the  agent. 

A  system  of  rewards  has  been  devised  and  partly  put  in  effect,  so  that 
now,  at  the  end  of  each  month,  the  convict  who  has  conformed  to  the 
rules  of  the  jnisou  receives  a  card,  as  evidence  of  good  behavior.  Offi- 
cers say  that  it  is  astonishing  to  see  how  the  men  prize  these  cards, 
treasuring  them  up,  or  sending  them  away  to  their  families;  and  that 
the  effect  of  these  little  rewards  is  excellent  in  controlling  the  prisoners 
and  stimulating  them  to  good  conduct.  Again,  some  of  the  old  features 
of  prison  life,  tending  to  destroy  the  self-respect  of  the  imprisoned,  have 
been  removed,  and  the  change  seems  to  work  well.  Thus  the  rule  re- 
quiring the  men  to  labor  with  their  eyes  constantly  upon  their  work  has 
been  modified,  and  there  is  no  longer  that  downcast,  "hang-dog"  ex- 
pression which  formerly  seemed  to  be  peculiar  to  each  convict. 

There  has  also  been  greater  infusion  of  educational  agencies.  A^n 
hour  on  each  Sabbath  is  now  devoted  to  secular  instruction,  and  num- 
bers of  convicts  who  came  into  the  prison  unable  to  read  or  write, 
through  the  training  of  this  school,  have  acquired  these  primary  ele- 
ments of  education.  Interesting  lectures  and  readings  are  more  fre- 
quent than  formerly,  and  many  of  the  men,  stimulated  by  the  desire 
thus  created  for  good  reading,  have  voluntarily  given  up  the  use  of 
tobacco  for  the  privilege  of  becoming  regular  subscribers  to  some  one 
of  our  leading  monthly  magazines.  Twice  a  week,  after  dinner,  the 
agent  selects  and  reads  for  fifteen  minutes  to  the  prisoners  in  the  diuiug- 
hall  some  interesting  and  instructive  piece. 

The  prison  continues  the  practice  which  it  some  years  ago  inaugurated, 
of  giving  special  privileges  to  its  prisoners  on  public  holidays.  The 
custom  is  believed  to  be  beneficial,  making  the  convict  more  cheerful, 
and  impressing  him  with  a  conviction  that  an  interest  is  still  felt  in  his 
welfare.  An  excellent  dinner  and  short  addresses  constitute  the  order 
of  the  day  on  these  occasions.  Of  the  efiect  of  the  observance  of  these 
holidays  the  agent  says:  "I  am  satisfied  that  in  the  manner  we  have 
conducted  them  they  have  in  no  way  imi>aired  or  relaxed  the  general 
discipline,  while,  on  the  contrary,  the  jnesence  of  good  men  and  women, 
reading,  talking,  and  singing,  assures  them  they  are  not  entirely  cut  oil 
from  all  liuman  sympathy.  The  whole  tendency  of  tiu'se  hospitalities  is 
to  engender  and  enliven  the  kindlier  feelings  and  s.vuipathies."  For 
several  years  the  i)rison  has  been  self-supporting,  paying  by  its  earnings 
all  its  current  expenses. 

The  public-  mind  of  the  State  is  beginning  to  manifest  more  interest 
in  th(»  work  Ibr  which  this  congress  has  assembled.  ]\Ten  and  women 
within  our  bor<lers  are  helping  to  (?r<'ate  an  improved  system  of  i)rison 
discipline,  wojthy  of  our-  civilization.  We  have  reason  to  antici])ate 
favoiabU',  legislation  in  iclation  to  many  oC  the  topics  suggested.  And 
it  is  an  (»Hpecial  cause  ot  congratulation  that  our  efiicient  governor  is  in 
full  arid  hearty  sympathy  with  us  in  the  cause  of  prison  reform,  and  in 


PENAL   INSTITUTIONS    OP   MINNESOTA.  41 T 

tlie  improved  care  demanded  for  all  the  wards  of  the  State,  and  we 
have  strong  faith  that  the  good  work  will  go  on  until  these  desirable 
results  are  fully  accomplished. 


11.  Minnesota. 

By  Professor  WUVmm  F.  Phelps,  President  of  the  State  yonna!  Seliovl. 

Minnesota  was  admitted  into  the  Union  in  May,  1858.  Hence,  its  in- 
stitutions of  every  kind  must  be  regarded  as  yet  in  their  infancy.  Xone 
but  those  who  have  participated  in  the  struggle  can  have  any  adequate 
conception  of  the  difliculties  and  embarrassments  attending  the  efforts 
to  build  up  these  institutions  on  just  principles  in  frontier  States,  com- 
posed of  heterogeneous  elements  gathered  from  almost  every  quarter  of 
the  globe.  Of  course  it  is  expected  that  in  new  communities  man's 
earliest  efforts  must  be  put  forth  for  the  supply  of  his  material  wants, 
and  for  his  protection  against  the  destructive  tendencies  of  natural 
forces.  But  he  also  soon  finds  himself  compelled  to  guard  against  the 
ravages  of  the  rapacious  and  vindictive  passions  of  his  fellow-men. 
Hence  penal  institutions  are,  unfortunately,  among  the  prime  necessities 
of  a  State,  while  yet  its  resources  are  undeveloped  and  the  views  of  its 
people  are  as  diverse  as  their  origin  and  the  circumstances  under  wJiich 
their  opinions  have  been  formed.  These  conditions  inevitably  lead  to 
inadequate,  conflicting,  and  unwise  legislation,  rendering  it  quite  im- 
possible to  provide  those  comprehensive  and  far-sighted  arrangements 
so  necessary  to  secure  the  reformation  as  well  as  the  proper  restraint  of 
the  vicious  and  the  criminal  at  a  time  when,  above  all  others,  such 
measures  would  prove  the  most  potent  in  tempering  the  spirit  and 
shaping  the  policy  of  the  institutions,  which  are  to  be  as  enduring  as  the 
State,  and  which  are,  indeed,  to  become  a  part  of  the  State  itself. 

Populcitioti  and  commandinr/  position. 

The  population  of  Minnesota  at  the  present  time  is  527,500,  or  more 
than  three  times  as  great  as  in  18G0.  It  is  situated  on  that  central  line 
which  is  nearly  equidistant  from  the  two  great  oceans.  The  head  of  the 
"  unsalted  sea,"  which  is  also  the  beginning  of  the  chain  of  lakes  reaching 
through  the  Saint  Lawrence  to  the  Atlantic,  and  the  source  of  the  Father 
of  Waters,  connecting  it  with  the  Mexican  Gulf,  are  alike  within  its 
boundaries.  Through  the  Mississippi  it  stretches  forth  its  hands 
to  the  tropical,  while  through  the  Red  River  of  the  North  and 
its  connections  it  reaches  to  the  Arctic  zone.  The  I^orthern  Pacific 
Railroad,  opening  up  the  shortest  and  easiest  pathway  "  across  the 
continent,"  has  its  eastern  terminus,  with  its  numerous  branches, 
within  the  borders  of  the  State,  whose  area  is  more  than  83,000  square 
miles,  and  whose  ample  domain  is  capable  of  sustaining  a  population 
equal  to  that  of  half  of  the  entire  United  States  at  the  present  time.  The 
Canadian  Pacific  Railway,  whose  construction  will  undoubtedly  be  com- 
menced near  our  northern  frontier,  and  be  vigorously  prosecuted  during 
the  present  year,  will  have  its  connections  with  the  vast  system  already 
spreading  its  iron  net- work  over  our  prairies,  and  thus  making  our  ter- 
ritory teem  with  the  commercial  life  of  two  hemispheres.  These  faets 
have  a  tendency  to  give  to  the  State  a  prominence  and  an  importance, 
that  are  keenly  appreciated  by  its  leading  minds,  and  by  those  who, 
H.  Ex.  185 37 


418  NATIONAL    PRISON    KEFORM    CONGRESS    OF    137:5. 

while  struggling'  to  shape  the  policy  of  its  institutions,  are  laying  the 
foundations  of  a  future  whose  influence  must  be  little  short  of  illim- 
itable. 

Tlte  insiltuiions  of  Minnesota. 

The  institutions  at  present  existing,  which  bear  upon  crime  and  are 
under  the  immediate  care  of  the  State,  are:  I.  The  educational,  or  pre- 
ventive. II.  The  benevolent,  or  humane.  III.  The  penal  and  reform- 
atory. 

I.  The  Educational  In.stitutions  consist:  1.  Of  the  State  University 
at  Saint  Anthony,  with  230  pupils,  and  maintained  at  a  cost  to  the  State 
during-  the  past  year  of  $21,000.  '  2.  Of  three  State  normal  schools  for 
the  special  training  of  teachers,  located  respectively  at  AVinona,  Man- 
kato,  and  Saint  Cloud,  and  giving-  instruction  during  the  year  1872  to 
more  than  500  embryo  teachers.  The  current  expenses  of  these  semina- 
ries defrayed  by  the  State  last  year  were  125,000.  For  the  present  year 
they  will  amount  to  $30,000.  The  amount  expended  upon  buildings 
already  erected  and  in  progress  is  more  than  $200,000.  3.  Of  3,000 
common  schools,  scattered  throughout  all  the  organized  townships,  in- 
cluding' numerous  high  schools  in  the  cities,  which  have  alreadj'  at- 
tained a  standard  of  commanding  excellence.  The  number  instructed 
in  these  schools  during  the  past  year  was  120,352,  at  a  cost  of  about 
."§1,000,000 ;  while  the  number  totally  uninstructed  and  left  to  recruit 
the  "/^ijoble  army"  of  illiterates  in  the  State,  was  59,668.  The  productive 
school  fund  now  amounts  to  $2,780,559,  being  the  fifth  in  magnitude  in 
this  country,  with  six-sevenths  of  the  "school-lands''  from  which  the 
fund  is  derived  are  yet  unsold.  The  increase  in  the  number  of  common 
schools  last  year  was  about  200. 

These  facts  are  brought  forward  here  on  account  of  the  vital  rela- 
tions which  exist  between  education  and  crime,  betw^eeu  the  prevent- 
ive and  the  i)eual  institutions  of  a  State — relations  which,  in  all  our 
discussions  of  the  latter,  should  be  distinctly  recognized.  A  trne  educa- 
tion is  the  surest  preventive  of  crime,  and  no  reformation  can  be  effective 
or  permanent  which  does  not  address  itself  to  the  enduring  soul  of  the 
fallen  being. 

II.  The  Benevolent  Jnstituiions. — These  comprise  the  hospital  for  the 
insane  at  Saint  Peter,  the  institute  for  the  d^eaf  and  dumb  and  the 
blind  at  Faribault,  and  the  soldiers'  orphans'  home  at  Winona.  These 
institutions  arc  all  projected  and  supported  on  the  most  liberal  scale, 
and  arc  conducted  according  to  the  latest  developments  in  the  medical 
and  educational  sciences. 

III.  The  Peyial  and  Jie/ormatori/  Tnstittitioiis,  iiQm\ivishi^:  1.  The  state 
prison  at  Stillwater,  on  Lake  Saint  Croix.  2.  The  State  reform  school 
for  l)oth  sexes,  near  Saint  I'aul.  3.  The  jails  established  and  supported 
niidci-  county  supervision. 

i.   The  state  prison. 

Location. — I'lie buildings  for  tliis  institution  are  located  at  the  mouth  of 
a  short  ravine,  between  two  high  and  dee])  blnlfs  fronting  on  the  lake, 
and  running  back  to  a  ])oint  of  junction  with  the  main  ridge  of  whicli 
1  lie  blulfs  are  H]mrs.  This  ravine  comprises  about  four  a(;res  of  ground. 
']"he  foundations  of  the  buildings  icst  ujjon  jules  driven  into  the  marshy 
soil  bfiicatl).     Tlie  sum  <»l'  :'f  125,000  li:is  been  expended  ujion  the  build- 


PENAL    INiSTITUTIONS    OF    MINNESOTA.  419 

iug-s,  and  $40,000  more  will  be  used  dining-  the  couiing  year  in  improve- 
ments. 

History. — This  prison  was  established  and  located  in  1858,  the  year 
in  which  the  State  emerged  from  its  territorial  condition.  There  were 
at  that  time  but  three  "prominent  points"  in  the  State — Saint  Paul, 
Saint  Anthony,  and  Stillwater.  Saint  Panl  had  the  capital ;  Saint 
Anthony  secured  the  university,  and  Stillwater  the  state  prison.  In 
those  early  days  the  location  of  State  institutions  was  controlled  less 
by  public  than  by  private  considerations.  The  selectioji  of  the  grounds 
for  the  state  prison  was  singularly  unfortunate. 

Buildings  ami  (jrounds. — There  arc  but  two  permanent  buildings  occu- 
pied by  the  prison.  They  are  located  on  opposite  sides  of  the  in- 
closed space  near  the  base  of  the  bluffs  forming  the  ravine.  The  main 
prison  building  is  on  the  left  of  the  space  inclosed,  and  is  about  210 
feet  long  by  40  in  width.  This  contains  the  cells,  (a  portion  of  which  ex- 
tend to  "the  third  story,)  the  domestic  department  of  the  institution,  the 
officers'  quarters,  and  the  family  of  the  steward  5  the  cells  themselves 
being  in  the  rear.  It  is  built  of  limestone,  and  is  very  substantial  and 
neat  in  appearance.  The  other  building,  which  is  on  the  right,  and  fur- 
ther to  the  rear,  is  also  of  stone,  and  two  stories  high,  with  basement. 
This  contains  the  workshops,  store-rooms,  and  engine  and  boiler  rooms. 
Tbere  is  a  wall  along  the  front  of  the  premises,  and  the  three  other  sides 
are  inclosed  by  a  plank  fence  some  12  or  15  feet  high,  flanked  by  a  walk 
for  the  sentries,  and  surmounted  by  guard-houses  for  those  oflicers  when 
on  duty.  A  sewer,  as  yet  quite  inadequate  to  meet  the  necessities  of  the 
prison,  passes  through  the  grounds  and  discharges  into  the  lake  in  front. 
The  cells  are  ventilated  by  small  tubes  connecting  with  shafts  passing 
through  the  roof. 

System  of  management. — The  associate  system  of  labor  is  employed. 
The  convicts  work  in  groups  in  the  several  shops  under  the  supervision 
of  an  overseer  or  foreman,  and  a  guard.  In  all  other  respects  the  cel- 
lular system  is  adopted.  The  food  is  taken  exclusively  in  the  cells,  and 
the  men  are  constantly  confined,  excepting  during  the  hours  allotted  to 
labor. 

General  administration. — The  prison  is  under  the  general  supervision 
of  a  board  of  three  inspectors  appointed  by  the  governor,  by  and  with 
the  advice  and  consent  of  the  senate,  for  three  years,  one  member  re- 
tiring each  year.  The  warden  is  appointed  in  the  same  manner.  All 
the  subordinate  officers  are  appointed  by  the  warden,  excepting  the 
chaplain  and  the  physician,  who  are  selected  by  the  inspectors.  As  is 
usual  in  such  cases,  political  considerations  influence  more  or  less  the 
selection  of  these  officers.  It  is  but  just,  however,  to  say  that,  all  the 
officers  of  the  institution  have  been  chosen  with  excellent  discrimina- 
tion and  good  judgment. 

System  of  labor.  —  The  contract  system  of  labor  prevails  in  the 
prison.  The  existing  contract  extends  through  a  period  of  nine  years, 
the  price  being  45  cents  per  day  for  each  man  employed.  Ten  per  cent. 
of  the  convicts  are  reserved  for  the  uses  of  the  institution  in  its  domes- 
tic department.  The  branches  of  industry  pursued  are  few  and  simple, 
being  limited  i)rincipally  to  the  production  of  wooden  ware,  barrels, 
window-sashes,  doors,  and  a  small  amount  of  cabinet  and  carpenter 
work.  The  average  duration  of  a  day's  work  is  ten  and  one-half  hours 
throughout  the  year,  although  in  the  winter  season  only  eight  and  one- 
half  hours  are  occupied.  In  cases  of  over-work,  which  are,  however, 
rare,  the  convict  is  allowed  to  participate  in  his  earnings. 
Discipline. — Tiie  discipline  is  firm  yet  mild  and  eminently  humane. 


420  NATIONAL    PRISON    REFORM    CONGRESS    OF    1873. 

As  a  general  rule,  talking  is  prohibited  among  the  convicts,  except  in 
cases  where  it  is  necessary  in  carrying  forward  the  work.  The  officers 
exercise  a  kind  and  i^aternal  influence  over  the  unfortunate  men  under 
their  charge.  Cheerfulness  prevails  to  a  remarkable  degree  among  the 
convicts.  They  appear  in  this  respect  more  like  laborers  working  for 
wages  and  enjoying  the  fruits  of  their  toil  than  like  men  convicted  of 
crime  and  undergoing  the  deprivations  of  penal  servitude.  There  seems 
to  be  an  entire  absence  of  that  feeling  of  sullen  depression  so  character- 
istic of  convicts  submitting  to  the  rigors  of  an  iron  rule. 

Funishmcnts. — Corporal  inflictions  are  never  resorted  to.  For  the 
graver  offenses,  confinement  on  bread  and  water  until  penitence  is  se- 
cured is  the  principal  reliance.  The  ball  and  chain,  as  a  penalty  for 
attempts  to  escape,  is  imposed  upon  the  more  incorrigible.  But  all 
those  forms  of  punishment  calculated  to  inflict  bodily  torture  or  create 
a  sense  of  indignity  are  entirely  discountenanced  and  avoided. 

Incentives  to  good  conduct. — Under  a  law  of  the  legislatur<»,,  passed  in 
18G7,  a  convict  may  abridge  the  term  of  his  sentence  by  exemplary  con- 
duct. By  the  terms  of  this  act  two  days  may  be  deducted  for  the  first 
month  of  good  behavior,  four  days  for  the  second,  and  six  days  for  each 
succeeding  month,  provided  that  the  right  to  such  deductions  is  not  for- 
feited by  subsequent  misconduct.  Restoration  to  citizenship  through 
the  pardoning  power  follows  a  continuous  course  of  unexceptional 
behavior. 

Pardons. — The  governor  of  the  State  has  the  authority  to  pardon  a 
criminal  before  the  expiration  of  his  term  of  sentence.  This  power  is 
sometimes  exercised  on  the  recommendation  of  the  warden  for  good  con- 
duct, sometimes  through  petitions  of  influential  citizens,  pleading  miti- 
gating circumstances,  and  the  like.  The  commanding  general  of  the 
department  of  Dakota  has  occasionally  pardoned  prisoners  incarcerated 
for  military  olfenses,  and  the  President  of  the  United  States  exercises 
the  same  x^ower  in  behalf  of  ofienders  against  the  laws  of  the  General 
Government. 

Instruction. — No  systematic  instruction,  either  secular  or  religious,  is 
imi^arted  to  the  prisoners  as  a  whole,  except  during  one  hour  on  Sunday, 
when  services  are  held  in  the  chapel  of  the  institution.  A  small  library 
is  provided  for  the  men,  and  they  use  it  freely,  being  encouraged  to  do 
so  by  their  thoughtful  and  humane  officers,  who  manifest  the  warmest 
interest  in  the  welfare  of  their  charge. 

Sanitary  condition. — Considering  the  location  of  the  prison,  its  pecu- 
liar surroundings,  and  the  many  inconveniences  to  which  it  is  compelled 
to  submit,  the  liealth  of  the  convicts  is  (juite  remarkable.  This  is  no 
doubt  accounted  lor  by  the  extreme  care  of  their  officers  in  preserving 
the  utmost  cleanliness  in  every  part  of  the  buildings  occupied.  The 
food  is  of  the  l)est  quality,  carefully  (cooked,  and  regularly  served,  with 
;in  alHiiidance  tor  every  man  according  to  liis  necessities.  The  variety 
obscrvtMl  in  jnoviding  the  meals  thi'ougli  (he  week  is  very  Judicious  and 
well  (;alculate<l  to  preserve  a  healthful  tone  in  the  digestive  organs, 
liatliing  is  required  as  a  regular  duty,  and  everything  tluit  conduces  to 
lu;alth  is  carefully  regarded  in  thi5  adniinistration  of  the  atVairs  of  the 
prison.  The  Fourth  of  July,  Thanksgiving  day,  and  Christmas,  are 
'•legal  holidays"  in  this  institution.  On  tliese  days  the  convicts  aro 
served  with  as  good  a  dinner  as  any  first  (;lass  hotel  can  provide.  They 
are  allowe<l  tlie  fre<'<lom  of  thci  i)rison.  They  visit  each  other  in  their 
(•(•lis,  converse,  sing,  and  enjoy  a  wliolesome  social  reunion.  Consider- 
ing (he  serious  lack  of  material  aids  and  of  the  ordinary  conveniences 
of  bueli   places,  this  prison   is,  in   a  generous  sense,  a  model  of  wise. 


REFORMATORY    INSTITUTIONS    OF    MINNESOTA.  .       421 

humane,  and  efficient  mauaj^ement.  Time  and  a  better  appreciation  of 
the  true  ends  of  penal  discipline  will  do  much,  it  is  to  be  hoped,  to  miti- 
gate the  evils  arising  from  the  unfortunate  circumstances  of  its  location 
and  earlier  history. 

The  total  cost  of  maintaining  the  prison,  in  1872,  was  ^130,485  ;  the 
earnings  from  convict  labor  were  $14,973 ;  excess  of  expenditure  over 
earnings,  $15,512  ;  cost  per  prisoner,  $1G8.81. 

II.  State  Reform  School. — This  institution  was  established  and  opened 
under  State  auspices,  in  January,  18G3.  It  occupies  sixty-three  acres 
of  ground  about  three  miles  from  the  business  portion  of  Saint  Paul, 
on  the  main  road  to  Minneapolis.  It  is  about  seven  miles  from  the 
latter  city  and  is  located  on  a  commanding  eminence  overlooking  a  large 
extent  of  country,  in  an  eminently  healthful  situation. 

The  total  cost  of  buildings  to  the  present  time  has  been  130,000 ;  the 
total  number  of  boys  committed  to  the  institution,  180 ;  the  total  num- 
ber of  girls,  15.  The  sexes  are  entirely  separated  from  each  other.  The 
annual  current  expenses  are  about  $20,000. 

As  far  as  possible  the  "  family  x^lan  "  has  been  adopted  in  the  man- 
agement of  the  institution.  "  As  only  the  main  building  has  yet  been 
erected,  this  plan  cannot  be  fully  carried  out  in  practice.  The  inmates 
of  the  institution  are  brought  under  such  intiuences  as  prevail  in  a  well- 
governed  and  well-regulated  home,  with  good  instruction  and  a  firm 
though  kind  and  paternal  discipline.  The  rewards  and  punishments 
are  of  the  natural  Jdnd  in  use  in  all  well-managed  homes.  The  "  lock- 
up "  has  never  been  used ;  all  the  professional  appliances  of  prison  dis- 
cipline are  scrupulously  avoided. 

The  inmates  are  well  fed,  well  clothed,  well  instructed,  and  well  dis- 
ciplined. They  are  allowed  an  abundance  of  play,  and  yet  they  are  re- 
quired to  work  systematically  and  to  study  attentively.  In  the  words 
of  the  very  efficient  superintendent.  Rev.  J.  G.  Eiheldaffer,  "  scliool-room 
instruction  is  the  first  great  tcorJc  of  the  institittion.  We  do  not  hold  these 
children  for  the  j)resent  pecuniary  advantage  of  the  State,  but  for  com- 
liulsory  education,  and  for  a  preparation  for  the  work  of  life."  These  are 
noble  words,  and  they  should  form  the  key-note  to  the  management  of 
every  reformatory  and  penal  institution. 

A  large  garden  of  fruits  and  vegetables  is  cultivated,  and  many  of  the 
boys  are  required  to  labor  in  it  during  the  summer.  A  considerable 
number  are  employed  in  the  domestic  department  of  the  institution.  In 
addition  to  these  employments,  there  is  a  tin-shop  in  which  the  boys  in 
squads  of  twelve  are  learning  the  tinner's  trade  ;  a  shoe-shop,  with  every 
facility  for  learning  that  trade  ;  and  a  tailor's  shop,  in  which  they  learn 
to  make  and  repair  their  own  clothing. 

To  these  educational,  domestic,  and  industrial  means  are  superadded 
religious  instruction  in  which  our  obligations  to  God  and  to  our  fellow- 
men,  and  our  accountability  to  God  together  with  the  noble  rewards 
which  attend  a  life  of  virtue  and  the  fearful  jienalties  of  a  life  of  vice 
and  crime,  are  held  up  as  the  incentives  to  a  patient  continuance  in  well- 
doing. 

Considering  the  youth  of  this  institution  and  of  the  State  which  fosters 
it,  with  the  yet  stinted  means  at  its  disposal,  it  is  a  decided  success. 
The  boys  who  have  been  dischai^ed  from  it  are  for  the  most  part  con- 
ducting themselves  in  such  a  manner  as  fully  to  vindicate  the  wisdom 
of  the  means  employed  to  save  them  from  a  life  of  crime,  and  make 
them  honest,  upright,  worthy  citizens. 

III.  County  jails. — With  very  few  exceptions  these  institutions  in 
this  State  are  of  the  most  primitive  sort  and  scarcely  fit  for  the  accom- 


422  NATIONAL    PRISON    REFORM    CONGRESS    OF    1873. 

modatiou  of  the  beasts  of  the  field.  This  is  an  apparently  inevitable 
consequence  of  the  peculiar  state  of  things  existing  in  a  new  country, 
with  a  yet  meager  population,  ami  with  resources  only  partially  de- 
veloped. 

In  several  of  the  larger  cities — SaiutPaul,  Stillwater,  Winona,  Hastings, 
and  Eochester — very  creditable  buildings  have  been  erected  for  the  uses 
of  the  jails  in  their  respective  counties.  In  many  cases,  however,  the 
jail  is  but  a  meager  appendage  to  a  splendid  court-house,  a  single  room 
being  supplied  with  cells  for  the  confinement  of  persons  accused  of 
crime  and  awaiting  trial. 

At  Winona,  however,  a  large  and  commodious  building  has  been 
erected  for  the  exclusive  occupancy  of  the  county  jail,  the  sheriif,  and  his 
under-ofiicers.  This  building  is  of  stone,  is  finely  located,  and  is  really 
a  model  of  its  kind.  The  cell-block  is  two  stories  in  height,  and  the 
cells  are  entirely  of  wrought  iron  placed  back  to  back  in  the  center  of 
the  prison,  and  are  surrounded  by  a  spacious  and  airy  corridor,  paved 
with  heavy  boiler-iron.  It  is  kept  scrupulously  neat  in  all  respects,, 
while  escape  from  it  seems  a  physical  impossibility. 


12.  Mississippi. 

By  General  B.  B.  Egglestoii,  president  of  the  hoard  of  inspectors  of  the  stale  prison. 

The  management  of  the  state  prison  has,  under  the  provisions  of  an 
act  passed  by  the  legislature  entitled  "  An  act  for  the  regulation,  con- 
trol and  support  of  the  penitentiary,"  approved  March  28,  1872,  under- 
gone a  marked  change  for  the  better  in  almost  every  respect,  and 
notably  has  this  been  the  case  in  the  treatment  of  the  convicts.  Hith- 
erto these  unfortunate  outcasts  have  not  received  that  care  and  atten- 
tion for  which  humanitarians  in  this  countrj'  and  in  Europe  (whose  efforts 
are  now  happily  about  to  be  crowned  with  success)  have  so  long  and 
l^ersistently  labored.  Up  to  the  3d  day  of  last  May,  when  the  present 
superintendent,  Mr.  C.  AV.  Loomis,  took  charge  of  the  prison,  unneces- 
sarily cruel  iiunishments,  which  might  justly  be  termed  the  relics  of  a 
barbarous  age,  still  prevailed.  Dut  the  people  of  our  State  have  not 
been  unmoved  spectators  of  the  universal  movement  in  the  direction 
of  inison  reform,  and  the  public  sentiment  Y.'as  significantly  expressed 
by  the  legislature  in  the  act  above  rcferi-ed  to,  whereby  corporal  and 
every  otlier  species  of  punishment,  not  tending  to  enforce  the  rules  and 
regulations  necessary  to  prison  government,  were  abolished.  And  this 
is  better  shown  by  reference  to  the  thirteenth  section  of  the  act,  which 
reads  as  follows: 

That  licro.aftcr  ilic,  Iimd  ol"  no  r.Miiiilc  convict  shull  he  .shorn,  iuul  no  )iiuii.sliiueiit  by 
hlowH  or  ulripv.H  sliiill  ))c  iiilli(;t('<l,  under  any  circuni.stanccs  whatever,  npon  convicts  ot 
(litLcr  Hcx  ;  hnt  it  shall  ))e  the  duty  of  the  inspector  to  prescribe  such  ])iiniKhnicnt,  in 
the  form  of  solifary  confiiioirient  in  a  dark  cell,  or  snch  other  mode  as  they  may  deem 
fit  and  exiiedient ;  and  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  Ihe  snpc  rintendent  to  keej)  a  merit  and 
•leuicrit  roll  of  the  condnct  of  the  convicts,  and  he  shall,  from  time  to  tinu;,  rej)ort  the 
mime  to  tho  governor,  who  shall  shorten  the  term  of  service  of  any  convict  at  the  rate 
of  tliret!  (hiy.s  for  each  month  of  said  (ei-m,  whenever  said  merit-roll  shall  indicate  that 
said  convict  lias  lioen  fjnilly  of  no  \iolation  of  tli*)  rnles  of  the  penitentiary. 

Under  tho  above  and  other  ])rovisions  of  law,  and  in  the  exercise  of  a> 
wise  discretion,  the  superintendent  has  succeeded  in  translbrming  the 
convicts,  who  came  under  his  super\isi()n  morose  and  discontented,  into- 
a  remarkably  onlerly  class  of  men. 


PENAL    INSTITUTIONS    OF    MISSISSIPPI.  .    423 

They  seem  now  to  feel  something  of  that  self-respect  which  is  so  in- 
valuable in  law-abiding  communities.  Every  encouragement  consistent 
with  prison  regulations  is  aftbrded  to  develop  the  best  qualities  of 
their  nature,  and  to  cultivate  in  them  moral  principles  which  will  here- 
after tend  to  make  them  better  and  more  useful  citizens. 

The  superintendent  has,  as  far  as  possible,  caused  them  to  feel  that 
they  are  governing  themselves,  rather  than  being  slavishly  governed, 
and  the  result  is  apparent  in  the  remarkable  fact  that,  out  of  over  four 
hundred  convicts,  he  has  found  it  necessary,  under  the  present  regula- 
tions, to  ininish  only  two. 

Keligious  instruction  is  regularly  administered  to  them,  and  they 
attend  divine  worship  in  their  chapel  every  Sabbath  with  apparent  will- 
ingness, and  some  show  of  devotion ;  they  also  attend  a  well-managed 
Sabbath-school,  established  for  them  within  the  prison  ;  they  have  the 
advantage  of  literary  recreation  in  the  use  of  a  library,  maintained  by  a 
fee  of  25  cents  for  admission  of  visitors  to  the  institution ;  and  once  a 
year,  on  Christmas  day,  they  are  allowed  the  use  of  the  prison  hall,  and 
free  communication  with  one  another. 

The  superintendent  has  also  shown  a  very  commendable  zeal  in 
another  important  direction,  viz,  in  the  distribution  and  apportion- 
ment of  labor.  Making  himself  thoroughly  acquainted  with  the  habits 
and  dispositions  of  the  convicts,  he  assigned  to  them  that  kind  of  labor 
to  which,  from  their  mental  and  physical  capacities,  they  were  best 
adapted ;  and  in  no  case  has  an  undue  amount  of  labor  been  given  to 
a  man  as  a  punishment,  the  superintendent  humanely  claiming  the  ob- 
ject of  a  criminal's  incarceration  to  be  a  reformation  of  his  character 
rather  than  a  vindictive  punishment  of  his  crime. 

By  these  means  he  has  acquired  an  influence  over  the  heads  and  hearts 
of  these  unfortunates,  which  has  enabled  him  in  his  first  annual  report 
to  the  board  of  inspectors  to  exhibit  a  greater  amount  and  better 
quality  of  work  in  every  department  of  labor  than  has  marked  the  close 
of  any  previous  year.  He  has  encouraged  among  them  a  spirit  of  emu- 
lation, and  the  result  has  been  most  satisfactory.  To  use  his  own 
words,  "  The  most  contented  and  cheerful  prisoners  we  have  are  those 
who  evince  the  greatest  interest  in  their  work,  and  endeavor  to  com- 
plete what  they  have  to  do  in  the  most  expeditious  and  Avorkmaulike 
manner." 

The  above  remarks  apply  only  to  prisoners  within  the  walls  of  the 
penitentiary,  and  who  are,  consequently,  under  the  immediate  personal 
supervision  of  the  superintendent.  There  is  another  class  of  prisoners 
referred  to  in  his  report  as  "  prisoners  working  on  railroads."  Owing 
to  want  of  accommodation  for  all  the  prisoners  in  the  present  building, 
it  has  been,  for  the  past  few  years,  found  necessary,  under  the  authority 
of  law,  to  lease  the  labor  of  the  surplus  convicts  without  the  prison 
walls. 

They  have  been  employed  on  i)lantations  and  in  the  construction  of 
railroads.  For  their  protection,  the  most  jealous  restrictions  have  been 
placed  upon  the  lessees ;  nevertheless,  the  position  of  this  particular 
class  has  been  a  source  of  much  public  uneasiness.  The  legislature, 
during  its  last  session,  though  it  inaugurated  many  wholesome  reforms 
and  abolished  many  objectionable  features  in  the  prison  management, 
did  not  feel  that  it  could  make  any  changes  for  the  better  in  this  direc- 
tion, except  prospectively.  It  made  provision  for  the  purchase  of  a 
site  for,  and  the  construction. of,  a  new  building,  which  will,  when  com- 
pleted, atibrd  ample  accommodation  for  all  our  convicts  within  its  walls. 
Tlie  board  of  inspectors  show  a  keen  appreciation  of  this  unsatisfactory 


424  NATIONAL    PRISON    REFORM    CONGRESS    OF    1873. 

mode  of  cmi>loyiug-  convicts'  labor,  as  will  be  seen  b^'  reference  to  tbeir 
first  annual  report  to  the  governor.  The  superintendent  himself,  in  his 
report  to  the  inspectors,  in  which  he  describes  at  length  the  condition  of 
this  class  of  convicts  and  their  removal  from  the  ameliorating  influences 
which  he  is  enabled  to  throw  around  those  Mithin  the  walls,  thus  gives 
expression  to  his  very-  great  anxiety  on  this  subject : 

But  I  submit  tliat  it  is  prejudicial  to  tlie  best  interests  of  the  prisoners  ;  and  that  the. 
very  iuteut  of  the  law  itself  is  defeated  wheu  they  are  thus  employed.  The  object  iu 
sending  a  prisoner  to  the  penitentiary  is,  first,  to  prevent  crime;  and,  secondly,  the 
reformation  of  the  criminal.  It  is  the  imperative  duty  of  those  having  prisoners  in 
charge  to  labor  to  cftect  this  reformation  ;  and  it  is  a  matter  of  impossibility  to  enforce 
the  same  discipline  outside  the  i)risou  walls  which  is  enforced  within. 

Z:^o  doubt  these  earnest  appeals  in  behalf  of  this  class  of  convicts  will 
have  their  legitimate  effect  in  inducing  the  legislature  to  hasten  the 
work  of  completing  the  new  prison  building.  It  is  believed  that  the 
legislature  will,  at  the  same  time,  testify  its  appreciation  of  the  results 
of  partial  improvement  by  the  adoption,  at  tlie  earliest  possible  moment, 
of  a  thorough  and  complete  system  of  prison  reform. 


13.  Missouri. 

[Xo  formal  report  was  received  from  this  State,  but  the  two  delegates, 
Mr.  Miller  and  General  Miner,  commissioned  by  the  governor  to  repre- 
sent Missouri  in  the  Congress  of  Baltimore,  learning  this  fact,  handed  iu 
the  following  memorandum :] 

Having  heard  from  the  corresponding  secretary  of  the  National  Pris@n 
Association  that  he  had  received  no  report  on  the  penal  institutions  of 
Missouri,  we,  who  are  delegates  from  that  State  to  this  congress,  beg 
leave  to  submit  the  following  on  the  present  condition  of  such  institu- 
tions, with  the  regret  that  it  must,  of  necessity,  be  so  meager  and  in- 
complete. 

Missouri  has  only  one  penitentiary,  which  is  located  at  Jefferson  City. 
It  now  contains  some  nine  hundred  convicts,  of  whom  about  twenty-five 
are  women.  The  inspectors  are  State  officers,  consisting  of  the  auditor, 
treasurer,  and  attorney-general,  who  hold  their  position  cx-officio. 

Under  the  earnest  recommendations  of  the  governor  and  the  board 
of  guardians,  we  are  confident  that  our  penitentiary  will  be  placed,  by 
the  legislature  now  in  session,  on  a  higher  ground  of  reform  to  the  con- 
vict and  of  usefulness  to  the  State.  This  institution  has  been  made, 
since  its  erection  in  1830,  the  theater  of  experiments  of  almost  ever^' 
modern  system  of  management.  The  State  itself  has  undertaken  the 
jnanagement  of  its  labor  as  well  as  its  discipline.  It  has  been  leased 
out  ior  a  tcrnv  of  years  to  a  com])any,  Avith  full  control  given  to  them 
over  the  ])iisoners.  At  present  the  labor  of  tlie  men  is  hired  to  various 
individuals  aiul  for  varied  industrial  ])ursuits.  Under  all  these  modes 
of  managcMicnt,  the  institution  has  been  a  source  of  heavy  expense  to 
tlu^  State  ;  it  has  ncvin'  been  self-sustaining. 

Tlie  system  of  management  is  the  congregate,  and  CNcry  privilege  is 
allowed  to  th<5  inmalcs  consistent  with  the  ])ul)lic  safety.  The  principle 
of  kiiidncsH,  as  fai'  as  jiossihlc,  is  tlu^  pi'cscnt  rule  of  action-.  The  lash 
is  abolislH'd  and  the  sliiped  garments  will  be  oidy  retaincMl,  it  is  hoped, 
until  sonic  cxleiior  walls  now  in  i)rocess  of  construction  shall  be  IJnished. 
Tlie  laboi'  of  Mm'.  convicts  is  hired  at  JO  cents  a  <lay. 

I'lic  <Mliication  of  the  coiivi(;ts  is  at  present  utterly  neglected.     Yet  we 


PENAL    INSTITUTIONS    OF    NEBRASKA.  425 

anticipate,  among  the  coining  improvements,  a  system  of  instruction 
that  Avill  provide  for  a  teacher-iu-chief,  with  the  power  of  taking  from 
the  convicts  a  suitable  number  of  competent  assistants  ;  and  that  ample 
time  will  be  given  to  impart  to  all  illiterate  convicts  a  fair  common- 
school  education. 

From  the  experiments  made,  we  are  convinced  that,  for  the  class  of 
convicts  now  in  the  Missouri  penitentiary,  the  congregate  system  is  by 
far  the  best.  We  cannot  commend  the  adoption  of  any  plan  of  man- 
agement that,  by  a  coercive  s^'stem  of  silence  and  unceasing  labor,  for 
hours,  on  one  branch  of  industry,  in  one  position,  and  with  downcast 
eye,  tends  to  crush  out  the  manhood  of  the  convict,  and  which,  by  forc- 
ing his  thoughts  continually  in  the  direction  of  his  own  sufferings,  is 
calculated  to  breed  feelings  of  revenge  toward  the  State,  and  of  hatred 
toward  his  keepers.  Our  observation  and  experience  confirm  us  in  the 
belief  that  the  social  nature  of  the  j)risoner  should  be  exercised  and 
developed  under  proper  guidance,  and  that,  so  far  from  any  evil  result- 
ing, this  plan  may  be  made  a  powerful  element  of  individual  reforma- 
tion. 

The  system  of  countj'  jails  in  our  State  is  one  that  requires  many 
changes.  We  except  the  new  jail  of  Saint  Louis,  which,  in  all  the  ele- 
ments of  a  good  prison,  has  scarcely  its  superior  in  the  United  States. 

The  city  of  Saint  Louis  has  a  house  of  refuge  and  a  work-house ;  but 
the  State  itself  has  no  reformatory  institutions,  no  industrial  schools,  no 
houses  of  industry  and  correction.  We  earnestly  hope  and  believe  that 
the  question  of  organizing  these  esssential  agencies  in  a  system  for  the 
prevention  and  repression  of  crime  will  receive  the  early  attention  and 
favorable  action  of  the  legislature. 


14.  Nebeaska, 

By  Rcr.  J.  Ji'.  Snowdin,  Mi'ttiioiiari/  A.  S.  S.  Union,  and  acHng  chaplain  of  ihc  State  pcni^ 

teniiary. 

The  great  aim  here  is  to  educate  the  head  and  heart,  reform  and 
elevate,  making  the  prisoners  feel  that  they  can  regain  what  they  have 
lost,and  be  prepared,socially,morally,andreligiously,  to  assume  citizen- 
ship, and  enter  anew  upon  the  honorable  duties  of  free  life. 

The  discipline,  though  firm,  has  been  tempered  with  much  mildness. 
The  Bible  has  been  publicly  opened  and  studied,  the  Avord  of  God  is 
preached  every^Sabbath.  From  the  prison  vaults  songs  of  Zion  ascend 
daily.  Three  nights  in  the  week  a  common  school  is  conducted  with 
marked  success,  in  which  Indians,  Africans,  and  whites  are  taught  to  • 
read  and  write.  Instructive  lectures  are,  from  time  to  time,  delivered 
to  the  prisoners.  A  literary  society  has  been  formed  and  meets  weekly. 
The  convicts  are  also  supplied  with  books,  and  with  religious  and 
literary  papers.  Of  forty-eight  prisoners  discharged  within  the  past 
eighteen  months,  only  one  was  unable  to  read  and  write.  Several  have 
given  unmistakable  evidence  that  they  have  passed  from  death  unto 
life,  and  their  reformation  is  complete. 

Mr.  Henry  C.  Campbell,  the  present  warden,  is  a  humane  and  efficient 
oflBcer.  May  God  more  abundantly  bless  the  great  work  of  reclaiming 
and  reforming  the  fallen  and  guiltv. 


426  NATIONAL    PRISON    REFORM    CONGRESS    OF    1873. 

].j.  New  Hampshire. 

By  Kir.   Win.  Clark,  D.  D.,  forinerJij  tliainnaii  of  the  joint  leyialaticc  committee  on  prisona. 

Xew  Hampshire  coutains  a  population  of  Sl.jjGOO  souls ;  an  area  ot 
9,280  square  miles.  Its  inhabitants  are  mainly  Americans  by  birth,  and 
descendants  of  the  Puritans.  In  late  years  the  enlargement  of  manu- 
facturing-enterprises, and. the  development  of  our  extensive  water-i^ower 
have  brought  in  a  considerable  foreign  element.  In  general  education, 
morals,  good  order,  obedience  to  law,  and  industry,  the  State  will  compare 
favorably  with  any  of  her  sister  States. 

Our  penal  institutions  are  the  state  prison  at  Concord,  and  our  ten 
county  jails,  one  in  each  county. 

Eefraetory  prisoners  are  generally  subdued  and  brought  to  obedience 
by  kind,  yet  firm,  moral  treatment ;  where  this  fails,  confinement  in  dark 
cells,  with  diminution  of  food,  is  generally  effective.  Prison  inmates  are 
men,  nothwithstanding  their  violation  of  law  and  incarceration ;  self- 
respect  they  have  still,  to  which,  if  appeal  be  generously  made,  their 
dormant  manhood  will  reappear,  and  they  often  show  themselves  pos- 
sessed of  noble  qualities.  This  is  the  kind  of  discipline  which,  in  the 
main,  characterizes  the  government  of  the  New  Hampshire  state 
prison,  and  which,  its  ofl&cers  testify,  renders  its  management  compara- 
tively eas}'.  The  commutation  law,  which  enables  prisoners  by  good 
conduct  to  shorten  their  terms  of  imprisonment,  has  proved  an  eiiective 
agent  of  discipline  and  reformation. 

One  of  the  results  of  our  system  of  universal  education  in  Xew  Hamp- 
shire is,  that  but  a  comparatively  small  number  of  the  inmates  of  our 
state  prison  are  unable,  on  committal,  to  read  and  write.  Of  the  eighty 
prisoners  confined  April  30,  1872,  seventy-two  could  read  and  write;  six 
could  read,  but  not  write;  two  only  could  neither  read  nor  write.  The 
chaplain  maintains  a  school  for  such  notwithstanding  the  smallness  of 
the  number. 

There  is  a  good  library  belonging  to  the  prison  containing  about  fifteen 
hundred  volumes,  mostly  valuable  books,  wiiich  are  much  read  by  the 
prisoners.  The  legislature  appropriates  8100  per  annum  to  keep  up  and 
increase  the  library. 

The  prison  enjoys  the  constant  labors  of  a  faithful  and  experienced 
chaplain.  At  9  a.  m.  on  the  Sabbath  he  preaches  in  the  chapel  of  the 
prison  building,  when  all  the  male  prisoners  are  required  to  be  present. 
At  10  he  holds  religious  services  with  the  female  convicts,  which  arc 
followed  by  a  service  in  the  hospital.  At  1.30  p.  m.  a  Sabbath-school 
is  held  in  the  fcnnUe  department.  At  3.45  a  similar  service  is  con- 
ducted in  the  male  division  by  prison  ofllcers,  assisted  by  Christian 
•gentlemen  of  different  religious  denominations,  who  volunteer  their  ser- 
vices for  this  work.  The  remainder  of  the  Sabbath  the  chaplain  devotes 
to  private  conversation  with  the  ]>risoners  in  their  cells.  Attendance 
on  the  Sabbath -scliool  is  not  compulsory;  but  more  than  half  the 
j)ri.sonerH  attend  voluntarily.  A  convi(;ts'  prayer-meeting  is  held  every 
Wednesday  evening,  which  is  well  attended  by  the  prisoners,  who  take 
jjart  in  t\\v,  exercises  of  jjrayer  and  singing,  with  i)r<)priety  of  demeanor, 
and  witii  much  apparent,  and  it  may  Ixi  hoped  sincere,  devotion.  At 
any  late,  its  inllncncc,  ujjon  the-  tone  of  the  conduct  of  the  prisoners 
is  indubitably  and  decidedly  good. 

The  only  industry  carried  on  at  ]»resi'nt  is  that  of  the  nmnufaeture  of 
eabinel-ware.  ^flie  labor  is  let  to  a  contractor  at  95  cents  a  day  per 
man.     The  annual  profit  exceeds  the  exiXMises.     Tln^  e,xp(Miditures  for 


PENAL    INSTITUTIONS    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  427 

the  year  euding  April  30, 1872,  were  $14,429.85;  the  earning's  $19,930.88  j 
a  net  gain  to  the  State  of  $5,501.03. 

The  system  is  that  of  congregate,  as  distinguished  from  celhilar, 
imprisonment. 

Perfect  silence  is  maintained  among  the  prisoners  while  at  work,  and, 
indeed,  at  all  other  times ;  nor  are  they  permitted  to  communicate  by 
signs  more  than  by  words. 

The  prison  is  well  ventilated  and  kept  clean  and  wholesome.  The 
cells  and  halls  are  swept  daily,  and  often  throughly  washed.  The 
clothing  and  bedding-  are  comfortable.  The  food  is  ample,  varied,  well 
prepared,  palatable,  and  nourishing,  as  the  generally  hale  appearance  of 
the  prisoners  clearly  shows.  The  i^hysician  daily  visits  the  prison, 
taking  a  kindly  care  of  the  sick  and  of  chronic  invalids.  Mortality 
among  prisoners  is  probably  greater  than  among  the  same  number  of 
law-abiding  i)ersons,  for  the  reason  that  many  convicts  enter  jirison 
with  constitutions  impaired  by  vice  and  crime.  The  deaths  among  the 
1,522  inmates  of  the  prison  during  the  sixty  years  of  its  existence  have 
been  102,  or  at  the  rate  of  1^-  per  year  on  the  average. 

On  the  whole,  the  government  and  management  of  our  state  iirisou, 
in  its  several  departments,  will  compare,  I  think,  favorably  with  most 
institutions  of  the  kind  in  our  country.  The  i^rison  building  might  be 
improved ;  the  dormitories  are  too  small ;  and  other  architectural 
deficiencies  are  patent.  But  considering  that  the  prison  was  erected 
two  generations  back,  its  arrangements  and  conveniences  are  quite 
tolerable.  Its  government  is  firm,  but  humane.  The  physical  and 
moral  welfare  of  its  unfortunate  inmates  is  kindly  regarded  and,  to  a 
good  degree,  promoted.  The  institution  is  creditable  to  the  character 
of  the  State. 

Our  countj'  jails  are  very  far  from  being  models.  The  jail  system 
stands  in  need  of  radical  reforms. 

The  reform  school,  established  by  the  State  some  fifteen  years  ago, 
near  the  city  of  Manchester,  was  designed  as  a  home  and  school  for 
idle,  vagrant,  and  vicious  children.  There  was  found  to  be  a  rapidly 
increasing  number  of  children  of  both  sexes  in  our  manufacturing 
towns,  especially  the  children  of  foreigners,  who  were  growing  up  in  idle- 
ness, immorality,  vice,  and  crime,  and  who,  unless  checked  and  reformed, 
would  become  dangerous  members  of  the  community,  and  soon  be  can- 
didates for  the  state  prison.  To  save  the  children  and  train  them  to 
honest  industry,  the  reform  school  was  established,  and  it  has,  in  some 
good  degree,  accomplished  the  hoped-for  objects. 

The  inmates  of  the  school  make  good,  many  of  them  rapid,  improve- 
ment in  the  ordinary  branches  of  common  education ;  but  their  moral 
improvement  is  not  so  encouraging.  This  should  not  be  cause  of  sur- 
prise, as  most  of  them  had  previously  lived  under  evil  influences  and 
formed  vicious  habits.  Still,  the  larger  part  leave  the  school  improved 
in  character  and  become  useful  members  of  society. 

A  farm  is  connected  with  the  school,  on  which  all  the  bo^'S  work, 
more  or  less.  In  the  winter  they  are  employed  to  some  extent  in 
caning  chair-seats.  The  girls  are  taught  sewing,  house-work.  &c.  The 
managers  feel  that  there  should  be  introduced  into  the  establishment 
some  of  the  usual  trades,  believing  that  such  a  measure  would  be  for 
the  best  good  of  the  inmates, 

A  great  desideratum  in  the  reform  school  is  a  chaplain,  who  would 
devote  himself  wholly  to  the  moral  and  religious  instruction  and  train- 
ing of  the  scholars. 

A  societv  to  aid  discharged  convicts  was  formed  a  few  vears  since  in 


428  NATIONAL    PRISON    REFORM    CONGRESS    OF    I87;«. 

the  State,  but  as  yet  is  suiall  iu  membership  and  means,  and  has  not 
acquired  a  large  influence,  or  accomplished  very  important  results. 


IG.  Xew  Jersey. 

By  John  F.  Hageman,  Esq. 

The  State  of  New  Jersey  is  giving  increased  attentiou  to  the  science 
of  penal  law  and  prison  reform.  It  has  made  more  advance  within  the 
last  ten  years  than  in  the  preceding  half  century.  It  is,  however,  only 
a  follower  and  not  a  leader  in  this  noble  cause,  which  is  attracting  the 
attention  of  civilized  nations  as  the  most  inviting  field  of  Christian  phi- 
lanthropy— the  most  important  branch  of  social  science.  It  is  not  that 
the  people  of  New  Jersey  are  less  philanthropic  and  humane  than  their 
fellow-citizens  of  other  States  that  they  have  given  such  a  tardy  support 
to  this  great  movement ;  nor  is  it  that  they  occupy  a  lower  grade  than 
others  in  education,  religion,  and  public  wealth. 

The  State  claims  now  to  be  ranked  amoug  the  foremost  States  of  the 
Union  in  its  system  of  public  schools.  In  addition  to  this  and  its  pros- 
perous normal  school,  it  is  distinguished  for  its  several  colleges  and  sem- 
inaries, literary,  scientific,  and  theological,  of  world-wide  fame  and  influ- 
ence, and  for  its  large  number  of  Christian  churches  and  charitable 
institutions,  all  creating  an  enlightened  and  Christian  public  sentiment 
throughout  the  State.  And  no  State  is  in  a  better  financial  condition 
and  better  able  to  respond  to  the  calls  of  reform  measures  than  New 
Jersey. 

If  our  people  have  been  apathetic,  and  have  lagged  behind  in  this  re- 
form movement,  it  may  have  been  due,  in  some  measure,  to  their  strong 
confidence  in  the  unsullied  character  of  the  judiciary  of  the  State,  to 
Avhich  they  have  intrusted  the  enforcement  of  its  penal  laws  for  the  re- 
pression of  crimo.  With  no  corrupt  connivance  between  the  courts  and 
criminals,  they  have  been  assured  that  the  machinery  of  their  legal  tri- 
bunals are  in  the  hands  of  pure,  honest,  and  learned  oflicials.  It  may 
be  that  with  such  confidence  in  the  bench  and  bar  of  the  State,  for  the 
due  j)unishment  of  crime,  they  may  have  become  too  indifltereut  to  that 
feature  of  punishment  which  relates  to  the  reformation  of  the  convict, 
as  well  as  toward  juvenile  reformatories  for  the  prevention  of  crime. 

But  the  iihilanthropic  heart  and  conscience  of  New  Jersey  have  been 
touched  by  the  appeals  and  labors  of  prison-discipline  associations  of 
other  States,  and  it  is  hoped  that  henceforth  vigorous  and  co-operative 
efibrts  will  1)C  made  to  win  the  prisoner  back  to  virtue,  which  is  not  a 
hopeless  work.  The  late  Dr.  JJenjamin  Rush  of  Philadelphia,  before  the 
Society  for  J'romoting  I'olitical  Inquiries,  convened  at  the  house  of  Ben- 
jamin Franklin,  in  1787,  iu  speaking  of  the  eifects  of  public  punishment, 
said  :  "  I  liavc  no  more  doubt  of  every  crime  having  its  cure  in  moral  and 
physical  iiillucnce  than  I  have  of  the  etUcacy  of  the  Peruvian  bark  in 
curing  the  intdiiiittcint  i'eviiY.  The  only  ditficulty  is  to  find  out  the 
proper  remedy  or  nuncdies  lor  ])articular  vices." 

The  public  institutions  of  the  State  which  arc  strictly  ])enal  are;  1. 
The  state  i)rison  ;  L'.  The  county  jail.  And  those  which  :ire  chiefly  reform- 
atory and  i)reventive,  arc  :  .'J.  TJui  State  Jvel'orm  School  for  Juvenile  Of- 
fen<lers;    1.  1'Iie  State  Industrial  S(;hool  for  (Jirls. 


PENAL    INSTITUTIONS    OF    NEW    JERSEY.  429 

1. — The  state  py (SOU. 

This  is  situated  near  the  Delaware,  in  South  Trenton.  It  was  built  in 
1836,  in  place  of  the  old  Lamberton  prison.  It  was  designed  to  carry 
out  the  solitary  system,  which  was  then  approved,  but  which  has  been 
since  abandoned  as  injurious  to  health  and  mind,  expensive  and  ill- 
adapted  to  the  reformation  of  the  prisoners.  The  building  has  been 
enlarged  from  time  to  time  by  additional  wings,  one  of  which,  known  as 
the  east  wing,  has  just  been  completed,  with  170  cells,  constructed  and 
finished  upon  modern,  reformatory  principles,  as  to  light,  ventilation, 
cleanliness,  and  security.  The  wiiole  number  of  cells  in  the  prison  is 
522 ;  all  are  lighted  with  gas  at  night,  as  are  also  the  public  rooms  and 
halls.  The  whole  building  is  warmed  by  steam,  and  under  its  present 
careful  management  it  is  not  subject  to  the  charge  of  being  utterly  unfit 
for  a  prison,  but  it  really  contains  all  the  elements  of  a  suitable  building 
for  such  purpose.  The  average  number  of  prisoners  during  the  past 
year  was  527. 

General  administration. — By  recent  legislation  the  government  of  the 
prison  has  been  improved.  In  1809  the  prison  act  was  revised  and 
amended,  and  the  office  of  supervisor  was  created,  the  ap])oiutmeut  to 
be  made  by  the  governor,  chancellor,  chief  justice,  and  attorney-general 
of  the  State,  for  the  term  of  three  years,  with  a  salary  of  $4,000  a  year. 
This  officer,  and  the  comptroller  and  treasurer  of  the  State,  constitute 
a  board  of  supervisors.  The  keeper  and  the  five  inspectors  are  chosen 
annually  by  the  legislature ;  the  constitution  requires  this ;  the  keeper 
receives  a  salary  of  $4,000,  and  appoints  his  deputies.  The  judges  of 
the  supreme  court  and  court  of  errors,  and  the  members  of  the  legisla- 
ture, constitute  a  board  of  visitors.  The  annual  election  of  the  keeper 
and  inspectors  by  the  legislature  destroys  the  stability  of  the  prison 
administration.  Politics  will,  in  this  way,  interfere  with  the  appoint- 
ment, and  frequent  and  uncertain  changes  in  the  offices  of  keeper  and 
inspectors  are  hurtful  to  the  good  management  of  the  institution.  There 
is  no  central  power  supervising  and  directing  the  entire  penal  system  of 
the  State.  Such  a  power,  having  charge  of  all  the  penal  and  reforma- 
tory institutions  of  the  Commonwealth,  with  a  new  classification  of 
crimes  and  the  establishment  of  intermediate  prisons,  would  be  of  great 
utility. 

Prison  industries. — The  present  law  requires  every  convict  to  be  kept 
at  hard  labor  every  day  except  Sundays,  if  able  to  work.  The  original 
plan  of  private  labor  in  cells  has  been  superseded  by  ample  workshops, 
erected  in  connection  with  the  prison,  where  the  prisoners  work  to- 
gether in  silence,  and  take  their  meals  at  a  common  table,  also  in  silence, 
having  teachers  and  overseers  in  their  work.  Their  labor  is  done  by 
contract,  which  is  not  favorable  to  the  labors  of  the  moral  instructor. 
But  the  system  works  well  financially  thus  far.  The  convicts  are  happier 
and  more  obedient,  under  such  a  system  of  labor,  than  the  former  one,  and 
their  earnings  amount  to  more  than  enough  to  maintain  them  in  prison. 
The  State  has  received  this  year  about  $28,000  from  the  surplus  of  their 
earnings  after  taking  out  the  cost  of  their  maintenance.  Their  earnings 
the  past  year  amounted  to  $80,892.99,  and  their  expenses  were  $52,414.52, 
exclusive  of  the  salaries  of  officers.  It  may  soon  become  wholly  self- 
sustaining. 

Discipline. — The  treatment  of  prisoners  has  become  kind  and  humane. 
No  corporeal  i)unishment  is  allowed  by  law.  The  use  of  the  parti-col- 
ored dress  is  retained  to  prevent  tiie  e^scape  of  prisoners  from  the  work- 
shops, which  are  not  yet  as  secure  as  they  should  be.    The  order  among"^ 


430  NATIONAL    PRISON    REFORM    CONGRESS    OF    1S73. 

the  piisouers  is  improved  by  tlie  system  of  work  and  the  reformatory 
eftbrts  bearing  upon  them.     Kind  treatment  is  not  lost  upon  them. 

Religious  and  secular  instruction. — This  is  an  important  department  of 
duty.  As  far  back  as  1827,  in  the  old  Lamberton  prison,  the  students 
of  the  Princeton  Theological  Seminary,  under  the  inspiration  of  the 
Boston  Prison  Discipline  Society,  visited  that  prison  every  Sunday  to 
teach  the  Bible  and  to  preach  to  the  prisoners,  and  the  legislature 
favored  it  and  directed  rooms  to  be  provided  in  the  prison  for  that  pur- 
pose. The  law  has,  for  a  great  many  years,  authorized  a  supply  of  the 
Bible  and  other  books  to  the  prisoners,  and  also  a  suitable  person  to 
give  them  religious  instruction.  The  moral  instructor  is  now  appointed 
by  the  governor  and  supervisors,  with  a  salary  of  $1,000  a  year,  and  he 
is  required  to  devote  all  his  time  to  his  otJtice.  He  preaches  every  Sab- 
bath in  each  of  the  four  halls  of  the  prison  and  recites  the  Moral  Law, 
the  Apostolic  Creed,  and  the  Lord's  Prayer.  The  Bible  and  religious 
papers  and  books  are  distributed  among  the  convicts,  and  are  gladly 
received  and  read  by  many  of  them. 

The  moral  instructor  and  the  other  officers  of  the  prison  concur  in  an 
appeal  for  a  chapel  for  religious  services  on  Sundays.  At  present  the 
prisoners  are  in  their  cells  unseen,  while  rhe  preaching  is  done  in  the  hall 
in  their  hearing.  It  is  urged,  we  think  with  good  reason,  that  the  prison- 
ers should  all  be  allowed  to  meet  together,  in  a  chapel  where  they  could 
see  the  preacher,  and  he  see  them,  eye  to  eye ;  where  they  could  sing 
together,  and  feel  all  the  glow  which  social  public  worship  excites.  What 
a  congregation  five  hundred  prisoners  would  make !  How  an  earnest  and 
eloquent  minister  would  be  quickened  by  such  an  inspiring  company  of 
hearers!  What  marvelous  conversions  might  be  expected  among  such 
a  class  of  men,  many  of  whom  have  broken  and  sorrowful  hearts !  Such 
preaching  is  the  divinely-prescribed  means  of  reforming  and  regener- 
ating men,  and  no  men  are  more  in  need  of  such  means  than  prisoners, 
for  whom  the  gospel  was  designed  and  sent. 

The  legislature  has  appropriated  $10,000  for  the  erection  of  a  chapel, 
and  it  may  be  hoped  that  this  great  desideratum  will  soon  be  supplied. 

There  ought  to  be  a  person  employed  as  a  secular  teacher,  especially 
for  those  prisoners  who  cannot  read  and  write.  At  j^resent  there  is  no 
provision  for  secular  instruction  in  the  prison.  This  we  hope  will  soon 
be  provided.  The  hours  of  labor  need  not  be  encroached  upon,  for  this 
instruction  could  be  given  in  the  evening. 

The  library. — The  prison  library  now  numbers  L*,r)00  volumes,  which 
are  read  with  interest  by  the  prisoners.  It  exerts  a  good  influence  in 
tiie  prison. 

Commutation  and  rewards. — The  principle  of  remitting  a  part  of  the 
term  of  the  sentence  for  good  conduct,  so  universally  commended  by  ex- 
l)erienced  i)rison  keej^ers,  has  been  adopted  in  a  small  degree  in  New 
Jersey.  Tlie  moral  instructor,  supervisor,  and  keeper,  all  testify  to  its 
Iiai)py  inlluence  on  the  order  and  good  behavior  of  the  prisoners.  The 
number  of  those  who  received  a  remission  during  the  last  year  was  215. 

The  giving  rewards^  by  allowing  the  i)risoner  to  retain  a  portion  of 
his  earnings  for  liia  own  use  when  discharged,  or  for  the  use  of  his 
family,  has  not  yet  been  adopted  in  this  ])rison.  The  legislature  will 
probably  authorize  it  when  tliey  next  amend  the  jirison  law. 

I'ardons. — This  power  could  not  Ix^  lodged  in  safer  haiuls  than  in  the 
court  of  jiardons,  which  is  comjiosed  of  the  goveiiior,  chancellor,  and 
the  six  lay  Jn<lg('s  of  the  conrt  of  errors,  or  a  majority  of  them.  The 
number  pardoned  last  year  was  <>.'].  It  is  usual  to  extend  a  pardon  to  a 
certain  class  of  prisoners,  a  little  1)efon'  their  term  expires,  so  as  to  save 


PENAL    INSTITUTIONS    OF    NKW    JERSEY.  ii)l 

their  citizensbip,  since  a  pardon  oi>erates  as  a  rehabilitation  ot  the  pris- 
oner in  his  civil  rights. 

Discharfied  prisoners. — We  have  iio  adequate  provision  by  law  for 
aiding  prisoners  upon  their  discharge.  The  statute  allows  $5  to  be 
paid  to  each  couvict  when  discharged ;  and  the  lack  of  State  aid  is  not 
supplied  by  voluntary  charitable  associations.  The  same  motives  which 
would  prompt  efforts  to  reform  convicts  in  prison  ought  to  prompt 
efforts  to  save  them  when  they  go  out  from  relapsing  into  a  criminal 
life.  This  subject  is  receiving  special  attention,  which  will  result  prob- 
ably' in  the  organization  of  an  aid  association,  and  of  additional  legisla- 
tion, perhaps  a  State  commission  to  take  charge  of  the  matter. 

Reformation  of  prisoners. — The  principle  which  underlies  all  these 
prison-reform  measures  rests  upon  the  conviction  that  punishment, 
whose  chief  end  is  to  prevent  crime,  is  effected  not  merely  by  depriving 
the  offender  of  the  power  to  repeat  his  offense,  nor  by  intimidating 
others  from  the  commission  of  a  like  offense,  but  by  reforming  the  char- 
acter of  the  prisoner  (where  he  has  not  forfeited  his  life)  and  restoring 
him  to  society  a  better  man.  Superadded  to  these  ideas  of  punishment 
is  that  one  of  preventing  crime  by  training  wayward  and  neglected 
children  from  the  paths  of  vice  into  those  of  virtue.  Hence  our  reform 
schools.  !New  Jersey  is  making  progress  in  this  direction.  It  is  not 
possible  to  determine  how  many  prisoners  have  been  reformed,  nor  to 
what  extent  they  have  been  "benelited  by  the  efforts  made  for  that 
purpose,  for  we  have  only  just  begun  to  make  our  prison  a  place  where 
human  beings  might  be  improved  in  character.  But  we.  have  certain 
knowledge  that  much  good  has  been  accomplished,  and  we  have  faith 
that  in  the  future  much  more  efficiency  will  attend  the  reformatory 
efforts.    The  number  of  recidivists  must  grow  less  and  less. 

II. — Count  1/  jails. 

There  are  twenty-one  counties  in  the  State,  and  a  jail  in  every  county, 
and  in  a  few  instances  a  workhouse  connected  with  the  jail.  These 
county  prisons  are  for  punishment  as  well  as  for  detention.  As  a  gen- 
eral thing,  they  are  insecure,  filthy,  unhealthy,  and  utterly  destitute  of 
reformatory  power.  There  is  no  system  of  discipline  by  which  they  are 
governed.  The  care  of  them  is  rather  incidentally  committed  to  the 
sheriff;  but  he  is  under  the  direction  of  the  chosen  freeholders,  who 
are  elected  more  with  reference  to  the  building  of  bridges,  &c.,  than  to 
their  qualifications  to  discipline  prisoners  and  regulate  prisons.  In 
structure  and  government,  with  perhaps  one  or  two  exceptions,  they  are 
all  a  miserable  failure.  The  number  of  ccMivicts  confined  in  them  is  too 
small  to  justify  the  expenditure  of  money  necessary  to  maintain  reform- 
atory provisions. 

Within  a  few  years  past,  a  sentiment  in  favor  of  attaching  a  work- 
house to  the  jails  has  resulted  in  the  experiment  in  three  or  four  counties, 
but  such  a  policy  is  not  fully  vindicated  by  the  trial,  especially  in  the 
rural  counties.  The  number  of  prisoners  is  too  few  and  tluctuating  to 
warrant  the  outlay  involved  in  conducting  a  system  of  prison  labor. 
The  character  of  our  jails  is  such  that  our  courts  feel  constrained  to 
send  too  many  convicts,  guilty  of  trivial  misdemeanors  only,  to  the 
state  prison.  There  is  really  no  classification  of  prisoners  in  the  prison 
system  of  the  State.  The  jail  prison  laws  need  thorough  revision.  A 
(;ounty  jail  should  be  fitted  and  used  only  for  the  detention  of  persona 
awaiting  trial.  If  several  counties  could  unite  in  sustaining  a  penal 
prison,  to  be  mnde  reformatory  by  work  and  other  proper  appliances  to 


432  NATIONAL    PRISON    REFORM    CONGRESS    OF    1873. 

that  end,  it  would  be  an  imin-ovement  upon  the  present  plan ;  or  if  a  syS' 
tern  of  intermediate  prisons  by  the  State  could  be  adopted,  these  penal 
jails  might  be  dispensed  with.  We  are  glad  to  believe  that  the  present 
system  cannot  much  longer  withstand  public  opinion. 

III. — The  State  Beform  School  for  juvenile  offenders. 

In  1850  an  act  establishing  a  bouse  of  refuge  was  passed,  and  a 
building  was  commenced  on  a  beautiful  site  at  Kingston,  but  through 
tlie  freaks  of  party  politics  the  act  was  repealed  and  the  work  aban- 
doned, the  State  treasury  paying  for  tlie  loss  and  damage.  Fifteen 
years  were  lost  to  the  cause  of  this  reform.  But  the  blunder  has  been 
corrected  by  the  act  of  1805,  which  established  the  State  reform 
school  for  juvenile  offenders.  This  institution  has  been  organized  on  a 
farm  of  190  acres  near  Jamesburgh,  in  ]Middlesex  County,  a  central  and 
eligible  situation.  Suitable  buildings  have  been  erected,  to  carry  out 
the  plan  of  an  open  farm  system,  for  the  reformation  of  boys  between 
eight  and  sixteen  years  of  age,  Avho  shall  have  committed  some  crime 
other  than  murder  or  manslaughter,  or  shall  be  habitually  disorderly, 
vagrant,  or  incorrigible,  or  otherwise  fit  subjects  for  such  an  institution. 
Its  object  is  to  prevent  rather  than  to  inmish  crime.  The  boys  are 
taught  to  work  on  the  farm,  and  are  instructed  in  secular  and  religious 
learning.  The  number  of  boys  now  in  the  institution  is  about  110.  All 
the  appliances  for  reformation  are  employed  in  this  school.  It  is  well 
governed.  The  board  of  control  consists  of  the  governor,  chancellor, 
and  chief  justice  of  the  State,  by  whom  six  trustees  are  appointed,  and 
they  exercise  a  supervision.  The  apx)roval  of  a  justice  of  the  supreme 
court  is  required  in  every  case  of  committing  a  boy  to  the  school.  It 
is  not  a  prison  governed  by  physical  force,  but  "  the  Christian  idea  of  a 
well-regulated  family,  with  the  steady  pressure  of  kind,  moral,  and 
social  influence  governing  all  its  discipline."  The  family  system,  in  con- 
tradistinction to  the  congregate,  is  the  one  here  employed.  The  boys 
show  their  appreciation  of  it  by  not  running  away,  even  when  unre- 
strained. A  new  family  building  has  just  been  erected  near  the  main 
building.     There  have  been  300  boys  in  the  institution  since  1867. 

It  is  a  success,  and  a  great  preventive  of  crime  in  the  State.  It  is 
v.ell  managed  and  liberally  supported  by  the  State. 

^\. —  The  State  Industrial  School  for  (jirls. 

I'his  school  has  been  in  operation  for  a  year.  It  is  held  in  a. rented 
house  at  I'iiie  drove,  on  the  Delaware,  a  little  below  Trenton.  The  site 
arid  a}»])ropriate  buihliiigs,  though  authorized  by  the  legislature,  have 
not  yet  been  procured.  Tliere  are  seventeen  young  girls  in  the  school^ 
who  are  em])loyed  in  making  their  own  clothing,  and  in  helping  to  make 
clothes  for  the  boys'  reform  school.  The  same  provisions  which  con- 
trol the  admission  of  boys  in  the  reform  s(;hool,  and  the  same  sui)crvis- 
ion  and  control  which  the  goverm)r  and  other  officers  exercise  in  gov- 
erning the  reform  school,  are  applied  in  this  institution  for  girls.  Th© 
justices  of  the  siii)reme  court  in  tlieir  circular  say  : 

'V\\f\  iiiHfitiil  ion  in  not  ii  lioino  for  Tiicrcly  dostitnto  or  orphan  oliildrcn,  bnt  in  th« 
ofJ'njirin;;  of  :i  i^rowing  conviction  tliat,  yoiui;^  f'cniulcH  wlio  have  violated  the  law 
«Iioiii'l  liavo  HOMic,  other  rcfn^^c  a-ssi^^ncd  thcin  than  our  vilo  coirimon  jailH,  v/h«ro  thora 
uro  not  only  !io  harriers  to  constant  contact  with  every  class  of  criminals,  but  an  entirw 
Siltsfiice  of  all  aii)tlianc<'H  of  a  reformatory  characttsr. 

Then*  are  six  lady  uianagerM  ai>i)ointed,  besides  the  trus-teen,  to  super- 
vise and  uiauagc  the  institution. 


PENAL    INSTITUTIONS    OF   NEW    YORK.  433 

V. — Private  preventive  institutionfi. 

There  are  private  orphan  asylum.s,  cliilclren\s  homes,  &c.,  in  the  State, 
which  are  not  state  institntions,  but  are  sustained  by  churches,  or  pri- 
vate charity,  some  incorporated  and  some  not,  which  are  germane  to 
those  i)reventive  schools  of  the  State  above  mentioned,  in  training  des- 
titute and  neglected  children.  But  wo  deem  it  unnecessary  to  incntn- 
ber  our  pai)er  Avith  further  details. 

General  conclusions. 

1.  The  penal  laws  need  revising.  The  number  of  wain proJiibita  offenses 
have  been  so  multiplied  that  many  persons  are  indicted,  convicted,  and 
sent  to  the  state  prisons,  where  they  fare  precisely  as  the  manslayer  and 
highway  robber  do,  for  offenses  which  are  trivial,  hardly  to  be  called 
criminal.     There  are  too  many  men  sent  to  the  state  prison. 

2.  There  should  be  intermediate  prison  houses  of  correction  for  those 
who  are  convicted  only  of  misdemeanors,  and  for  those  who  have  been 
in  a  measure  reformed  in  the  state  prison,  to  whom  more  privileges  can 
be  safely  accorded  of  a  reformatory  character  than  a  state  prison  can 
allow.     This  would,  at  the  same  time,  greatly  relieve  the  state  prison. 

3.  A  classification  of  crimes,  punishments,  and  prisons  should  be  made 
by  law,  and  the  whole  system  of  jails  and  prisons  in  the  State  should  be 
administered  by  some  central  unit  power,  withdrawing  from  county 
jails  their  penal  character,  and  making  them  only  places  of  detention, 
with  their  structure  and  government  thoroughly  changed. 

4.  Larger  rewards  should  be  given  to  prisoners  from  their  earnings,  for 
good  behavior ;  and  more  aid  should  be  rendered  to  the  discharged 
convict  either  by  the  State,  or,  what  is  better,  perhaps,  by  associated 
private" charity,  with  state  aid. 

Toward  this  high  standard  New  Jersey  is  gradually  progressing. 


17.  J^EW  York. 

lUj  Elisha  Harris,  M.  D.,  corresponding  secretary  of  the  Prison  Jssooiation  of  New  YorJc. 

The  penal  and  reformatory  institutions  of  the  State  of  New  York  are 
reporte<l  upon  by  the  author  of  this  paper  from  the  standpoint  of  recent 
searchiitg  personal  examination  and  nearly  two  years  of  study  and  ofScia! 
intercourse  with  them.  If  the  view  presented  in  the  report  is  not  flatter- 
ing to  our  State  pride,  the  facts  are  certainly  adapted  to  awaken  inquiry 
and  incite  to  the  eftbrts  needed  for  the  improvement  of  these  institu- 
tions and  the  increased  efficiency  of  the  penal  and  reformatory  work  to 
be  done  by  them. 

The  State  of  New  York  has  a  much  greater  burden  of  criminal  popu- 
lation than  the  well-ordered  and  law-abidingclassesof  society  are  aware 
of.  We  have  three  state  prisons;  six  local  prisons,  under  county  ad- 
ministration, named  penitentiaries;  sixty-seven  county  jails  in  our  sixty 
counties  ;  and  something  more  than  one  hundred  police  stations,  or  lock- 
ups, in  the  various  cities  and  large  towns  of  the  State.  Most  of  the 
institutions  embraced  in  these  several  classes  suffer  fiom  over-crowding, 
including  many  even  of  the  county  jails,  which  last  are,  for  the  most 
part,  in  a  condition  not  to  be  commended.  The  number  of  prisoners 
confint'd  in  the  police  prisons,  where  the  detention  is  often  only  for  a 
H.  Ex.'lSo 28 


434  NATIONAL    PEISON    KEFORM    CONGRESS    OF    1873. 

few  hours,  aud  never  for  more  than  a  few  (lays,  is.  not  known  to  the 
writer.  The  popuhition  of  the  other  prisons  named  above, in  the  autumn 
of  1872,  was  as  follows:  State  prisons, 2,924;  penitentiaries, 2,435;  coun- 
ty jails,  1,600  :  making  an  aggregate  of  6,959.  The  number  of  children 
and  youths  contiued  in  the  five  reformatories,  viz,  the  two  houses  of  ref- 
uge, the  asylum  for  juvenile  delinquents,  and  the  Catholic  i)rotectories, 
(male  and  female,)  was  4,000.  This  gives  a  total  number  of  i)ersous 
Tinder  restraint  and  in  custody  for  violations  of  law,  not  including  those 
in  police  jails,  of  10,959. 

The  total  annual  number  of  convictions  for  felonies  by  courts  of  record 
is  less  than  2,500,  and  by  lower  courts,  ranking  as  courts  of  sessions, 
the  number  is  about  80,000. 

The  law  which  allows  a  prisoner  to  shorten  his  term  of  sentence  by 
good  conduct  and  industry  i^  the  most  effective  instrument  of  discipline 
at  present  known  to  our  prison  administration.  The  dark  cell,  reduced 
diet,  perforated  paddle,  and  all  other  forms  of  punishment  in  use,  bear 
no  comparison  in  their  deterring  intluence  and  moral  power  to  that 
of  the  fear  of  losing  the  small  gain  of  time  in  their  sentence  allowed  by 
the  commutation  law. 

A  perfect  understanding  now  exists  between  the  board  of  inspectors 
of  the  state  prisons  and  the  New  York  Prison  Association  as  to  their 
mutual  relations  and  the  rights  of  the  association  as  regards  admission 
into  the  prisons  and  the  use  of  agencies  for  the  salvation  of  the  con- 
victs after  their  liberation.    In  each  of  the  three  state  prisons  the  cor- 
responding secretary  is  provided  with  an  office,  where  he  is  permitted 
10  send  for  and  converse  with  any  and  all  prisoners  whom  he  may  de- 
sire to  see,  and  to  counsel  and  aid  with  reference  particularly  to  employ- 
ment after  their  discharge.     The  prison  wardens,  chaplains,  and  clerks 
iave  been  officially  instructed  by  the  board  to  give  all  the  information 
•and  aid  desired  by  the  association  for  the  furtherance  of  this  end,  so 
that  it  may  be  enabled  to  render  all  the  service  possible,  both  to  the 
convicts  on  their  release  and  to  the  interests  of  society  and  humanity, 
on  whose  behalf  the  service  is  performed.    Lists  of  the  prisoners  to  be 
discharged  each  month  are  sent  to  the  association  in  advance,  and  the 
secretary  visits  regularly  all  the  prisons,  and  has  an  interview  with 
every  such  prisoner,  to  ascertain  his  physical  condition,  ability,  wishes, 
purposes,  and  whatever  else  may  be  helpful  to  him  in  enabling  him  to 
procure  work  the  instant  he  becomes  a  free  man,  if  his  intention  is  to 
pursue  an  honest  way  of  life.    The  key  to  the  success  that  has  followed 
this  eflbrt  is  the  employment  register,  which  contains  classified  lists 
of  more  than  three  hundred  employers  in  thirty  different  occupations 
and  trades  of  the  best-organized  industries  all  over  the  State.    The 
private  interviews  with  each  convict  during  the  few  weeks  immediately 
preceding  liberation   constitute  the  first  essential  step  in   the  whole 
eflbrt.     Cheat  pains  are  taken  in  these  interviews  to  reach  the  convict's 
judgment, conscience, and  heart,  and  to  give  him  definite  instruction  and 
advice  concerning  common  duties  and  the  personal  safeguards  and  care 
which  he  will  most  need  when  liberated.     Care  is  taken  also,  on  the 
other  hand,  to  secure  in  each  chosen  emi)loyer  a  true  and  earnest  co- 
worker in  the  eifort  to  save  these  nieii,  who  are  struggling  toward  a 
return  to  honest  industry  and  resi>ectability.     As  no  intermediate  stage 
of  testing  or  i)reparati<)n  is  i)ossible,  under  (existing  circumstances,  in 
-^lenling  with  convicts  discharged  irom  the  New  York  piisons,  and  as  it 
's  all-important  that  they  be  usefully  ein|>loyed  from  the  day  of  libera- 
Tion,  and  that,  as  far  as  possible,  they  be  dissuaded  (rom  going  into  the 
Jarge  cities,  excejit  undc^r  rare  circumstaiujcs  and  definite  stipulations 


PENAL    INSTITUTIONS    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA.  435 

concerning  suitable  and  constant  emi)loyTnent,  it  is  not  too  nuicli  to  say 
concerning  the  bel{)('ul  interest  and  efforts  of  the  employers  who  have 
lent  us  their  aid  in  this  work,  that  theirs  is  the  noblest  share  in  it. 
Modify-  and  improve  the  present  method  of  this  duty  as  we  may,  and, 
indeed,  as  events  and  progress  in  it  must  require,  still  the  employer 
who  continues  to  offer  to  the  liberated  convict  the  means  for  honorable 
and  self-sup[)orting  industry  and  a  replacement  in  the  ranks  of  honest 
citizenship,  will  continue  to  be  a  chief  dependence  in  all  this  difiicult 
task. 

Each  state  prison  and  mostof  the  ])eiiitentiaries  and  larger  jails  make 
monthly  returns  to  the  New  York  Prison  Association,  showing  the  date 
■of  report;  the  name,  nativity,  age,  and  crime  of  the  i)risoner;  from  what 
county  and  by  what  court  sentenced;  term  of  sentence;  reduction  of 
sentence  by  good  conduct;  foruier  habits  and  occupation  ;  his  employ- 
ment in  prison;  his  social  relations  and  residence  of  nearest  friends; 
present  physical  condition  as  regards  ability  to  labor;  amount  of  money 
ready  for  him  on  liberation;  together  with  such  general  remarks  as  the 
authorities  may  see  fit  to  append.  A  card  is  given  to  each  liberated 
prisoner,  on  his  entering  upon  the  situation  provided  for  him,  containing 
sundry  counsels,  of  which  the  following  may  serve  as  a  specimen:  Form 
the  habit  of  depositing  in  a  savings  bank  from  25  to  75  per  cent,  of  your 
wages  every  i^ay  day.  Keep  clear  of  all  bad  associates.  Maintain  a 
habit  of  useful  reading;  with  other  like  maxims.  It  is  expected  by  the 
association  and  the  employer  that  the  person  thus  aided  will  promise,  l,to 
live  prudently  and  honorably;  2,  to  labor  faithfully  and  punctually;  3,  to 
abstain  from  intoxicating  drinks;  4,  to  maintain  self  respect ;  5,  to  de- 
serve the  respect  of  others;  6,  to  agree  with  his  employer  concerning 
the  projiortion  of  monthly  or  weekly  savings. 

The  Houses  of  Refuge,  the  Asylum  for  Juvenile  Delinquents,  the  Catho- 
lic Protectories,  the  House  of  the  Good  Shepherd,  the  Children's  Aid 
Society,  the  Truant  Homes,  and  other  like  agencies,  in  the  metropolis 
and  other  large  towns,  are  continually  snatching  multitudes  of  children 
and  youth  from  destruction  as  "  brands  from  the  burning."  They  are 
adding  at  least  10,000  good,  useful,  and  happy  lives  every  year  to  the 
population  of  the  country,  while  subtracting  the  same  number  from  the 
crowded  ranks  of  the  vicious  and  the  criminal. 


18.  North  Carolina. 

By  Bev.  G.  William  Weller,  former  meniber  of  the  board  of  directors. 

The  object  that  the  National  Prison  Association  sets  before  itself,  in 
seeking  reports  from  the  several  States,  it  may  safely  be  assumed,  is 
not  merely  to  learn  the  number,  character,  and  adequacy  of  their  penal, 
reformatory,  and  preventive  institutions,  nor  what  may  already  have 
been  accomplished  in  the  direction  of  the  work  undertaken  by  the 
association,  but  also  to  seek  data  from  which  to  learn  what  is  yet  to  be 
done,  to  discover  what  hiuderances  are  in  the  way  of  this  work,  and  the 
peculiar  condition  or  character  of  their  populations  that  have  a  bearing 
on  the  question,  if  any  such  exist.  It  is  proposed,  in  this  report,  to  offer 
such  facts,  in  regard  to  our  State,  as  may  present  the  nj,iture  and  condi- 
tion of  the  field  for  penal  disciplmo  and  reformatory  effort  as  it  now 
exists;  to  present  explanations  that  may  account,  partially  at  least,  for 
the  inadequacy  of  institutions  for  the  ijreventiou  of  crime  and  the  little 


436  NATIONAL   PRISON    REFORM    CONGRESS    OF    1873. 

interest  felt  iu  the  welfare  of  onr  criminal  population  ;  and  to  indicate 
the  diflBcnlties  to  be  encountered  in  the  prosecution  of  tlie  great  work  of 
the  reformation  of  prison  discipline  and  in  the  efforts  to  prevent  the 
formation  of  a  criminal  class. 

There  needs,  perhaps,  a  glance  at  the  topography  of  the  State  to 
enable  the  reader  to  comprehend  some  facts  to  be  stated  in  this  report. 
One  of  the  original  thirteen  States,  the  territory  of  North  Carolina 
began  to  be  settled  at  an  early  date.  Its  area  is  50,704  square  miles, 
which  is  more  than  that  of  New  York  ;  and  yet  the  population  is  only 
1,071,361,  Of  this  population  678,470  are  white  and  ol)l,650  colored. 
Of  the  entire  population  only  3,029  are  of  foreign  birth.  The  territorial 
extent  and  homogeneity  of  population  will  have  a  bearing  on  the 
statistics  of  crime  in  this  State  and  on  the  character  of  its  penal  insti- 
tutions. North  Carolina  never  has  become  a  refuge  for  the  vicious 
populations  of  other  States  and  countries.  Its  reputation  for  obedience 
to  law  and  its  freedom  from  crime,  before  the  rebellion,  were  known  to  the 
whole  country.  Commerce  has  never  much  flourished  in  this  State. 
Its  coast,  though  extended,  bai'S  ingress  to  its  riv^ers  by  shifting  sand- 
bars and  maddened  storms,  which  seem  to  keep  guard  against  the  out- 
side world.  There  are  no  large  cities  into  which  the  shipping  of  the 
world,  in  bringing  its  products,  brings  also  its  crimes.  Wilmington,  the 
largest  city  in  the  State,  has  a  population  that  does  not  exceed  15,000, 
while  no  other  reaches  10,000. 

North  Carolina  was  a  slave  State  until  1865 ;  manufactures  were 
never  encouraged ;  and  hence  its  streams  are  not  lined  with  manufac- 
turing villages  that  give  employment  in  their  mills  to  a  floating  popu- 
lation, in  which  are  commonly  found  those  who  swell  the  calendar  of 
crime.  A  verj'  large  i)ro])ortion  of  the  million  of  its  population  is  and 
has  ever  been  engaged  in  planting  and  farming.  While  the  farms  were 
valued  at  $143,301,005,  the  capital  invested  in  manufactures  and  trades 
was  only  $9,003,703.  So  the  population  is  largely  rural,  and  thinly 
scattered  over  a  wide  domain,  having  no  populous  and  wealthy  centers. 
in  such  population  cai)ital  crime  is  unusual.  Vagrants  are  not  tolera- 
ted, and  hence  soil  is  wanting  lor  the  vicious  classes.  This  may  account;, 
in  i)art,  for  the  fact  that  the  attention  of  the  State  was  not  at  an  earlier 
day  directed  to  the  question  of  penal  discipline. 

That  a  State  should  grow  as  old  as  North  Carolina,  and  yet  have 
done  so  little  in  the  way  of  preventing  crime  and  reforming  its 
vicious  classes,  nuiy  be  owing  to  the  fact  that  general  intelligence  has 
not  been  diffnsed  among  the  |)eople;  that  public  schools  are  not  appre- 
ciated, and  that  those  who  will  not  voluntarily  tax  themselves  to  organize 
schools  and  build  scluxd  houses  for  their  own  children,  would  naturally 
refuse  to  submit  to  tiixation  lor  the  creation  of  institutions  to  prevent 
crinu'  or  rcloiiu  criminals.  The  legislature  of  the  State  is  mostly  con- 
trolled l)y  the  tax  ])ayers;  their  inlliu'nce  is  seen  iu  the  practical  denial 
of  the  axiom  that  "an  oun(r(^  of  prevention  is  worth  a  i)ound  of  (Hire.'' 
Although  the  constitution  of  the  State,  fornu'd  in  3868  by  men  of  liberal 
and  j)roj;ressive  vi(nvs,  juovided  lor  the  (ireation  of  a  board  of  "  i)ublic 
ehiiiities,"  vet  to  this  lioui-  the  general  assend>ly,  under  its  narrow  and 
obsolefir  views,  has  denied  thut  lK)ar<[  ail  meiins  for  its  work,  even  te^ 
(he  pul)li.shing  of  its  ;innu;d  repoits.  AVhile  the  constitution  jtrovides 
tor  the,  ei'eclion  of  iu\enil<^  asylums,  reforuuitories,  »&(•,.,  nothing  has 
been  done  Ml  this  direct  ion,  and  the  feai-  of  taxation  ]>ar;dy/.es  every 
elfort,  at  saving  the  large  nunil>er  of  youths  that  ar<i  left  toeriruinal  associ- 
ations. The  re<rent  political  and  social  revolution  hascreate«l  a  necessity 
of  this  kind,  which  is  not  lelt  as  its  pressing  character  demands.     A  pop- 


PENAL    INSTITUTIONS    OF   NOETH    CAROLINA.  437 

ulatioii  now  requires  tLe  care  of  the  State  which,  under  the  regime  of 
shivery,  rarely  had  its  misdeeds  brouj^ht  to  the  notice  of  the  courts. 
The  shive  being  a  chattel,  most  of  his  petty  crimes  were  punished  by 
the  master,  the  patrol,  or  by  a  magistrate  having  summary  jurisdiction. 
This  state  of  affairs  kept  a  large  part  of  the  crimes  against  society,  not 
of  the  most  serious  character,  from  public  view  and  knowledge,  and 
relieved  the  State  from  direct  concern.  Slaves  of  every  age  being 
projierty,  and,  by  the  law,  the  owners  being,  in  some  degree,  made  liable 
for  their  con<luct,  the  former  could  not  conveniently  be  made  objects  of 
such  legislative  care  as  would  express  itself  in  reformatories  and  work- 
houses, where  criminal  propensity  could  be  cured,  and  progress  in  crime 
arrested.  These  facts  should  be  allowed  their  just  force  when  we  come 
to  learn  the  position  of  the  State  in  making  provision  for  her  existing, 
criminal  population. 

The  coustitntiou  of  the  courts,  the  forms  of  legal  procedure,  and  the 
jienalties  against  crime  were,  in  their  main  features,  down  to  the  era  of 
emancipation,  those  of  the  colonial  days  of  the  State ;  and  the  progress 
in  criminal  jurisprudence  made  by  other  States  had  hardly  left  its  im- 
press upom  our  statutes  or  our  courts.  In  all  the  statutory  laws  of 
many  years  is  seen  and  felt  the  presence  of  slavery.  No  care  was  had 
for  the  prevention  of  crime  but  such  as  grew  out  of  the  deterrent 
power  of  severe  punishments.  While  the  law  visited  condign  punish- 
ment on  all  convicted  offeu<lers,  there  was  no  wise  or  kind  forethought 
in  its  provisions  by  which  to  prevent  or  reclaim  any  class  of  citizens 
from  becoming  or  continuing  criminals.  Every  person  convicted  of  a 
felony  was  looked  upon  as  degraded  beyond  the  regard  or  sympathy  of 
society.  He  was  subjected  to  the  tortures  of  the  whipping-post,  the 
branding-iron,  or,  still  worse,  the  loathsome  companionship  of  the  county 
prisons.  It  never  came  into  mind  that  the  lowly,  the  unfortunate,  or 
the  fallen  still  retained  sensibilities  which  could  be  outraged,  or  that 
they  were  worth  an  effort  of  the  State  to  reform  and  save  them.  Deep- 
rooted  prejudice  still  holds  the  public  mind  to  barbarous  modes  of  pun- 
ishment and  counts  offenders  as  outcasts,  hopelessly  lost  to  all  the 
claims  of  humanity  and  religion.  When  in  1848  the  question  was  sub- 
mitted to  the  vote  of  the  electors  of  the  State,  "penitentiary"  or  "wo 
penitentiary,"  it  was  voted  "]!!No"with  a  iierfect  frenzy,  not  a  single 
county,  probably,  voting  in  fiivor  of  such  an  institution.  So  until  the 
revolution  of  1861-'05,  the  only  place  of  confinement  for  the  convicted 
and  those  awaiting  trial  was  the  county  jail. 

There  is  a  jail  in  each  of  the  ninety  or  more  counties  of  the  State. 
Among  all  these  prisons  there  is  not  one  that  would  be  a  proper  place 
in  which  to  confine  a  human  being  under  any  circumstances.  In  their 
structure  no  regard  is  had  for  proper  ventilation.  Many  of  them  have  no 
means  of  being  warmed  even  in  the  coldest  season.  Very  often  there  is 
found  in  them  a  most  offensive  uncleanliness.  In  these  loathsome 
places  all  whose  misfortune  or  crime  makes  them  liable  to  imprisonment 
are  huddled  together,  young  and  old,  the  guilty  and  the  innocent,  the 
hardened  criminal  and  the  youth  arrested  for  his  first  offense.  Here 
they  are  kept  without  work,  without  instruction,  without  occupation  of 
any  kind,  except  to  recite  and  listen  to  recitals  of  robbery  and  crime. 
Thus  the  jail  becomes  a  school  of  crime,  in  which  its  inmates  are  pre- 
pared for  a  life  of  resistance  to  the  laws  of  God  and  man. 

The  framers  of  the  constitution  adopted  by  the  peo])le  of  North  Car- 
olina in  1808  made  provision  for  the  future  of  this  State  as  regards 
reformatory  and  penal  institutions.  Had  the  intentions  of  that  body 
been  realized,  the  State  would  now  have  a  secure  and  comfortable  state 


438  NATIONAL    PRISON    EEFORM    CONGRESS    OF    1873. 

prison.  The  site  selected  is  on  a  fine  and  liealtby  elevation,  west  of  the 
city  of  Raleigh,  on  the  line  of  the  North  Carolina  Railroad,  with  a  side- 
track rnnning  into  the  prison  yard.  At  present  only  the  foundation  of 
the  prison  has  been  completed,  its  further  progress  being  hindered  by 
partisan  legislation.  The  convicts  are  confined  in  temporary  wooden 
huts,  and  are  mainly  employed  in  grading  the  grounds,  in  quarrying 
stone,  and  in  building  the  exterior  wall  surrounding  the  prison  yard. 

The  number  confined  in  the  penitentiary  during  the  year  ending  ISTo- 
vember  1,  1872,  was  493.  Of  these,  102  were  whites  and  391  colored; 
352  could  neither  read  nor  write;  335  were  natives  of  the  State;  4  only 
were  foreigners;  and  112  were  under  twenty  years  of  age.  Nearly  three- 
fourths  of  the  convictions  were  for  larceny,  and  almost  all  for  crimes 
against  property. 

Of  the  493  convicts,  33  died  during  the  year,  one  in  every  15,  or  nearly 
7  per  cent.  This  is  a  fearful  mortality.  The  cell-huts  are  overcrowded; 
they  cannot  be  ventilated;  and  they  cannot  be  heated  in  the  coldest 
weather.  There  may  be  other  causes,  but  no  State  can  be  justified  in 
such  waste  of  human  life  by  refusing  to  provide  well  ventilated  and 
comfortable  cells  with  wholesome  food  and  plenty  of  it. 

The  penitentiary  is  managed  by  a  board  of  five  directors,  appointed 
by  the  legislature,  who  name  the  warden,  steward,  and  other  officers. 

The  rules,  originally  adopted  by  those  whose  duty  it  was  made  to 
organize  it,  forbid  all  harsh  and  degrading  treatment.  The  treatment 
was  intended  to  be  such  as  to  win  to  a  better  life  by  kindness.  Respect 
was  had  to  the  manhood  of  the  ])risoner,  who  was  to  be  treated  as  one 
who  might  create  for  himself  an  honorable  future.  How  far  the  philan- 
thropic spirit  of  these  regulations  is  carried  out  at  present,  the  writer 
has  no  means  of  knowing. 

In  the  existing  condition  of  the  prison  building  it  is  not  possible  to 
classify  the  convicts.  No  effort  is  made  to  keep  tliem  separate  for  any 
moral  or  reformatory  end.  Youthful  transgressors,  unused  to  the  dark 
ways  of  crime,  are  put  into  a  hut-cell  witii  hardened  villains  who  have 
reached  the  utmost  bound  of  human  wickedness.  The  boy  of  eighteen 
who  took  a  piece  of  bread  to  satisfy  hunger,  or  in  a  momentary  passion 
committed  an  assault  upon  a  fellow,  isi)laced  under  the  immediate  train- 
ing of  those  who  are  guilty  of  murder  and  robbery,  finished  adepts  in. 
crime.  So,  too,  the  prisoner  who  is  repentant  and  tries  to  amend  his 
life,  who  is  industrious,  obedient,  and  docile,  is  put  in  daily  contact  with 
the  obstinate  and  ungovernable,  who  i)lot  escapes  and  plan  schemes  of 
mischief.  AViiile  the  State  provides  no  instructors  in  letters  or  morality, 
it  nevertheless  has  teaching  done,  and  sustains  a  school  for  crime,  in 
which  graduated  villains  teach  the  uninitiated  all  its  secrets. 

No  ])rovision,  as  just  intimated,  is  made  for  scholastic;  or  religious 
insinuation.  The  gr<'at  mass  of  ignoiance  has  not  a  ray  of  light  to 
|)ieice  and  enlighten  its  darkness  during  all  the  years  of  incarceration. 
From  the  statement  i)reviously  made  in  regard  to  the  illiteracy  of  the 
convicts,  it  clearly  aj)pears  how  much  ignorairce  has  had  to  do  with 
sending  them  to  state  |)rison,  and  how  much  it  is  both  the  duty  and  in- 
terest of  the  State,  while  these  neglected  creatures  are  its  wards,  to 
educate  tliem  at  least  so  as  to  fit  them  tor  common  business  life.  A 
neat  and  comfortable  chapel  has  been  erected,  but  there  is  no  chajdaiu, 
no  I>il)l<^<•lass,  no  Sunday-school.  An  oc<'asional  sermon  is  preached  to 
the  prisoners,  as  some  clergyman  may  be  had  to  do  it:   that  is  all. 

Jt  is  a  sad  lot,  indeed,  for  youths,  and  those  new  to  crime,  that 
they  should  not  Ix'  brought  under  the.  teachings  of  the  Christian  relig- 
ion.    Jt  is   matU'r  of  aslonislMuent  that,  while  the  State  fails  in  this 


STATE    PRISON    OF    OREGON.  439 

work,  it  is  uot  taken  up  by  the  private  effort  of  tbe  Christian  people 
and  chnrchos  of  tlie  city  of  Kaleigh.  Here  is  work  for  a  "  Yoiiug  Men's 
Christian  Association  "  that  will,  in  some  measure,  make  amends  for 
the  neglect  of  a  Christian  State. 

No  abbreviation  of  sentence  is  allowed  under  the  laws  of  the  State. 
Good  behavior  or  proof  of  reformation  goes  for  nothing.  There  is  no 
difference  between  being  an  obedient,  docile,  and  industrious  convict 
and  an  obdurate  and  obstinate  one ;  both  go  forth  free  when  their  whole 
term  of  sentence  is  completed,  and  not  till  then.  Even  in  a  peniten- 
tiary there  should  be  some  recognition  of  right-doing,  and  such  con- 
victs as  demean  themselves  well  should  redeem  time  from  the  term  ot 
their  sentence.  A  measure  of  this  kind  is  no  novelty.  It  has  become 
an  element  in  prison  discipline  of  many  of  our  States  and  not  a  few 
foreign  countries,  and  everywhere  its  good  results  have  made  themselves 
abundantly  manifest.  No  provision  is  made  either  by  the  State  or  by 
imvate  charity  to  aid  and  encourage,  on  their  discharge,  such  prisoners 
as  show  some  disposition  to  change  their  course  and  lead  an  honest 
life. 

It  was  the  purpose  of  the  legislature  which  made  the  original  appoint- 
ment of  directors,  to  relieve  the  penitentiary  of  all  partisan  character 
in  its  management,  but  events  overruled  their  purpose,  and  now,  as 
in  most  institutions  belonging  to  the  State,  not  only  the  directors  but 
all  the  subordinate  officials  are  appointed  in  view  of  their  partisan  re- 
lations.    It  is  to  be  hoped  that  time  will  teach  a  better  way. 

There  are  no  refornnitory  or  preventive  institutions  in  the  State.  The 
constitution  makes  provision  for  their  creation,  but  so  far  it  has  remained 
a  dead-letter. 


19.  Oregon. 

No  formal  report  was  received  from  this  State,  but  in  a  private  letter 
received  by  the  secretary  of  the  National  Prison  Association  from  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Atkinson,  he  Estates  that,  as  regards  prison  reform,  things 
are  moving  on  hopefully  there.  He  says  that  new  and  greatly 
improved  prison  constructions  for  the  State  penitentiary  are  in  progress, 
with  ample  grounds;  that  the  system  of  scholastic,  moral,  and  religious 
education  has  been  much  enlarged  and  placed  on  a  better  footing ;  that 
the  prison  dietary  is  excellent:  that  whipping  has  been  abolished,  and 
more  humane  and  rational  disciplinary  treatment  has  been  substi- 
tuted, not  only  without  loss,  but  rather  gain,  to  the  good  order  and 
obedience  of  the  prisoners;  that  a  kindly  and  hopeful  feeling  as  regards 
the  reformation  of  the  prisoners  begins  to  be  entertained  quite  exten- 
sively by  the  people  of  the  State ;  that,  upon  the  whole,  the  state  prison 
of  Oregon  may  be  said  to  be  in  a  good  condition,  and  to  be  doing  well ; 
that  the  chief  city  of  the  State  last  year  completed  a  fine  police  court- 
room and  prison,  in  which  the  rooms  are  well  lighted  and  ventilated, 
and  every  way  comfortable;  that  the  county  jail  in  the  same  place  is  in 
the  basement  of  the  court-house,  and  consequently  rather  damp,  but 
that  effort  is  making  to  improve  the  ventilation,  and  make  it  at  once 
safe  for  health  and  more  comfortable  for  its  inmates;  that  a  law  has 
been  enacted  to  establish'  a  reform  school  for  boys  and  girls,  and  trus- 
tees appointed  to  carry  it  into  effect;  and  that  the  abundant  efforts  of 
late  put  forth  in  this  and  other  couutries,  through  congresses,  public 
meetings,  the  pulpit,  and  the  press,  in  the  great  work  of  prison  reform, 


440  NATIONAL    PKISON    REFORM    CONGRESS    OF    1873. 

have  borne  their  legitimate  fruit  Id  Oregon,  in  awakening  in  the  good 
people  of  that  State,  tliought,  interest,  and  exertion. 


20.  EnoDE  Island. 

By  licv.  Aittjasiwi  ll'oodhury,  chairman  of  (««j;6*t/ors  of  lihodc  J>:Ia)ul  vtutt- prison. 

The  State  of  Rhode  Island  is  divided  into  five  counties,  and  in  1870 
had  a  population  of  217,353. 

The  i)enal  and  reformatory  institutions  of  the  State  consist  of 
the  town  bridewells,  the  city  station  houses,  the  county  jails,  the 
state  prison,  the  Providence  reform  school,  and  the  state  farm. 
The  bridewells  and  station  houses  are  under  the  care  of  their  re- 
spective municipal  governments.  The  county  jails,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  the  jail  for  Providence  county,  are  in  the  charge  of  the  sheriffs 
of  the  counties,  who  are  elected  annually  by  the  general  assembly. 
The  state  prison  and  the  Providence  county  jail,  together  with  the  house 
of  correction,  all  within  the  same  iuclosure  and  beneath  one  roof, 
are  administered  hy  a  board  of  seven  inspectors  appointed  annually  by 
the  governor.  The  Providence  reform  school  is  under  the  direction  of 
a  board  of  trustees,  six  in  number,  elected  annually  by  the  city  coun- 
cil, to  whom  is  added  the  mayor  ex-opcio.  The  management  of  the 
state  farm  is  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  board  of  State  charities  and 
corrections,  consisting  of  six  members,  appointed  by  the  governor,  with 
a  term  of  service  for  six  years,  one  of  the  board  retiring  every  year. 
The  board  elect  a  secretary,  who  thus  becomes  a  member  ex-officio.  In 
addition  to  the  several  boards  of  management  there  is  a  visiting  board  of 
ladies,  whose  duty  it  is  to  visit  and  inspect  all  places  where  females  are 
imprisoned.  All  these  boards  make  annual  reports  to  the  general 
assembly,  with  the  exception  of  the  trustees  of  the  Providence  reform 
school,  who  report  to  the  city  council. 

The  county  jails. 

The  county  jails  outside  of  Providence  are  inspected  by  the  justices 
of  the  supreme  court  at  the  commencement  of  each  term.  The  jails 
are  reported  to  be  at  present  in  good  condition  and  secure.  The  num- 
ber of  commitments,  except  in  I'rovidence,  is  very  small.  During  the 
past  year  there  have  been  only  1!)2  persons  committed.  On  the  31st  of 
December,  1872,  there  were  in  jail  0  i)risoners  in  the  whole  State.  In 
Providence  county  there  have  been  1,719  commitments  during  the 
year,  109  of  whom  were  women ;  and  on  the  31st  of  lJecen)ber  there 
were  113  prisoners,  101  males  and  0  females,  in  jail;  average  number, 
^'^nV<.'  ^'y  ^^"'  ''Statute  all  i)risoners  punishable  by  line  of  not  less  than 
•l!5,  or  a  term  of  imprisonment  of  not  less  than  thirty  days,  are  to  be 
^r'ntcriccd  fo  (lie  I'rovidence  county  jail. 

The  state  prison. 

Lu  the  year  1707  tli<'.  general  assembly  ordered  the  erection  of  a  state 
jirison,  in  connection  with  a  new  jail  lor  the  county  of  Providence,  but 
in  the  Ibllowing  y<'ar  the  order  was  rescinded,  and  it  was  not  until 
18.''».~>  that  measures  were  adopted  looking  to  the  |)n>ject  of  building  a 
jtrison  lor  the  State's  (convicts.     The  general  assembly,  in  January  of 


PENAL    INSTITUTIONS    OF    RHODE    ISLAND.  441 

that  year,  referred  the  matter  to  the  freemen  of  the  State,  to  be  decided 
by  a  ])opular  vote.  In  April  the  vote  was  taken,  resulting;-  in  4,433 
votes  in  favor  of  hnildinj;'  tlio  prison,  and  502  against  it.  The  general 
assembly,  npon  ascertaining  tlic  will  of  the  people,  and  after  examining 
the  merits  of  the  Pennsylvania  and  Aubnrn  systems,  gave  tlie  prefer- 
ence to  the  former,  and  directed  that  a  prison  shonld  be  bnilt  accord- 
ingly. The  building  was  completed  in  1S38,  and  in  November  of  that 
year  was  opened,  with  three  convicts  as  the  total  number  of  its  inmates, 
before  the  end  oif  the  month  two  more  were  added.  At  the  expiration 
of  the  first  year  of  the  prison,  September  30,  1830,  the  number  had  in- 
creased to  ten.  On  the  30th  of  September,  1840,  there  were  sixteen 
convicts  in  prison,  fifteen  males  and  one  female.  At  this  time  the  pop- 
ulation of  the  State  was  108,830. 

Four  years'  trial  of  the  Pennsylvania  system  convinced  the  inspectors 
and  the  immediate  officers  of  the  prison  that  the  mode  of  separate  con- 
finement with  labor  was  harmful  in  its  eifects.  Workshops  were  erected 
in  1843.  At  a  later  period  the  necessity  of  a  new  and  better  constructed 
prison  became  evident,  and  in  1852  a  new  building,  containing  eighty- 
eight  cells,  was  erected,  at  a  cost  of  $17,032  37.  This  was  constructed 
as  an  addition  or  wing  to  the  former  prison,  which  was  thenceforward 
used  as  a  jail  for  the  county.  The  constantly  increasing  number  of  jail 
]nisoners  compelled  a  larger  provision  for  their  accommodation,  and  in 
1855-'5G  another  wing  was  added  to  the  prison,  containing  seventy-tw^o 
cells  and  two  hospitals ;  a  new  wall  was  built  and  a  new  workshop 
erected,  at  a  cost  of  847,143  37.  One-half  of  this  wing  was  used  for 
the  imprisonment  of  female  convicts.  Ten  years  later  the  county  jail 
was  relieved  of  most  of  its  female  inmates,  and  at  present  a  single 
corridor  of  cells,  entirely  separated  by  heavy  flooring  and  partitions 
from  the  remainder  of  the  buikling,  sufiices  for  the  restraint  of  female 
prisoners.  On  the  31st  of  December,  1872,  there  were  in  the  state 
prison  two  and  in  the  jail  nine  females.  In  the  state  prison  there  were 
at  the  same  date  seventy-one  convicts;  in  the  jail  one  hundred  and  thir- 
teen prisoners.  For  the  internal  administration  of  the  prison  and  jail  there 
are  required  a  warden,  deputy  warden,  and  eight  assistant  male  officers, 
and  a  matron,  chaplain,  and  physician.  The  warden,  chaplain,  and  physi- 
cian are  appointed  by  the  inspectors.  The  other  officers  are  appointed  by 
the  warden,  subject  to  the  approval  of  the  inspectors.  In  the  internal 
administration  of  the  prison  a  system  of  classification  has  been  adopted 
by  which  the  prisoners  have  been  divide:!  into  five  grades:  1.  Excel- 
lent: 2.  good;  3.  tolerably  good  ;  4  unsatisfactory;  5.  bad.  In  1872 
the  following  results  appeared:  First  grade,  33  ;  second,  10  ;  third,  10: 
fourth,  34;  fifth,  4.  The  schedule  is  prepared  monthly  and  submitted 
to  the. inspectors  at  every  monthly  meeting  of  the  board.  The  inspect- 
ors, to  whom  the  entire  control  of  the  state  prison  is  committed,  have 
full  power  and  authority,  according  to  the  statute,  to  enlarge  the  con- 
finement of  the  convicts  and  regulate  their  labor  and  exercise  within 
the  limits  of  the  prison  yard  or  of  any  of  the  prison  buildings.  They 
hold  monthly  meetings,  audit  all  the  accounts  of  the  warden,  make  con- 
tracts for  the  labor  of  the  prisoners,  by  one  of  their  number  visit  the 
IHison  at  least  twice  every  month  for  purposes  of  inspection  or  for  hear- 
ing the  complaints  of  the  prisoners,  and  have,  in  general,  the  complete 
oversight  of  the  institution.  The  prison  is  divided  into  six  departments, 
of  general  management,  of  labor  and  finance,  of  religious  and  other  in- 
struction, of  sanitary  condition,  of  repairs  and  of  supplies.  The  first  de- 
l^artment  is  under  the  charge  of  two  inspectors,  one  of  whom  is  the 
chairman  of  the  board ;  the  other  departments  are  under  the  charge 


442  NATIONAL    PRISON    REFORM    CONGRESS    OF    1873. 

each  of  one  inspector.  The  service  of  the  board  is  rendered  without 
any  remuneration  of  any  kind,  except  exemption  from  jury  and  military 
service.  The  prison  at  the  present  time  is  self-supporting.  For  the 
year  1872  the  profits  of  both  prison  and  jail  amounted  to  8 1,518.90  ;  iu 
1871  the  income  above  expenses  was  $3,018.46.  The  labor  of  the  prison- 
ers, shoe-making,  is  performed  under  contract,  at  the  rate  of  70  cents 
per  day  for  state  prisoners,  35  cents  for  jail  prisoners,  17i^  cents  for 
prisoners  who  work  less  than  thirty  days.  The  whole  number  of  con- 
victs committed  to  the  state  prison  since  its  opening,  in  1838,  is  092. 
The  expense  of  maintenance  ^>er  capita,  for  1872,  was  8110.75. 

The  Froridence  Reform  School. 

In  May,  1847,  the  Providence  Association  of  Mechanics  and  Manu- 
facturers memorialized  the  city  council  of  Providence  for  the  establish- 
ment Of  a  house  of  reformation.  In  1850  an  act  was  passed  by  the  gen- 
eral assembly  authorizing  the  city  to  establish  a  "  school  for  the  con- 
tinement,  instruction,  and  reformation  of  juvenile  offenders  and  of  young 
persons  of  idle,  vicious,  or  vagrant  habits,"  the  government  of  which 
was  to  be  vested,  as  already  stated,  in  a  board  of  seven  trustees.  The 
trustees  are  empowered  to  receive  into  the  school  thus  established  all 
such  children,  under  the  age  of  eighteen  years,  who  shall  be  convicted, 
before  any  court  sitting  within  the  citj'  limits,  as  vagrants  or  disorderly 
persons,  or  of  criminal  offenses,  or  of  offenses  against  the  city  ordi- 
nances, and  such  children  as  shall  be  convicted  of  criminal  offenses  be- 
fore any  court  in  the  State,  or  of  the  United  States  sitting  within  the 
state  limits.  They  may  also  admit  any  child  above  the  age  of  five 
years,  at  the  request  of  parents  or  guardinn.  Children  thus  sentenced 
or  admitted  shall  be  held  under  restraint  for  a  term  not  longer  than 
during  their  minority  or  less  than  two  years,  the  trustees  having  the 
power  of  discharging  such  chiklren  as  are  considered  reformed,  before 
the  expiration  of  their  sentence,  or  of  binding  out  the  children  as  ap- 
prentices, or,  in  cases  of  incorrigibility,  of  remanding  them  to  the  county 
jail,  house  of  correction,  or  state  prison.  The}'  are,  while  inmates  ot 
the  s«hool,  to  be  taught  in  virtue  and  morality,  and  in  such  branches  of 
useful  knowledge  as  shall  be  suited  to  their  age  and  capacity.  They 
are  also  to  be  instructed  in  regular  courses  of  labor.  The  expense  of 
maintaining  the  scliool  is  divided  between  the  State  and  the  city,  the 
former  paying  tiie  actual  cost  of  supi)ortingtlie  children  who  have  been 
sentenced  by  the  courts,  the  latter  i)aying  tor  buihlings,  grounds,  sala- 
ries, instructors,  and  the  like.  The  cost  of  maintaining,  deducting  the 
earnings  of  the  chihlren,  is  estiniited  at  the  rate  of  $110.87  for  each  in- 
mate;  without  such  deduction,  $218.00. 

A  larg(^  hotel  in  the  south  ])art  of  the  city,  overlooking  a  very  beau- 
tiful pr()s])ect  of  Nan-agansett  Day  and  the  adjacent  slun-es,  known  to 
the  traveling  i)ublic  of  former  days  as  the  Tockwotton  House,  was  i)ur- 
cliased  by  the.  city  of  l'rovid{Mice,  and  the  school  was  formally  opened 
November  1,  iSfiO.  In  Jaiiuiiry,  1854,  tlie  Hon.  W.  11.  Stai)]es,  an  emi- 
nent jurist  of  Ithode.  Island,  delivered  a  (;harge  to  the  grand  jury,  at  the 
opening  of  his  court,  in  wlii(;h  he  speaks  thus  of  the  school :  "  It  was 
opposed  in  the,  beginning  by  some  of  the  citizens  of  Providence  as  not 
being  within  the  i;uige  of  objects  jirop  mIv  belonging  to  a  municii)al 
corporation.  On  llu^  triist(M's  and  other  oiiicers  it  imposed  <luties  and 
responsihililies,  every  ]>iirt  of  wliieli  to  them  was  new  and  untried. 
They  h;id  gleaned  soin<'  inlbiination  IVoni  othei"  similar  institutions,  but 
that  kno\vle<lge  was,  of  course,  only  theoretical.     The  buildings  where 


EEFOKMATOKY    INSTITUTIONS    OF    RIIOEE    ISLAND.  443 

it  is  establislied  were  erected  for  very  different  objects,  and  of  course 
are  not  so  convenient  or  well  adapted  for  its  present  use  as  one  built 
expressly  for  such  a  school  would  be.  Many  are  the  disadvantages 
under  which  it  has  had  to  labor.  Still,  it  has  been  more  successful  in 
its  results  than  its  friends  anticipated,  and  promises  to  give  effectual 
aid  in  diminishing  the  number  of  prisoners  in  our  county  jail  and  state 
l^rison."  *  *  *  *  Its  inmates,  he  goes  on  to  say,  within  its 
walls  "  are  secluded  from  all  the  associations  which  tend  further  to  cor- 
rupt them.  There,  habits  of  industry,  sobriety,  and  sober  reflection  are 
substituted  for  idleness,  profanity,  intemperance,  and  folly.  There,  all 
the  deficiencies  of  their  early  moral  culture  may  be  supplied,  and  they 
have  the  benefit  of  good  example,  wholesome  instruction,  the  means  of 
improvement  in  virtue  and  knowledge,  and  the  opportunity  of  becom- 
ing intelligent,  moral,  and  useful  members  of  society."  Since  the  time 
at  which  this  charge  was  delivered  the  school  has  been  improved  by 
the  addition  of  new  buildings,  the  extension  of  its  grounds,  and  an  en- 
largement of  its  means  of  instruction. 

Within  the  last  three  years  an  addition  has  been  made  to  the  north 
wing  of  the  main  building — for  the  accommodation  of  the  boys  belong- 
ing to  the  school — furnishing  accommodations  for  thirty-six  dormito- 
ries, each  4  feet  6  inches  by  8  feet,  neatly  furnished  and  amply  venti- 
lated ;  a  large  finely  lighted  school-room,  35  feet  by  47  feet,  and  12  feet 
high,  furnished  with  desks  for  one  hundred  pupils,  supplied  with  black- 
boards and  all  the  necessary  appliances  for  thorough  instruction,  and 
connecting  with  a  large  room — 19  feet  by  12  feet — for  the  library  and 
class  recitations;  and  a  fine  bathroom,  with  a  tank  12  feet  by  17  feet, 
and  3|  feet  deep,  with  closets  for  clothes,  &c.  The  building  is  of  three 
stories — 37  feet  6  inches  by  02  feet  G  inches — with  a  slated  French  roof 
and  a  dry,  large  basement,  under  two-thirds,  the  other  third  forming  a 
covered  arcade  for  the  protection  of  the  boys  from  the  weather  while 
engaged  in  recreation  in  the  yard.  It  is  hoped  that,  before  long,  a  sim- 
ilar building  will  be  erected  for  the  girls.  It  is  very  greatly  needed, 
and  has  been  earnestly  recommended. 

The  number  of  inmates  from  the  opening  of  the  school  to  November 
30, 1872,  is  1,010  boys  and  433  girls.  The  average  number  of  months  in 
the  institution  of  those  discharged  has  been,  for  all  committed,  10.9  for 
boys,  22.2  for  girls.  Inmates  have  been  received  from  every  town  and' 
city  in  the  State,  except  New  Shoreham.  and  from  one  or  two  places 
beyond  the  territorial  limits  of  Rhode  Island.  Instruction  is  given  in 
reading,  writing,  geograi)hy,  arithmetic,  sewing,  and  other  domestic 
labors.  Gardening  and  fruit-culture  have  also  received  considerable- 
attention,  and  the  labor  performed  in  the  workshop  amounts  to  a  sum 
not  far  from  $20,000  annually.  Eor  the  year  1872,  the  amount  received 
from  labor,  $21,977.40.  The" number  of  inmates  committed  during  the 
year  ending  November  30,  1872,  has  been  103  boys  and  10  girls;  num- 
ber discharged,  107  boys  and  24  girls.  The  number  in  the  school  No- 
vember 30,  1872,  was  156  boys  and  37  girls.  The  superintendent  esti- 
mates that  the  system  pursued  is  beneficial  to  the  extent  of  reforming 
and  saving  to  society  about  75  per  cent,  of  the  boys  and  50  per  cent,  of 
the  girls.  The  institution  is  under  the  charge  of  a  superintendent,  an 
assistant  superintendent,  a  matron,  an  assistant  matron  and  nurse, 
physician,  steward,  two  male  and  two  female  teachers,  four  male  and 
five  female  overseers.  Eeligious  services  are  held  every  Sunday  after- 
noon, conducted  by  members  of  the  board  of  trustees,  or  by  gentlemen 
invited  by  them  for  the  purpose,  A  Sunday-school  is  held  every  Sun- 
day in  the  forenoon,  9i  to  11.    The  trustees  hold  quarterly  meetings  in 


444  NATIONAL    PRISON    REFORM    CONGRESS    OF    1873. 

Marcli,  June,  September,  and  December.  A  committee  of  tbe  trustees 
meet  twice  each  moutb  for  visitation  and  other  necessary  business. 
They  perform  their  duties  gratuitously.  They  declare,  in  their  last 
printed  report,  that  "  the-general  condition  of  the  institution  is  entirely 
satisfactory  to  the  trustees,  and  its  prospects  of  usefulness  in  the  future 
highly  encouraging."  The  system  of  management,  discipline,  &c.,  is 
the  "congregate."  The  lady  visitors  are  of  the  opinion  that,  for  the 
girls  at  least,  the  family  system  would  be  preferable. 

The  state  farm. 

At  the  January  session  of  the  general  assembly  in  the  year  18G7,  a 
t;ommittee  was  appointed  to  "inquire  into  the  expediency  of  erecting  a 
state  asylum  for  the  insane."  At  the  January  session  in  the  year  1868, 
the  committee  reported  favorably  upon  the  subject,  and  a  new  committee 
was  appointed  for  the  purpose  of  selecting  a  suitable  place  for  such  an 
institution — it  being  understood  that  a  tract  of  lancf  containing  not 
less  than  200  acres  should  be  purchased.  In  the  view  of  this  committee, 
a  necessity"  existed  for  a  new  house  of  correction,  as  well  as  an  asylum 
for  the  insane.  In  18G9,  at  the  January  session,  a  third  committee  was 
appointed,  with  power  to  buy  a  suitable  farm  for  the  two  institutions 
and  "for  such  other  purposes  as  the  general  assembly  may  direct."  The 
••committee  was  also  instructed  to  report  a  "plan  for  the  organization 
and  establishment  of  a  house  of  correction  and  state  i^auper  system." 
A  tract  of  land,  containing  398  acres,  finely  situated,  in  the  town  of 
Cranston,  was  purchased  for  the  sum  of  $27,500,  and  soon  after  the  1st 
of  June,  1869,  came  into  possession  of  the  State. .  On  the  28th  of  May 
of  the  same  year,  an  act  was  passed  establishing  a  board  of  state  char- 
ities and  corrections.  This  board  consists  of  six  persons  appointed  for 
six  years,  two  from  the  county  of  Providence,  and  one  from  each  of  the 
other  counties  in  the  State,  with  power  to  choose  a  secretary,  who,  by 
virtue  of  his  ofSce,  becomes  an  associate  member.  The  board  was  also 
tlirected  to  appoint  a  superintendent  of  state  charities  and  corrections, 
to  whom  was  to  be  committed  the  duty  of  overseeing  the  general  busi- 
ness of  the  board,  of  examining  paupers  and  lunatics,  and  of  removing 
them  to  their  proper  "places  of  settlement."  The  act  contemplated  the 
erection  of  a  state  workhouse,  a  house  of  correction,  a  state  asylum 
for  the  incurable  insane,  and  a  state  almshouse.  The  inmates  of  the 
state  workhouse  were  to  consist  of  persons  who  had  abandoned,  neg- 
lected, or  refused  to  aid  in  the  supi)ort  of  their  families ;  idle  persons,  of 
doubtful  reputation,  and  having  no  visible  means  of  support;  sturdy 
beggars,  vagrants,  prostitutes,  common  drunkards,  night-walkers,  lewd 
and  lascivious  persons,  frecjuentersof  i)lacesof  ill-repute,  cheats  and  dis- 
orderly ])ersons — and  these  were  to  be  sentenced  for  a  term  not  less  than 
.six  months  nor  more  than  three  years.  The  board  can  require  any 
st<!amshi|)  or  railroad  comi)any  to  make  returns  of  the  names,  sex,  ages. 
and  nativity  of  any  (;lass  of  ])assengers  brought  into  Rhode  Island,  and 
the  company  is  lialihi  for  the  support  of  any  [)auper  thus  introduced  into 
the  State  U)v  the  peiiod  of  twelve  months,  or  for  his  return  to  the  place 
whcrKK',  he  was  brought.  Tlie  citicvs  and  towns  in  the  State  may  send  to 
th<'  stale  aliushonsc,  all  ]>aiipeis  not  having  a  legal  settlement  within 
their  respective,  limits.  Any  lunatic  having  no  h^gal  settlement  in  the 
State,  hut  supported  by  any  town  or  <;ity,  if  iiunirably  insane,  nniy  be 
sent  to  the  state  asylum,  to  b(^  supported  at  the  <\xpense  of  the  State. 
The  incurably  insiiue  win*  have  a  legal,  settlement  are  to  be  sent  to  the 
asylum,  to  be  sup[)orted  by  the  town  or  city  to  which  they  respectively 


►STATE    FARM    OF    KHODE    ISLAND.  445 

belong?.  Auy  inmate  of  tbe  reform  school  who  may  be  considered  in- 
corrigible, or  unfit  to  remain  in  said  school,  may  he  transferred  to  the 
state  worlv-hoase.  The  board  of  state  charities  and  corrections  have 
the  power  of  discharging  any  of  the  inmates  of  the  institutions  upon  the 
farm,  and  of  binding  them  out  for  service  with  suitable  and  trustworthy 
persons. 

The  board,  immediately  upon  taking  possession  of  the  farm — increased 
by  subsequent  purchase  to  4l7.7  acTcs — began  the  erection  of  buildings 
suitable  for  the  reception  of  the  expected  inmates.  Two  workhouses 
and  two  buildings  for  the  insane  were  erected  during  the  year  18G0;  an 
additional  building,  for  the  accommodation  of  the  violent  insane,  and  a 
chapel  were  erected  in  1870.  In  1871  measures  were  adopted  for  build- 
ing a  strong  workhouse,  which  could  also  be  used  for  a  house  of  cor- 
rection, which,  it  is  expected,  will  soon  be  completed  and  occupied.  It 
is  constructed  of  stone,  and  will  provide  for  the  accommodation  of"  two 
hundred  male  and  one  hundred  female  inmates,  properly  graded,  with 
complete  separation  of  the  sexes."  Eeligious  services  have  been  held 
from  time  to  time,  conducted  by  different  gentlemen  and  ladies,  and  a 
Sunday-school  was  in  successful  operation  during  the  years  1870  and 
1871.  A  fire  at  the  farm  in  April,  1872,  destroyed  the  chapel  and  inter- 
rupted both  the  school  and  Sunday  services. 

The  amount  expended  for  all  purposes  at  the  farm  from  June  1,  1869, 
to  January  1,  1873,  has  been  $371,441.15.  The  property  is  valued  at 
$212,227.07.  It  is  believed  that  the  amount  has  really  been  more  than 
saved  to  the  State  by  the  removal  of  paupers  not  belonging  to  the  State 
to  their  proper  places  of  settlement  and  abode.  The  whole  number  of 
inmates  received  at  the  state  workhouse  from  the  beginning  to  January 
1,  1873,  is  1,271,  of  whom  350  were  females  and  912  were  males  ;  of  these 
695  were  of  foreign  parentage.  The  whole  number  of  insane  persons 
received  at  the  farm  is  230 ;  the  number  remaining  January  1, 1873,  was 
153 — 70  males,  83  females.  The  board  of  state  charities  is  organized 
with  a  chairman  and  secretary  and  five  standing  committees:  1,  on  the 
farm  ;  2,  on  supplies  ;  3,  on  buildings  and  repairs  ;  4,  on  labor  and  dis- 
cipline; 5,  on  finance  and  audit  of  accounts.  The  executive  officers  are 
a  suijerintendent  of  state  charities  and  corrections,  a  superintendent 
of  the  state  farm,  a  deputy  superintendent  of  the  w^orkhouse,  a  deputy 
superintendent  of  the  insane  asylum,  and  a  physician.  Under-ofificers, 
matrons,  «&e.,  are  appointed  according  to^  the  needs  of  the  institution. 
The  board  serve  gratuitouslj^,  except  that  their  necessary  expenses  for 
traveling  and  attendance  upon  their  meetings  are  paid  by  the  State. 

The  objects  proposed  by  the  establishment  of  the  state  farm  were, 
1.  The  removal  of  paupers,  not  domiciled  in  the  State,  to  the  places  where 
they  really  belonged.  2.  An  improvement  in  the  care  of  paupers  and 
the  insane  poor,  which  was  greatly  needed  in  Ehode  Island.  3.  The  re- 
formation of  vagrants,  drunkards,  abandoned  women,  and  the  like. 
The  first  two  of  these  objects  have  been  fully  attained.  In  the  years 
1870  and  1871,  465,  in  1872,  125  paupers  were  removed  from  the  State. 
The  insane  department  is  regarded  with  jieculiar  satisfaction.  "  The 
unfortunate  persons  in  that  department,"  says  the  secretary  of  the  board, 
•'  are  made  comfortable  and  as  happy  as  is  jjossible  for  them  to  be.  It 
is  certain  that  the  condition  of  those  brought  from  town  poor-houses  is 
greatly  improved,  and  even  those  brought  from  our  best  hospitals  pro- 
fess to  be  pleased  with  the  change."  In  regard  to  the  third  object  pro- 
posed, results  have  not  been  so  satisfactory  as  was  anticipated.  It  was 
hoped  that  absence  from  temptation,  the  benefit  of  pure  air  and  simple 
foodj  regular  habits,  out-of-door  work,  surrounded  by  scenes  of  natural 


446  NATIONAL   PRISON    REFORM    CONGRESS    OF    J873, 

beauty,  and  wise  aud  carefal  iustructiou  and  oversight,  would  materi- 
ally aid  in  reclaiming  those  unfortimate  persons  who  are  overcome  by 
appetite  and  lust.  Sentences  were  made,  in  a  measure,  indeterminate, 
the  board  having  power  to  discharge  those  who  are  considered  as  having 
been  benefited  by  their  restraint.  It  is  estimated  that  but  very  few 
persons  have  thus  far  been  reclaimed  from  dissipation  and  vice.  The 
board  believe  that  a  larger  number  than  ever  before  has  been  benefited 
during  the  last  year.  The  secretary,  in  his  report  for  1871,  regards  the 
moral  and  reformatory  agencies  as  a  failure.  He  attributes  the  poor 
results  in  this  direction  to  three  causes :  1.  "  The  depravity  of  the  human 
heart  when  educated  in  a  course  of  dissipation."  2.  "The  situation  and 
circumstances  of  the  workhouse  itself,  the  crowded  halls  aud  dormito- 
ries rendering  all  privacy  impossible."  The  building  used  as  a  work- 
house is  evidently  unfit  for  the  ])urposes  of  its  erection.  3.  The  short- 
ness of  the  time  of  sentence.  Half  a  year,  which  is  frequently  the  term 
of  sentence,  is  too  brief  for  weaning  these  men  and  women  from  the 
habits  of  nearly  a  lifetime.  He  suggests  as  remedies,  1.  Longer  sen- 
tences. 2.  A  complete  change  in  the  internal  arrangement  of  the  work- 
house, which  he  hopes  will  be  effected  in  the  new  building.  3.  Greater 
efforts  to  awaken  the  minds  of  the  inmates,  and  to  give  them  proper  in- 
struction in  evening  and  other  schools,  and  by  familiar  lectures  and  ad- 
dresses and  religious  exercises  on  Sundays.  The  board,  however,  feel 
assured  that  better  aud  more  encouraging  results  have  ai)peared  within 
the  past  year,  and  they  look  forward  hopefully  to  the  future.  Still  it 
must  be  borne  in  mind  that  our  state  farm  is  of  very  recent  establish- 
ment, and  is  yet  to  be  regarded  somewhat  in  the  light  of  an  experiment. 
The  buildings  were  hastily  erected,  and  were  at  once  crowded  with  oc- 
cupants. An  imperfect  system  of  organization  i^revailed,  and  afifixirs 
became  somewhat  chaotic.  Such  is  always  the  case  with  a  new  enterprise 
which  is  hurriedly  undertaken,  for  the  supply  of  an  immediate  and 
pressing  need.  As  more^uitable  buildings  shall  be  erected  and  a  more 
thorough  system  of  government  come  into  operation,  there  can  be  no 
douljt  of  beneficial  results.  A  judicious  and  persevering  effort  to  treat 
"he  whole  subject  of  reformatory  and  punitive  discipline  with  practical 
sagacity,  with  scientific  method,  and  a  humane  spirit,  cannot  fail  of 
success. 

Board  of  female  visitors. 

The  board  of  female  visitors  to  institutions  where  women  are  impris- 
oned WHS  constituted  in  the  year  1870.  It  consists  of  seven  ladies,  ap- 
pointed annually  by  tiie  governor.  These  ladies  visit  the  different  penal 
and  reformatory  institutions  in  the  State,  and  are  organized  with  a  presi- 
<lenl,  secretary,  and  three  committees:  1.  To  visit  the  state  prison.  2, 
To  visit  the  Providence  reform  school,  o.  To  visit  the  state  farm. 
Tlieir  duty  is  to  visit  and  inspect  these  i)la(;es,  converse  with  the  women 
and  girls  there  under  restraint,  and  oiler  such  suggestions  as  they 
tliink  aie  necessary  in  the  (lases  which  come  to  their  knowledge.  It  is 
belie\cd  that  their  work  has  been  ellicient  and  valuable,  and  it  is  hoped 
that  ere  long  se])arate-  {irisons  and  reformatories  for  wonuMi  will  be  es- 
T;ibh'slied,  to  be  wholly  under  the  control  of  persons  of  their  own  sex. 

Coninintaiiou. 

Ill  order  to  complete  the  view  lieie  given  of  our  treatment  of  the 
crittiinal  class  under  sentence,  1  Avould  say,  in  addition,  that  a  system 


STATE  PENITENTIARY  OF  SOUTH  CAROLINA.       447 

of  commutation  prevails  in  tbe  state  i)rison,  allowing  to  convicts  for 
good  behavior  one  day  in  each  month  for  every  year  of  sentence  be- 
low live  years  ;  and  that  it  is  in  contemplation  to  allow  convicts  a  cer- 
tain portion  of  their  earnings.  Capital  punishment  was  abolished  in 
Rhode  Island  in  January,  1852,  and  imprisonment  for  life  substituted  for 
the  penalty  of  what  had  been  known  as  capital  crimes.  In  December, 
1872,  death  by  hanging  was  declared  to  be  the  penalty  for  murder  com- 
mitted while  in  prison  by  a  person  under  life-sentence. 

Discharged  prisoners. 

A  society  for  the  aid  of  discharged  i>risoners  was  organized  in  Prov- 
idence, in  JVIarch,  1872.  Its  othcers  are  a  president,  vice-president, 
secretary,  and  treasurer,  and  an  executive  committee,  composed  of  one 
person  from  each  of  the  boards  w^hich  have  been  mentioned.  The 
society,  having  had  but  a  brief  existence  and  a  small  membership  as 
yet,  has  not  been  able  to  accomplish  much  more  than  a  preparatory 
work.  But  few  applications  have  been  made  for  aid,  as  the  state  prison 
authorities  have  an  arrangement  with  the  contractors  at  the  prison  to 
furnish  employment  in  their  outside  shops  to  such  discharged  convicts 
as  have  proved  themselves  good  workmeu,  and  have  earned  a  certificate 
of  good  behavior.  As  the.means  of  this  society  increase,  it  is  expected 
that  more  complete  study  of  the  subject  of  prison  discipline  Avill  be 
entered  upon,  with  a  view  to  ascertain  the  best  methods  for  working- 
out  the  desirable  result  of  the  reformation  of  the  criminal.  The 
society  h.ns  the  sympathy  of  the  best  members  of  our  community,  and 
a  future  of  prosperity  and  usefulness  is  confidently  anticipated. 

Main  features  of  Rhode  Island  prison  system. 

The  main  features  of  the  Rhode  Island  system  of  prison  discipline 
are:  1.  The  authority  given  to  the  several  boards  of  trustees  and  in- 
spectors to  direct  and  control  the  management  of  the  several  institutions 
without  interference  from  any  quarter,  to  appoint  the  officers,  to  manage 
the  finances,  to  arrange  for  the  labor  and  instruction  of  the  inmates, 
and,  in  some  instances,  to  discharge  the  prisoners.  2.  The  entirely 
gratuitous  services  of  such  boards  of  direction.  3.  The  freedom  from 
political  bias  in  making  the  appointments.  4.  The  existence  of  a  board 
of  female  visitors.  5.  The  abolition  of  the  death  penalty,  except  in 
cases  of  murder  committed  in  prison  by  a  prisoner  under  life-sentence. 
6.  A  system  of  commutation.  7.  A  partial  system  of  classification  of 
i^risoners. 


21.  South  Carolina. 

By  General  J.  C.  Stolbrand,  suj)criniendent  of  the  state  peniteniiar^ 

Liberally  as  the  people  of  the  State  have  heretofore .  contributed  to 
"build  up  and  maintain  charitable  institutions  for  lunatics,  orphans, 
deaf-mutes,  and  other  classes  of  unfortunates,  there  were  in  the  State, 
previous  to  the  termination  of  the  late  war,  no  penal  or  reformatory 
institutions  of  any  kind. 

The  district  county  jails  were  then,  even  more  than  now,  of  the  rudest 
and  most  primitive  kind. 


448  NATIONAL    PEISON    KEFORM    CONGRESS    OF    1873. 

This  state  of  tbiugs  was  probably  owiug  to  the  severity  of  the  then 
crimiual  laws,  (now  much  Diodified  and  milder,)  under  which  were  in- 
Hicted  cai>ital  punishment  upon  such  criminals  as  now,  in  almost  every 
State  of  the  Union,  receive  sentences  of  from  two  to  ten  years  imprison- 
ment with  hard  labor. 

In  1866  Governor  James  L.  Orr,  with  admirable  tact  and  foresight, 
succeeded  in  securing  from  an  unwilling  legislature  a  small  sum  of 
money  for  the  purpose  of  constructing,  temporarily,  a  place  of  safety 
for  such  offenders  as  might  prove,  under  the  new  order  o^*  things  (eman- 
cipation having  become  of  effect)  too  dangerous  to  the  community,  and 
upon  whom  the  death  penalty,  according  to  then  existing  statute,  seemed 
too  severe. 

From  this  action  on  the  part  of  Governor  Orr  originated  what  is  now 
known  as  the  South  Carolina  penitentiary. 

In  1868,  after  the  reconstructed  government  of  the  State  had  come  into 
operation,  under  the  new  constitution,  it  v.as  decreed  by  the  legislature 
that  the  penitentiary  at  Columbia  should  be  the  general  penitentiary 
and  prison  of  the  State,  for  the  reformation  as  well  as  the  punishment 
of  all  offenders.  Ground  was  broken  for  the  institution,  November  17, 
1866,  but  no  convicts  were  received  until  April  IS,  1867.  Since  then 
the  institution,  for  want  of  means,  has  advanced  but  slowly  in  the  way  of 
erecting  and  completing  the  necessary  buildings. 

Since  the  last-named  date  no  hired  labor  (except  foremen  in  the  different 
branches)  has  been  employed.  The  quarrying  and  cutting  of  the  granite 
for  the  buildings,  the  weaving  of  the  cloth  and  making  it  up  into  gar- 
ments, the  cooking,  washing,  shoemaking,  &c.,  have  all  been  done  by 
the  convicts. 

The  plan  of  the  prison  provides  for  the  erection  of  live  hundred  cells, 
divided  into  two  wings,  which  are  to  be  united  by  a  central  building 
for  the  administration.  There  are  now  three  hundred  and  forty  cells 
mostly  ready  for  occupancy  under  a  temporary  roof,  which  serves  for 
shelter  until  the  inclosing  wall  shall  have  been  co.mjileted  and  percaa- 
nently  roofed. 

A  school  has  been,  organized,  under  a  competent  teacher,  which 
promises  good  results.  Eeligious  service  is  regularly  maintained  on 
the  Sabbath,  and  a  Sunday-school  has  been  in  operation  for  about  two 
years. 

The  first  official  report  of  the  institution  was  dated  January  1,  1868, 
and  states  that  the  inmates  then  numbered  187  ;  in  1869  the  number 
was  222  ;  in  1870,  317;  in  1871,  309  ;  and  in  1872,  300.  The  number  of 
whites  has  not  varied  materially' from  10  per  cent,  of  the  whole  number. 
Considering  that  this  is  the  oidy  penal  institution  in  a  State  of  720,000 
inhabitants,  it  is  believed  that  the  number  of  criminals  compares  not 
unfavorably  with  other  States. 

Thelt  is  the  besetting  sin  in  this  commonwealth.  More  than  live-sev- 
enths of  our  (;iiminals  have  becoine  such  under  that  designation.  Aboufc 
one-seventh  have  committed  offenses  against  the  person  by  violence, 
wliih;  th«  remaining  seventh  comprises  offenders  of  all  grades  and  de- 
sciiptions. 

it  is  to  be  liope<l  that  a  ])ro])osition  now  beforeour  legislature  to  estab- 
lish a  r<'r(»rm  school  for  hoys  may  result  in  theconsummation  of  so  need- 
ful and  desirable  an  end. 

Any  one  giving  even  a  casual  glance  at  our  social  condition  and  de- 
velopment will  be  struck  with  the  illiteracy  and  ignorance  of  a  great 
majority  of  the  peoi)Ie.  That  this  is  owing  to  our  former  system  of 
slavery  is  not  doubted.    The  only  remedy  lies  in  the  gradual^exteusioM 


PRISONS    OF    TENNJiSSEE    AND    TEXAS.  449 

of  the  common  school,  whose  widening  and  beneficent  influence  is,  even 
at  this  early  period,  felt  in  ever3^  part  of  the  iState. 


22.  Tenkessee. 

By  W.  M.  Wnglit,  M.  D.,  superiHieiident  of  prisons. 

In  the  absence  of  my  annual  report,  made  last  week  to  the  legislature, 
but  not  yet  published,  I  beg  leave  to  submit  the  following  brief  state- 
ment of  facts  with  regard  to  the  state  prison  of  Tennessee :  There 
are  now  in  the  penitentiary  at  Nashville,  and  its  branches  throughout 
the  State,  744  convicts.  Of  this  number  about  400  are  colored  ;  35  are 
females,  only  one  of  whom  is  white.  In  December,  1871,  the  legis- 
lature leased  the  state-prison,  including  its  branches,  to  a  private  com- 
l)any,  at  $33,000  a  year  for  five  years,  the  lessees  paying  all  expenses. 
By  a  stipulation  in  the  contract  the  State  retained  entire  control  of  the 
treatment  of  the  convicts.  For  four  years  preceding  the  lease,  the 
l)risons  cost  the  State  $114,000  annually.  The  legislature,  to  get  rid  of 
this  heavy  burden,  and  at  the  same  time  do  exact  justice  to  the  crim- 
inals, according  to  the  enlightened  philanthropy  of  the  age,  entered  into 
the  above-mentioned  contract,  with  the  necessary  restraining  provisions 
to  guard  the  moral  interests  of  the  convicts.  The  legislature  believed, 
and  their  wisdom  has  beenjustified,  that  they  could  lease  out  the  prisons 
and  at  the  same  time  introduce  and  carry  into  effective  operation  all  the 
reformatory  measures  consistent  with  the  good  government  of  penal 
institutions  and  the  well-being  of  society.  The  measures  adopted  for 
the  reformation  of  criminals  are  the  commutation  or  good-time  law,  the 
regular  employment  of  chaplains,  who  have  service  every  Sunday  morn- 
ing and  Sabbath-school  in  the  evening,  the  distribution  of  good  books, 
periodicals,  &c.  I  can  see  very  little  difference  in  the  means  used  in 
Tennessee  for  the  reformation  of  criminals  and  those  employed  in  other 
States  whose  reports  have  been  read  to  this  body.  I  only  consented  to 
make  these  few  remarks  that  the  congress  might  know  that  Tennessee 
is  not  an  idle  or  indifferent  spectator  of  the  grand  reformatory  revolu- 
tion in  the  management  of  criminals,  which  is  engaging  the  best  minds 
of  our  country  and  enlisting  the  active  sympathy  and  intelligent  study 
of  every  civilized  country  throughout  the  world.  The  i>lan  adopted  iu 
Tennessee  works  well  and  is  satisfactorv. 


23.  Texas. 

By  Rev.  Benjamin  A.  Eogrrs,  commhsioner  to  the  Into-nationaJ  renitntiary  Congress  of 
London,  and  president  of  the  prison  reform  association  of  Texas. 

The  State  of  Texas  has  an  area  of  338,000  square  miles,  with  136  or- 
ganized counties,  and  a  population  of  neaiij^  900,000  souls  ;  of  which  a 
fraction  over  two-fifths  are  colored.  In  territorial  extent  it  is  the  largest 
State  in  the  American  Union,  having  also  the  greatest  diversity  of  cli- 
mate, soil,  aud  productions.  With  its  vast  sea-coast,  its  navigable  riv- 
ers, its  rapidly  extending  railroads,  and  its  swelling  tide  of  immigration, 
it  may  perhaps  be  allowed  to  count  itself  among  the  most  prosperous 
of  States ;  and  it  is  utterly  without  excuse  if  it  fails  to  enter,  with  vig- 
orous step,  into  every  reform  that  tends  to  the  safety,  progress,  and 
H.  Ex.  185 29 


450  NATIONAL    PKLSON    REFORM    CONGRESS    OF    1873. 

happiness  of  a  people.  But  notwithstanding  the  flood  of  light  that  the 
last  fifty  years  have  thrown  upon  the  snbject  under  consideration  in 
this  report,  Texas  is  to  day  wholly  without  public  reformatory  institu- 
tions (usually  so  denominated)  of  any  kind.  Its  barrenness  in  this  re- 
gard is  not  without,  at  least,  one  advantage:  its  field  of  operations  is 
an  open  one;  where  nothing  exists,  there  are  no  errors  to  be  corrected, 
no  strong  prejudices  to  overcome;  and  much  may  be  hoped  from  time 
and  eftbrt. 

The  State  has  but  one  penitentiary,  or  state  prison,  which  is  located 
at  Huntsville.  Nearly  every  county  has  its  jail.  As  to  the  number, 
sex,  and  ages  of  prisoners,  whether  in  the  penitentiary  or  jails,  I  cannot 
speak  with  any  degree  of  accuracy,  as  I  have  been  unable  to  obtain 
answers  to  my  questions  addressed  to  the  penitentiary  contractors, 
though  strongly  seconded  in  my  eflbrts  by  the  governor  of  the  State. 
I  suppose  the  penitentiary  convicts  number  from  GOO  to  800  persons, 
and  the  inmates  of  the  jails  as  many  more. 

There  is  no  central  authority  charged  with  the  administration  of  the 
prison  system  of  the  State.  Each  county  has  charge  of  its  own  jail 
afl'airs.  The  consequence  is,  that  the  jails  are  mere  filthy  pens,  or  hor- 
rible dungeons,  where,  in  many  instances,  all  sorts  of  criminals,  all 
ages,  and  both  sexes,  are  herded  together,  like  cattle;  often  with  little 
air,  little  light,  and  no  cleanliness.     The  county  courts  are  responsible. 

The  penitentiary  being  in  the  hands  of  contractors,  the  administration 
of  its  discipline  is  very  largely  in  their  hands  also.  The  discipline  is 
simply  deterrent;  or  at  least  it  is  so  intended.  The  agencies  adopted 
are  labor,  the  dungeon,  and  the  stocks — the  last  too  liberally  used. 

There  is  no  provision  of  law  for  instruction  of  the  convicts,  except  in 
labor;  and  what  is  not  provided  for  by  law  is  not  likely  to  be  furnished 
by  contractors,  whose  business  it  is  to  make  all  that  can  be  made  out 
of  the  convicts'  labor,  regardless  of  higher  ends. 

In  the  penitentiary  itself,  various  kinds  of  manufacturing  are  carried 
on. .  But  much  convict  work  is  performed  outside,  as  the  contractors 
are  allowed  to  put  the  convicts  upon  the  railroads  of  the  State,  where 
they  work  under  an  armed  guard.  This,  while  it  sometimes  ameliorates 
the  immediate  condition  of  the  prisoner,  is  really  a  pernicious  system. 
It  encourages  attempts  to  escape — sou)etimes  resulting  in  success,  and 
thus  cheating  society  of  its  security;  sometimes  issuing  in  capture  and 
X)unishnient,  thus  subjecting  ])risoneis  to  unnecessary  suffering;  and 
sometimes  leading  to  the  shooting  down  of  the  convict,  a  waste  of  life 
without  necessity,  and  so  without  right. 

I.aiceny,  buiglaiy,  aiHl  injuries  to  the  person,  particularly  the  first, 
are  the  most  common  forms  of  crime;  ignorance,  intemperance,  idleness, 
IK)vert.\,  and  want  ot  early  tiaining,  are  the  predominant  causes. 

Two  years  ago  (Jo\crnor  Davis,  in  his  annual  message  to  the  legisla- 
ture, urged  a  thoiou^ih  retoiin  ot  the  prison  systeui  ot  the  State,  but  no 
legislative  action  was  obtained.  Within  a  tew  weeks  past  great  public 
int(Mey;t  has  been  aroused  l>\  a  thorough  exposiu'e,  in  a  public  lecture, 
delivered  at  the  State  capital,  of  the  enormities  of  the  existing  systems, 
both  jail  and  penitentiary,  Irom  whi(;h  has  resulted  the  formation  of  a 
"])rison  reform  association  of  the  State  of  Texas,"  one  of  the  avowed 
and  leading  i)urposes  of  wliic^h  is ''promoting  su(^h  legislation  as  shall 
reform  the  j)resent  prison  syHtem  and  disci[)line  of  the  State." 

'J'he  meml)eishi[>  ol  t  his  association  emiuaces  soiiieof  tlu^  best  and  most 
intiuential  men  ot  all  jtarties  in  the.  State,  among  whom  are  its  highest 
oflieials,  t  he  ^o\  (■rn(;r,  I  he  secretary  of  state,  the  State  treasuier,  the 
attorney-;^(;neral,  the  comptroller,  and  the  judj;es  ol'  the  su[)rcme  court; 


PENAL    INSTITUTIONS    OF    VERMONT.  451 

also,  some  of  the  most  iuflnential  members  of  the  bar  from  different 
parts  of  the  State.  The  newspapers  of  the  State,  without  regard  to 
party,  are  also  earnest  in  the  advocacy  of  reform,  and  much  of  hope 
lies  in  the  future  of  this  association. 

This  association  has  already  ])repared  and  proposed  to  the  legislature 
the  passage  of  three  separate  bills.  One  of  these  bills  provides  for  a 
comj)lete  reorganization  of  the  county  jail  system  of  the  State  ;  another 
provides  for  the  erection  of  a  new  penitentiary,  to  be  conducted  sub- 
stantially on  the  Orofton  system ;  and  the  third  proposes  for  each  county 
in  the  State  a  ''county  farm,"  with  poor-house,  house  of  correction,  and 
reform  school.  All  the  above  bills  were  referred  to  committees.  Fa- 
vorable action  is  hoped  upon  some  of  them  at  once,  and  upon  all  in  time. 
The  urgent  need  of  reform  in  all  these  points  may  be  inferred  from  the 
statements  made  in  this  report,  and  also  from  those  contained  in  the 
following  extracts  from  a  communication  made  to  the  legislature  by  the 
writer  of  the  report,  and  which  is  hereto  appended  as  a  part  of  his  state- 
ment : 

It  is  believed  that  no  otlier  civilized  Slate  upon  the  earth  has  so  tei'rible  a  jail  sys- 
tem as  ours.  The  hniidied  jails  in  this  State  are  to-day  a  hundred  deus  of  sutlering, 
crime,  and  infamy ;  a  huudred  schools  of  poverty,  vice,  and  shame  ;  a  hundred  plague- 
spots  upon  the  body  politic,  and  a  hundred  sources  of  disgrace  to  morality,  to  religion, 
to  the  State.  And  it  were  well  if  this^vere  all.  But,  with  nearly  a  thousand  peniten- 
tiary convicts,  we  have  to-day  accommodations  for  only  two  huudred  and  eighty-eight; 
and,  again,  with  thousands  of  suffering  paupers  there  is  not  a  poor-bouse  iu  the  State. 
Again,  with  thousands  of  children,  orphans,  and  outcasts  falling  into  crime,  we  have 
not  one  single  house  of  correction  or  reform. 

Why  is  this  ?  It  is  a  well-established  law  of  political  economy  that  humanity  itself 
is  of  the  greatest  value  to  a  State,  and  that  a  careful  regard  for  it  is  a  State's  first  duty. 

What  is  being  done  for  humanity  here?  Where  does  Texas  look  for  her  future  pros- 
perity ?  Is  she  willing  to  risk  the  experiment  of  letting  poverty  and  suffering,  the 
very  parents  of  degradation,  go  on  unnoticed  and  unchecked? 

All  these 'things  are  in  your  hands,  gentlemen,  and  may  not  the  good  citizens  of  the 
State  hope  that,  among  the  four  hundred  bills  before  you,  the  two  or  three  looking  to 
the  suppression  of  suffering  and  crime  may  be  deemed  worthy  of  notice? 


24.  Vermont. 

By  Bev.  FraiiMitt  Butler,  chaplain  of  the  state  prison. 

Vermont  is  an  inland,  agricultural  State,  containing  an  area  of  only 
9,0504  square  miles,  or  5,795,900  acres,  and  having  a  population  of 
330,551  in  1870.  The  Green  Mountains  extend  through  the  entire  length 
of  the  State,  dividing  it  from  north  to  south  into  two  nearly  equal  por- 
tions. It  has  only  two  incorporated  cities,  and  but  few  towns  in  which 
the  number  of  inhabitants  exceeds  tive  thousand  or  even  two  thousand 
souls.  It  is  eminently  a  rural  commonwealth,  in  which  there  are  no 
great  centers  of  iutluence  of  a  social,  moral,  or  political  nature. 

Vermont  has  three  colleges  and  an  academical  and  common-school 
system,  of  which,  although  perfection  is  not  claimed,  her  sons  are  never 
ashamed  to  make  mention. 

In  Christian  churches  she  abounds,  and  in  her  men  and  women 
trained  up  in  her  mountain  homes,  she,  if  any  State,  may  glory.  But, 
despite  these  advantages,  here,  as  elsewhere,  vice  and  crime  exi.st ;  and 
the  demand  for  earnest  attention  to  the  prevention  and  cure  of  the  same 
is  most  imperative  and  urgent  upon  Christian  patriots  and  philanthro- 
pists. 

In  attention  to  this  latter  pyint,  Vermont  has  not  niujh  whereof  to 


452  NATIONAL    PRISON    REFORM    CONGRESS    OF    1873. 

boast ;  and,  indeed,  it  may  as  well  be  plainly  confessed  that,  herein, 
she  is  considerably  in  the  rear  of  some  of  her  younger  sistervS. 

The  penal  and  reformatory  institutions  of  the  State  are  :  I.  The  state 
prison ;  II.  The  county  jails ;  III.  The  State  reform  school.  To  these 
may  be  added,  as  institutions  bearing  directly  upon  the  prevention  of 
crime:  IV.  The  home  for  destitute  children,  at  Burlington  V.  Other 
preventive  institutions. 

I. — The  state  prison. 

This  is  situated  at  Windsor,  and  is  the  first  and  onlj'^  one  ever  built 
in  Vermont.  It  was  completed  and  occupied  in  1809,  eighteen  years 
after  the  admission  of  the  State  to  the  Union.  Previous  to  that  time, 
such  temporary  expedients  for  the  public  safety  and  the  punishment  of 
offenders  were  adopted  as  were  deemed  practicable  for  the  unsettled 
civil  and  political  condition  of  the  people.  The  building,  81  feet  long 
by  36  feet  wide,  three  stories  high,  was  constructed  of  granite,  the  out- 
side walls  being  3  feet  thick,  and  the  partitions  of  apartments  into  which 
it  was  divided  being  18  inches  in  thickness.  The  rooms  were  made  for 
the  occupation  of  several  convicts  at  a  time ;  and  they  were  lighted,  in 
the  first  and  second  stories,  only  by  a  small  aperture  in  each  for  the  ad- 
mission of  light  and  air.  This  building  was  considered  large  enough 
for  170  inmates.  Adjoining  it,  a  building  54  by  24  feet,  and  four  stories 
high,  of  stone  and  brick,  was  erected  for  \ the  use  of  the  keepers  and 
guards.  Walls  of  hammered  stone  and  brick,  20  feet  high  and  4  feet 
thick  at  the  base,  inclosing  a  yard  16  by  12  rods  square,  were  also 
raised.  Within  the  yard  was  a  workshop,  100  by  24  feet,  and  three 
stories  high. 

In  1832  a  new  cell  building  was  constructed,  containing  136  cells, 
each  designed  for  one  prisoner.  It  has,  however,been  since  re-arranged, 
and  the  cells  so  enlarged  as  to  reduce  the  number  to  104.  This  building 
is  appropriated  to  the  men,  while  the  u}»per  ])art  of  the  old  structure  is 
used  for  the  confinement  of  women. 

From  1800  to  1872,  2,101  persons  have  been  committed  to  this  prison, 
averaging  a  little  more  than  33  per  year,  the  commitments  of  1809  be- 
ing 24,  and  those  of  1872  being  32,  and  the  population  of  the  State  be- 
ing respectively  217,895  and  330,551.  The  highest  average  term  of 
seutences,  less  than  life,  during  this  period  is  six  and  two-third  years, 
in  1809,  and  the  lowest  is  two  years,  in  1867,  while  the  general  average 
is  a  little  over  three  years.  Nineteen  have  been  sentenced  for  life.  The 
X)ardons  number  724,  the  greatest  number  having  been  in  1821,  Avhen 
it  ecpialed  the  number  of  (jouimitments,  viz,  27.  The  least  number  was 
/el o,  for  neither  in  1809  nor  in  1842  were  any  pardons  granted.  The 
escajies,  in  the  sixty  thrive  years,  amount  to  26,  being  less  than  one  in 
two  yrars.  The  death  ration  the  whole  number  has  been  a  little  more 
than  onc-lhird  of  one  per  cent.;  on  the  average  number  about  one 
and  one  third  jjcr  cent. 

Tiie  ])racli(;(;  of  industrial  labor  has  always  been  regarded  as  of  pri- 
jnary  iinportanc<!,  as  well  to  the  interests  of  the  inmates  themselves  as 
to  those  of  the  State.  Various  kinds  of  hibor  have  been  i)nrsued,  both 
on  contra(;t  and  under  the  management  of  the  ol'licers.  At  i)resent  the 
work  is  exclnsivcly  ladies'  gaiters,  on  contract,  at  70  cents  per  day, 
which  yielded  to  the  State,  in  J872,  an  e\<;ess  of  income  above  expend- 
itures, amounting  to  !t<3,651.;>I,  and  tlien^  is  a  fair  jnospect  that  the  ex- 
cess will  <'xceed  that  amount  tor  some  time  to  (;om<\ 

The  «li>5cipline  is  in  the  hands  of  the^vvarden,  wlio  administers  it  with 


EEFOEM    SCHOOL    OF    VERMONT.  453 

mingled  kiiultiess,  firrauess,  and  justice.  Solitary  confinement  in  a 
darkened  cell  generally  suffices  for  correction,  although  the  block  and 
chaiu  are  in  rare  cases  found  necessary.  As  an  inducement  to  good 
behavior,  a  commutation  law  has  been  enacted  by  the  legislature,  by 
which  an  abatement  from  the  sentence  for  good  conduct  may  be  made, 
by  the  governor,  on  recommendation  of  the  superintendent.  This  law 
has  had  a  most  benign  effect  upon  the  inmates. 

Secnlar  instruction  to  the  inmates  is  not  required  by  hiw.  More  or 
less,  however,  according  to  the  circumstances,  is  given  in  some  form, 
by  the  chaplain  or  other  ofticers.  A  library  of  nearly  500  volumes  is 
]>rovided,  and  an  annual  appropriation  is  made  for  its  maintenance 
and  increase.     To  this,  all  who  can  read  have  access. 

Keligious  instruction  is  provided  for  in  the  chaplaincy,  the  duties  of 
which  are  those  usually  appertaining  to  the  office  of  the  minister  of  the 
gospel  in  preaching  the  word,  visiting  the  sick,  instructing,  counseling, 
encouraging,  and  helping,  with  the  truths  of  religion,  the  erring  and 
fallen,  to  self-respect  and  self-conquest.  He  holds  regular  religious 
services  every  Sabbath,  and  performs  such  other  labors  as  the  varying 
circumstances  require.  Music  being  regarded  an  important  aid  to 
reformation,  its  use  in  worship  and  its  practice  for  that  end  are  en- 
couraged in  all  who  have  any  aptitude  for  it. 

No  provision  is  made,  either  by  the  State  or  by  organized  private 
benevolence,  for  aiding  convicts  to  employment  and  usefulness  on  their 
discharge.  The  superintendent,  in  accordance  with  established  custom, 
l)rovides  a  decent  suit  of  clothes  for  them,  and  gives  them  a  small  sum 
of  money  to  help  them  to  leave  the  place,  but  nothing  more  is  usually 
done  in  the  name  of  the  State.  Individuals,  in  a  quiet  way,  often  help 
them  to  employment,  or  afford  other  aid. 

II. — The  coiinty  jails. 

There  are  fourteen  counties  in  Vermont,  with  a  jail  in  each.  They 
generally  consist  of  one  or  two  large  rooms  and  a  few  cells,  designed  for 
transient  safe-keeping  of  persons  arrested,  and  for  the  punishment  of 
those  convicted  of  minor  ottenses,  and  sentenced  to  a  few  days  oi'  a  few 
months  of  imprisonment. 

In  some  of  the  jails  religious  meetings  on  the  Sabbath  are  regularly 
held  by  Young  Men's  Christian  Associations  or  other  organizations,  but 
this  is  by  no  means  the  case  in  all. 

Some  eftbrt  has  been  made  to  induce  the  legislature  to  make  careful 
inquest  into  the  condition  and  administration  of  the  jail  system,  or 
rather  want  of  system ;  but,  as  yet,  no  practical  results  have  appeared. 
They  are  still  mere  tarrying  places  for  the  guilty  or  the  innocent,  as  the 
case  may  be,  in  which  a  brief  confinement  often  proves,  through  asso- 
ciation with  hardened  criminals,  the  introduction  to  life-long  crime. 
Governors  have  called  attention  to  the  subject,  editors  have  discussed 
it,  and  intelligent  citizens  have  expressed  their  opinions ;  but  no  steps 
have  yet  been  taken  toward  improvement. 

•  III. — The  State  reform  school. 

In  1865  an  act  was  passed,  establishing  a  State  reform  school.  It 
was  organized  on  the  family  system,  but  has  been  changed  to  the  con- 
gregate. None  are  admitted  who  have  passed  the  age  of  sixteen.  Both 
sexes  were  at  first  received ;  but  that  plan  was  not  found  to  work  well. 


454  NATIONAL    PRISON    REFORM    CONGRESS    OF    1873. 

and  at  present  only  boys  are  receiv^ed.  Originally  the  law  allowed  sen- 
tences ranging  from  six  months  to  "  during  minority."  Experience  dem- 
onstrated the  inexpediency  of  this  provision,  and  now  the  latter  is. the 
only  sentence;  but  the  authorities  have  power  to  discharge  conditionally 
whenever,  in  their  judgment,  it  may  be  wise  to  do  so.  It  is  essentially 
a  preventive  institution,  being  designed  rather  for  vicious  and  neglected 
children  than  for  those  actually  criminal.  Although,  from  the  shortness 
of  the  time  during  which  it  has  been  in  operation,  large  results  have  not 
yet  appeared,  enough  has  been  accomplished  to  justify  the  outlay  of 
labor  and  money  expended,  and  to  give  promise  of  a  rich  harvest  in  the 
coming  years. 

IV. — The  Jiomefor  destitute  children. 

The  liome  for  destitute  children,  at  Burlington,  was  founded  in  I860, 
mainly  through  the  eftorts  of  Miss  Lucia  T.  Wheeler,  daughter  of  the 
late  President  Wheeler,  of  the  Vermont  University.  During  the  first 
six  months  twelve  children  were  received.  It  was  opened  in  a  private 
house ;  but  as  the  number  of  applicants  soon  exceeded  the  means  of 
accommodation  the  marine  hosi)ital  building  was  purchased,  in  1866, 
and  devoted  to  the  uses  of  the  institution.  A  permanent  fund  of  $50,000 
for  the  home  is  nearly  completed.  Originally  the  institution  was  de- 
signed chiefly  for  destitute  children  of  Burlington,  but  it  is  now  open 
to  those  of  all  parts  of  the  State.  It  has  been  in  successful  operation 
for  seven  years,  under  the  efficient  management  of  an  association  of 
benevolent  ladies.  During  this  period,  it  has  received  170  children  ;  of 
whom  79  have  been  provided  with  homes  in  private  tiimdies,  chiefly  in 
this  State.  Some  of  them  have  been  legally  adopted,  and  others  bound 
out  until  eighteen  years  of  age.   • 

The  working  force  of  the  "  Home"  is  composed  of  a  matron,  a  teacher, 
a  seamstress,  and  a  cook.  The  school  is  regarded  as  equal  to  any  public 
school  of  like  grade.  During  the  year  1872,  twenty-eight  have  been 
received ;  nineteen  have  been  provided  with  homes ;  and  several,  having 
reached  their  majority,  have  been  discharged.  The  present  number  in 
the  home  is  thirty -five.  The  value  of  this  institution,  as  a  preventive 
of  evil  and  an  agent  for  good,  can  scarcely  be  computed,  and  its  friends 
may  well  rejoice  in  the  success  of  their  noble  work. 

V. — Other  preventive  institutions. 

There  are  one  or  two  other  institutions  or  schools  in  the  State  for  the 
young,  simihir  in  nature  and  ol»ject  to  the  honu'  at  JUirlington,  originated 
and  snstained  by  Jioman  Catholics;  but,  having  no  delinite  information 
concerning  them,  I  am  unable  to  do  more  than  state  the  mere  fact  of 
their  existence. 

Concbision. 

Such  is  an  iinpcrfcct  skctc^h  of  the  penal  and  I'cdbnnatory  institutions 
in  tiiis  State.  Tiie  facts  are  submitted  in  the  belief  that' if,  in  some 
things,  Vermont  falls  in  tin;  rear  of  some;  States  in  the  great  en teri)rise 
of  triH;  ))ris<,'n  icform,  it  is  not  by  reason  of  the  hwk  either  of  eyes  to 
perc«;ive  lier  de(ieienci<'s,  or  of  head  to  tind  the  renu'dy,  oi'  of  heart  to 
press  the,  aj)plieation.  Vermont  may  be  in  the  reai',  but  she  is  not 
asleep. 


eeform  school  of  wisconsin.  455 

25.  Wisconsin. 

Bji  Samuel  D.  Hastings,  .teoelary  utate  hoard  of  charities  and  reform. 

The  state  of  Wisconsin  contains  a  poi)nlation,  according;  to  the  United 
States  census  of  1870,  of  1,051,970,  of  which  number  090,171  were  native 
and  301,199  foreign -born. 

The  State  is  divided  into  fifty-eight  counties,  forty-nine  of  which  have 
jails,  in  wliich  persons  awaiting  trial  charged  with  crime  and  those  con- 
victed of  minor  offenses  are  confined. 

In  most  of  the  counties  the  jails  are  small  and  insecure,  deficient  in 
ventilation,  with  no  facilities  for  bathing,  with  no  arrangements  for  a 
j>roper  classification  of  their  inmates  by  which  the  young  lad,  confined 
for  some  petty  misdemeanor — his  first  offense — can  be  separated  from 
the  old  and  hardened  offender,  and  are  so  managed  that  the  prisoners 
arc  compelled  to  pass  their  time  with  no  employment  other  than  to  cor- 
rupt each  other  and  to  devise  plans  for  future  depredations  upon  society, 
and  with  nothing  done  with  a  view^  to  the  reformation  or  the  intellectual 
or  moral  improvement  of  the  prisoners.  Within  the  past  few,  yeaxs  a 
few  good  buildings  have  been  erected,  free  from  some  of  the  defects  al- 
luded to  above.  The  buildings  have  been  made  comparatively  secure; 
good  ventilation  has  been  attained ;  in  one  or  two  cases  bathing  facili- 
ties have  been  provided,  and  better  arrangements  for  classification  have 
been  made  ;  but,  after  all,  glaring  defects  still  remain. 

The  aggregate  number  confined  in  the  forty-nine  jails  of  the  State 
during  the  year  1870  was  1,502 ;  the  aggregate  number  in  1871  was 
],45G;  and  the  number  in  the  jails  on  the  1st  day  of  August,  1872,  166. 
The  time  of  confinement  varies  from  a  single  day  to  a  year  or  more. 

Of  the  number  in  the  jails  on  the  1st  day  of  August,  1872,  60  were 
insane,  confined  there  for  the  lack  of*  a  better  and  more  appropriate 
place  in  which  to  put  them.  A  second  state  hospital  for  the  insane  is 
now  nearly  completed,  and,  when  opened,  the  insane  will  all  be  removed 
from  the  jails. 

The  most  important  reformatory  institution  in  the  State  is  the  Indus- 
trial School  for  Boys.  The  following  interesting  account  of  this  insti- 
tution has  been  kindly  prepared  by  Mr.  A.  D.  Hendrickson,  the  super- 
intendent : 

This  institution  was  opened  at  Wankeslia  in  July,  1860.  In  his  opening  address  Mr. 
Cogswell  appropriately  said  :  "  Wisconsin  inaugurates  to-day  the  noblest  of  her  insti- 
tutions— penal,  reformatory,  educational,  or  charitable."  This  institution  was  first 
known  as  the  house  of  refuge,  but  the  legislature  changed  its  name  to  reform  school, 
aud  still  later,  in  1871,  to  Wisconsin  industrial  school  for  boys.  Girls  were  originally 
admitted.     Recently  an  act  has  been  passed  to  exclude  them. 

The  number  of  boys,  from  the  commencement  to  January  1,  1873,  covering  a  period 
of  twelve  aud  oue-half  years,  is  832  ;  total  number  of  inmates  of  both  sexes,  905. 

The  control  of  the  institution  is  in  the  hands  of  a  board  of  five  managers,  appointed 
by  the  governor  for  a  term  of  three  years.  The  board  elects  the  superintendent  and 
matron,  who  hold  their  office  at  its  pleasure.  The  superintendent  names  all  the  assist- 
ants, subject  to  the  approval  of  the  board. 

Boys  are  committed  to  the  school  between  the  ages  of  eight  aud  sixteen  years,  as 
vagrants,  or  on  conviction  of  any  criminal  offense,  or  for  incorrigible  or  vicious  con- 
duct. 

The  managers  have  power  to  return  any  inmate  to  the  care  of  his  parents  or  guard- 
ian, or  provide  a  home  elsewhere,  whenever  in  their  judgment  such  disposition  would 
be  most  for  his  future  benefit ;  but  unless  he  has  reached  his  majority,  his  discharge 
is  conditional,  and,  in  case  of  misconduct,  he  is  returned  to  the  institution.  Such  re- 
turns will  not  average  more  than  5  to  7  per  cent.  This  watchfal  supervision  of  the 
boys  after  leaving  the  school  is  of  very  great  value.  It  is  a  kind  of  parental  oversight, 
which  operates  as  a  constant  resti'aint. 

The  average  stay  in  the  school  is  between  two  and  three  years.     While  a  few  are 


456  NATIONAL    PRISON    REFORM    CONGRESS    OF    ]873. 

dischargeil  within  three  or  four  months,  some  remain  six  or  seven  years.  The  latter 
are  generally  those  who  have  no  homes  outside,  and,  as  a  rule,  they  are  the  best  fruits 
of  our  work. 

The  total  current  expenses  of  the  school  for  1872  were  $36,588.70.  Of  this  sum  the 
earnings  of  the  boys  amounted  to  $6,351.00,  two-thirds  of  which  were  the  jjroduct  of 
a  farm  of  233  acres,  and  one-third  was  the  result  of  work  iu  the  shops. 

This  institution  was  first  organized  on  the  congregate  system,  and  so  continued  until 
the  main  building  was  destroyed  by  fire,  January  10, 1866.  The  iustitutiou  was  rebuilt 
on  the  family  plan  the  same  year.  We  have  now  a  main  building,  containing  school- 
room and  residence  of  superintendent,  and  six  family  buildings.  Each  of  these  latter 
is  designed  to  accommodate  thirty-six  boys,  but  want  of  room  sometimes  compels  us 
to  crowd  forty  or  more  into  them.  There  are  two  stories  above  the  basement.  Each  is 
provided  with  a  boys'  sitting-room,  bath-room,  and  storage-room  on  basement  floor  ; 
dining-room,  library-room,  and  officers'  sitting-room  on  first  floor ;  and  dormitory, 
dressing-room,  and  oflicers'  lodging-room  on  second  floor. 

We  have  now  been  working  under  the  family  system  for  more  than  five  years,  and 
there  is  no  wish  to  return  to  the  congregate  plan.  Then  the  boys  were  locked  in  sepa- 
rate cells  at  night,  confined  within  close  yards  by  day,  and  strictly  guarded  at  all  times. 
Now  each  family  lodges  in  a  common  dormitoiy,  which  is  well  lighted  and  well  ven- 
tilated, with  no  more  bolts  and  bars  than  are  needed  in  common  dwellings.  Our 
grounds  and  surroundings  are  open,  pleasant,  and  homelike. 

From  eight  to  nine  hours  of  each  day  are  devoted  to  active  employment,  about  equally 
divided  between  labor  and  school.  Our  employments  are  farming,  gardening,  shoe-mak- 
ing, tailoring,  broom-making,  willow-ware  making,  cane-seating,  knitting,  and  domestic 
work.  A  principal  and  four  assistant  teachers  are  employed  in  giving  scholastic  instruc- 
tion to  the  boys.  The  common  English  branches  are  taught ;  also  history,  physiology, 
and  occasionally  other  branches  of  natural  science  and  mathematics.  Religious  instruc- 
tion is  regularly  imparted,  but  without  denominational  bias.  No  regular  chaplain  is 
provided.  Ministers  of  ditterent  denominations  officiate.  In  the  absence  of  such,  the 
superintendent  conducts  the  religious  services.  Besides  public  worship  on  the  Sab- 
bath, a  Sunday-school  is  regularly  maintained.  All  the  inmates  assemble  daily  in  the 
chapel  for  public  prayer.  A  library  of  800  to  900  volumes,  and  a  generous  supply  of 
magazines  and  papers,  adapted  to  the  ages  and  capacities  of  our  boys,  constitute  the 
reading  matter  i)rovided. 

Vocal  music  is  cultivated  with  very  satisfactory  results.  For  the  past  four  years  we 
have  maintained  a  brass  band,  which  has  been  a  source  of  much  gratification,  and  is 
found  useful  as  well  as  ornamental. 

The  most  serious  difficulty  which  this  reform  work  has  to  contend  with  is  the  lack 
of  the  whole-sonled  earnest  men  and  women  to  take  the  position  of  house-fathers  and 
mothers,  to  educate  and  train  up  these  young  wayward  sous  of  the  west  in  the  way 
in  which  they  should  go. 

The  State  is  doing  its  part  iu  this  noble  work,  but  there  is  a  part  that  the  State, 
unaided  by  individual  effort,  cannot  do.  Here  is  work  for  the  Christian  and  the 
I)hilanthropist.  The  missionary  may  here  find  a  field  of  labor  without  crossing  the 
seas  ;  a  field  of  labor  that  will  prove  remunerative  to  both  the  teacher  and  the  taught. 
Here  he  can  snatch  a  fellow-being  from  the  brink  of  crime  and  infamy,  and  send  him 
out  into  .society  a  good  man,  an  honest  citizen.  He  may  save  a  soul  from  death,  and 
hide  a  multitude  of  sins. 

The  following?  repoit  on  the  state  prison  has  been  kindly  fnrnished 
bj'  the  IJon.  George  F.  Wheeler,  state  prison  commissioner: 

The  WisoouKin  State  prison,  at  Waupiin,  was  opened  to  receive  convicts  in  the  spring 
of  18.52.  The  whob;  number  iniprisoiujd  hert^  since  the  opening  bas  been  1,718.  The 
averager  numlxT  at  present  is  sometliing  less  tliau  200. 

The  ri(iniinistiiition  of  tlie,  prison  is  in  the  hands  of  a  commissioner,  Avho  is  elected 
by  jiopuiar  sulliage  ])ieniiialiy.  He  appoints  all  subordinate  officers,  and  has  full  con- 
tJ'ol  oi' tiie  liiisincsN  and  discipline  of  tlie  institution. 

Tli<!  confluct  oftjic  jirisoncrs  is,  witli  few  exceptions,  good.  It  is  the  aim  to  maintain 
the  discipline  liy  kind  mc.'iHiufs  ratlier  tli;ni  by  ii.irslinisss,  and  a  re-sort  to  the  severest 
I)unihlimcnt  (coiilincnM-nt  in  a  dari<  ccli)  is  rarely  necessary.  A  strong  incentive  to 
good  conduct  is  the  Hliort(!nii;g  of  the  term  of  service  as  a  reward  to  good  behavior. 

The  governor  has  the  power  of  jiardon,  but  in  order  to  its  exercise  he  must  have  a 
cortificalc,  fiom  the  prlHon  commissioner  staling  that  the  conduct  of  the  a[»i>licant  has 
been  good  dm  ing  ((KitirKMinnt ;  and,  iu  <!ase  the  coiiviiit  has  be(Mi  stMitenced  for  mur- 
der, hii  iiiiiHt  also  havr-  the  rccoriitiicndaf  ion  of"  ( lie  jiidgii  who  tried  the  case. 

A  Hciir«>l  is  mainlaiiu'il  by  the  ciiaplaiii  of  IIki  ))riH(m,  in  which  tVotu  oiu'-fourth  to 
ono-tliird  of  the  fuuivicts  receive  iiiMtruction  on  Sunday  afternoon  in  the  commou- 
Hchool  l)rauch<H.  Although  a  large  pr<»portion  of  the  jirisoners  are  recorded  on  entrance 
aH  able  in  read  and  write,  yet  tlieir  knowledge  of  even  these  rudimentary  branches  is 
very  slight,  and  the  school  has  wonderfully  inii)roved  very  many  of  them.     In  addi- 


PENAL    INSTITUTIONS    OF    WISCONSIN.  457 

tion  to  tlio  school,  there  is,  as  a  means  of  iastructioa  aud  amusement,  a  library  of  about 
five  huudred  volumes. 

The  convicts  are  employed,  under  the  management  of  the  administration,  in  several 
kinds  of  mechanical  work.  They  cut  stone,  manufacture  cabinet-work,  aud  make 
chairs.  For  this  last  work,  which  is  carried  on  to  even  a  large  extent,  the  prisoy  has  very 
complete  shops  and  machinery.  Shoemaking  and  tailoring  are  also  carried  on  in  the 
prison.     Besides  this,  the  prisoners  do  all  the  necessary  work  of  the  establishment. 

The  sanitary  state  of  the  prison  is  good.  Notwithstanding  the  fact  that  many  of  the 
convicts  are  received  in  a  more  or  less  diseased  condition,  incident  to  a  vicious  life,  or 
are  debilitated  by  close  confinement  in  jails,  the  average  health  is  as  good  as  it  is 
outside. 

The  most  common  cause  of  crime  is  drunkenness,  which  often,  perhaps  usually,  ac- 
companies idleness. 

The  State  employs  a  Protestant  chaplain,  who  gives  his  time  entirely  to  the  institu- 
tion ;  and  there  is  also  a  Catholic  chaplain,  who  makes  monthly  visits  for  the  benefit 
of  the  adherents  of  that  faith.  In  addition  to  the  duties  proper  of  the  regular  chap- 
lain, he  has  the  direction  of  the  school  aud  is  in  charge  of  the  library.  In  his  efforts 
for  the  moral  and  spiritual  improvement  of  the  prisoners,  the  chaplain  has  the  assist- 
ance of  volunteer  laborers  from  amoug  the  philanthropic  citizens  of  the  village. 

In  addition  to  the  state  prison,  jails,  and  the  industrial  school  for 
boys,  we  have  an  institution  in  the  city  of  Milwaukee,  known  as  the 
Milwaukee  house  of  correction.  This  prison  is  for  the  reception  aud 
treatment  of  vagrants,  disorderly  persons,  ahle-bodied  paupers,  and 
persons  convicted  of  minor  offenses.  The  inmates  of  the  house  of*  cor- 
rection are  kept  at  work  in  association  by.  day  under  the  rule  of  silence, 
and  sleep  in  separate  cells  at  night.  The  whole  number  imprisoned  in 
1872  was  647,  and  the  average  number  during  the  year  was  68.  The 
number  discharged  was  579,  of  whom  514  were  men  and  65  women  ; 
177  were  natives,  and  402  foreigners. 

With  a  population  of  over  .twelve  hundred  thousand,  the  average 
unmber  of  inmates  in  the  State  prison  was  during  the  past  year 

but 200 

The  number  of  persons  confined  in  the  jails  of  the  State  on  the 
1st  day  of  August  last,  deducting  the  insane,  (which  is  probably 

a  fair  average  for  the  year,)  was 106 

The  average  number  in  the  Milwaukee  house  of  correction  during 
the  year  was - 68 

Making  a  total  of 374 


Is  there  any  State  in  the  Union  that  can  show  a  better  record  in  ^to- 
portion  to  its  population  1 

The  following  extract  from  the  recent  message  of  Governor  Wash- 
burn to  the  legislature  will  be  interesting  in  this  connection  : 

There  is  no  subject  more  worthy  of  the  careful  attention  of  the  legislature  than 
that  of  our  ijenal  institutions.  The  best  of  men  have  been  divided  in  opinion  as  to  the 
best  methods  of  treatment  for  the  vicious  and  criminal  portions  of  society.  For  some 
years  past  more  attention  has  been  given  to  the  reformation  of  our  criminal  classes 
than  formerly,  and  punishments  have  assumed  a  less  vindictive  character. 

In  July  next  twenty  years  will  have  elapsed  since  the  death  penalty  was  abolished 
in  this  State.  The  experiment  met  with  strong  opposition  from  a  large  portion  of 
the  people  of  the  State  who  predicted  that  a  large  increase  of  crime  would  result 
from  the  change.  That  prediction  happily  has  not  been  verified,  and  the  facts  which 
I  am  about  to  state  conclusively  show  that  no  State  in  this  Union  can  boast  greater 
exemption  from  crime  than  Wisconsin.  With  a  population  of  1,200,000,  representing 
almost  every  nationality,  and  two-fifths  of  foreign  birth,  statistics  show  that  crime, 
instead  of  increasing  with  the  growth  of  the  State,  has  actually  diminishetl.  This  is 
in  a  great  degree  due  to  a  high-toned  public  sentiment,  which  causes  the  violated 
laws  to  be  promptly  vindicated. 

Since  the  abolition  of  the  death  penalty,  there  have  been  tried,  convicted,  and 
sentenced  to  the  penitentiary  for  life,  71  person  in  all.  Of  that  number,  36  now 
remain,  the  rest  having  either  died,  been  pardoned,  or  discharged  by  proper  authority. 
There  can  be  no  douijt  that  the  change  in  the  law  has  rendered  punishment  much 
more  certain,  and  I  but  express  the  opinion  of  those  who  have  most  carefully  consid- 


458  NATIONAL    PRISON    REFORM    CONGRESS    OF    1873. 

ered  the  question,  as  well  as  my  own,  when  I  state  that  but  for  that  change  in  the  law, 
at  least  one-half  of  those  heretofore  convicted  would  have  escaped  all  punishment,  so 
difficult  is  conviction  when  the  penalty  is  death.  In  the  five  years  that  elapsed  from 
1848  to  1853,  I  have  no  knowledge  of  more  than  one  person  having  suffered  the 
extreme  penalty  of  the  law.  This  was  not  because  of  lack  of  offenses,  but  of  the 
extreme  difficulty  of  conviction. 

In  the  year  1854,  the  number  of  convictions  for  the  crime  of  murder  was  three  ;  in 
1855,  three  ;  in  1856,  three  ;  in  1857,  three;  in  1858,  five ;  in  1859,  none;  in  1860,  two  ; 
in  1861,  none;  in  186'2,  two;  in  1863,  eight;  in  1864,  none;  in  1865,  five;  in  1866,  one; 
in  1867,  four  ;  in  1868,  five  ;  in  1869,  two ;  in  1870,  four  ;  in  1871,  three  ;  in  1872,  one. 
I  have  taken  some  pains  to  learn  what  the  conduct  has  been,  since  discharged  from 
prison,  of  those  convicted  of  the  crime  of  murder  who  have  been  pardoned,  and  I  have 
failed  to  learn  of  any  instance  where  the  party  had  rendered  himself  amenable  to  the 
law.  On  the  contrary,  so  far  as  known,  they  have  proved  honest  and  peaceable  citi- 
zens— extremely  careful  and  circumspect  in  their  intercourse  with  their  fellow-men. 

TERRITORY   OF   UTAH. 

By  A.  P.  Eockivood,  ivarden  of  the  Territorial  penitentiary. 

For  about  sixteen  years  my  attention  bas  been  officially  called  to  tbe 
manner  of  executing  the  sentence  of  tbe  court  on  convicts  committed  to 
tbe  Utab  penitentiary.  My  experience  bas  been  five  years  as  inspector 
and  eleven  years  as  warden. 

Laws  are  supposed  to  be  made  to  fit  tbe  circumstances  under  wbicb 
tbey  are  to  be  administered ;  tbe  laws  applicable  under  one  set  of  cir- 
cumstances may  not  be  under  anotber.  In  Utab  we  bave  no  intermediate 
prison  or  bouse  of  correction  created  by  tbe  territorial  statutes  ;  couse- 
quently,  tbe  law  endows  tbe  warden  with  large  discretionary  power. 
Under  its  i^rovisions  be  is  authorized,  with  tlie  approval  of  tbe  directors, 
to  hire  out  any  or  all  of  the  convicts  on  any  public  or  private  works.  As 
■we  bave  no  house  of  correction  for  juveniles,  all  persons  convicted  of 
bigh  crimes  or  misdemeanors  are  sent  to  the  penitentiary.  Under  the 
I^rovisious  of  the  law,  I  exercised  my  discretion  in  tbe  classification  of 
the  convicts. 

The  first  class  consists  of  old  offenders  or  desperadoes,  who  may  be 
generally  considered  past  reclaiming.  These,  however,  as  well  as  all 
otber.s,  I  endeavor  to  govern  by  kindness,  and  to  create  within  them  the 
sentiment  of  hope,  without  which  the  heart  faints.  I  cannot  better 
illustrate  tbisi)oint  than  by  relating  a  circumstance  that  occurred  some 
years  since.  Two  of  this  class  were  arrested  for  horse-stealing,  and,  for 
want  of  bail,  were  committed  to  the  county  jail  to  await  trial.  While 
there  they  boasted,  in  presence  and  bearing  of  tbe  keepers,  of  what  tbey 
would  and  w  oubl  not  do  when  they  were  committed  to  tbe  peniten- 
tiary, all  of  which  soon  came  to  my  ears.  This  enabled  me  to  prepare 
for  them.  In  the  early  part  of  June  they  were  delivered  into  my  hands. 
1  bade  tliem  make  themselves  comlbrtable  and  contented,  and  tbey 
would  b(;  ]»roi)er]y  cared  for.  Wiieu  supper-time  drew  nigh,  I  asked 
them  ii'  they  were  Ibnd  of  bread  and  milk.  Tliey  made  answer  that  they 
were  very  fond  of  it,  but  had  not  had  the  luxury  ior  several  years,  add- 
ing that  it  would  remind  tlieni  of  their  childhood  home,  when  mother 
used  to  serve  it  out.  iSoon  1  went  in  with  the  coveted  meal,  and  with  it 
a  bowl  of  stiawbci  lies.  They  fairly  laughed  for  joy.  Next  morning 
be<;rst(5ak,  vegetables,  bicad,  and  milk  were  served  for  breakfast,  tbe 
sight  of  whi(;h  made  their  lieai'ts  again  leap  for  joy.  Next  came  tbe 
assignnu'iit  of  the  labor  which  they  liad  sworn  not  to  do;  nevertheless 
tbey  receded  from  their  vow,  and  (piietly  commenced.  When  all  was 
suitably  arranged,  and  I  was  al)out  to  willidraw,  I  cautioned  the  super- 
intendent, in  their  iiearing,  not  to  work  these  men  too  bard,  as  they  luid 
been  shut  up  in  the  county  jail  fors(>veral  wei^ks,  and  were  not  used  to  the 


PENITENTIARY    OF    UTAH PREVENTIVE    MEASURES.  459 

scorching  rays  of  the  sun,  and  their  liauds  were  tender  and  not  recently 
accustomed  to  the  handling  of  rough  tools,  like  ouf  picks  and  shovels. 
1  then  stepped  into  my  carriage  and  drove  off.  In  the  evening  the 
superintendent  reported  that  the  day  had  passed  off  quietly,  and  that 
the  work  had  progressed  well.  At  the  close  of  the  day  these  convicts 
inquired  of  the  others  if  this  was  the  way  they  were  treated  all  the  time. 
They  were  answered  in  the  affirmative,  and  assured  that  the  warden 
would  be  as  kind  to  them  as  a  father.  The  next  day  being  Sunday,  I  went 
in  and  inquired  after  the  welfare  of  each  convict.  At  length  1  came  to 
the  two  in  question,  and  spoke  a  few  kind  words  to  them.  They  com- 
menced sobbing,  which  was  followed  by  a  flood  of  tears,  and  a  voluntary 
confession  of  what  they  had  said  when  in  jail.  They  promised  that  I 
should  have  no  trouble  with  them.  Kindness  had  melted  and  subdued 
them.  If  men  so  haidened  can  be  conquered  by  kindness,  who  shall  be 
des])aired  of? 

The  second  class  consists  of  prisoners  of  mature  age,  who,  under  the 
baneful  influence  of  liquor  or  momentary  passion  or  sudden  temptation, 
have,  in  an  unguarded  hour,  committed  some  criminal  act.  Criminals 
of  this  class  are  frequently  reclaimed,  and  are  sometimes  hired  out,  as 
those  are  who  are  immediately  to  be  mentioned  as  belonging  to  the  next 
class. 

The  third  class  includes  the  youth,  who  are  not  hardened  in  crime,  nor 
have  their  hearts  yet  been  seared  so  that  they  are  not  subjects  of  reform. 
To  this  class  my  attention  has  been  particularly  directed,  and,  as  author- 
ized by  law,  I  frequently  hire  them  out  to  a  parent,  brother,  or  friend. 
When  application  is  made  for  a  convict  of  this  class,  I  must  have 
three  guarantees  before  hiring  him  out.  I  must  be  convinced  first  that 
the  convict  is  safe  from  assault  by  persons  who  would  seek  revenge  for 
past  offenses ;  secondly,  that  the  person  ottering  to  hire  him  may  be 
safely  intrusted  with  the  execution  of  the  sentence ;  and,  thirdly,  that 
the  convict's  word  of  honor  can  be  confided  in.  If  satisfied  on  all  these 
points,  I  lay  the  matter  before  the  board  of  directors.  If  they  approve, 
the  contract  is  entered  into;  if  not,  all  remains  in  statu  quo.  One  con- 
dition of  the  contract  is  that  the  employer  shall  suitably  feed,  clothe, 
guard,  and  meet  all  other  charges  that  may  be  incurred  in  the  execution 
of  the  sentence,  and  pay  to  the  warden  the  amount  set  forth  in  the 
agreement.  A  second  condition  is  that  he  shall  see  that  the  convict 
abide  under  the  rules  of  the  institution,  as  far  as  they  may  be  applica- 
ble. A  further  condition  is  that  the  convict  shall  be  returned  on  the 
order  of  the  warden,  without  the  necessity  of  assigning  any  reason 
therefor.  All  these  stipulations  and  some  others  having  been  entered 
into,  the  employer  is  appointed  deputy  warden,  and  files  a  bond  with 
security  for  the  faithful  performance  of  his  duties  in  the  execution  of  the 
sentence  on  the  convict  committed  to  his  custody.  Under  this  mode  of 
procedure  the  convict  is  placed,  so  to  speak,  under  the  care  of  a  father, 
brother,  or  friend,  besides  remaining  still  under  the  watchful  protection 
of  the  warden,  who  has  power  to  order  him  returned  at  pleasure. 

Now  for  the  practical  working  of  this  system.  About  four  per  cent, 
have  iiroved  recreant  to  their  trust ;  ninety-six  per  cent,  have  been  in  a 
measure  reclaimed  ;  fully  one-half  have  settled  down  to  be  good  citizens; 
and  the  balance  have  passed  off"  to  parts  to  me  unknown.  S-ulfice  it  to 
say  that  not  one  of  this  class  has  been  committed  to  my  custody  for  a 
second  offense. 

Having  said  this  much  on  the  subject  of  discipline  and  reform,  I  now 
proceed  to  the  preventive  measures  employed  in  Utah.  First,  our  license 
law  is  nearly  tantamount  to  prohibition,  especially  in  small  or  thinly 


460  NATIONAL    PRISON    REFORM    CONCRESS    OF    1873. 

inhabited  settlements.  Secondly,  the  Territory  is  subdivided  into  abont 
one  hundred  and  seventy  wards,  or  precincts,  nearly  all  of  whi(;h  have 
an  organized  female  relief  society,  whose  business  it  is  to  look  after  and 
supply  the  needs  of  the  poor  and  the  children  that  aie  not  suitably 
cared  for.  These  societies  are  exclusively  managed  by  the  ladies ;  all 
aid  rendered  is  by  voluntary  donation.  The  higher  aim  of  the  society 
is  to  prevent  childreu  being  brought  up  under  demoralizing  influences, 
and  to  direct  the  juveniles  in  the  paths  of  virtue.  Parents  and  guard- 
ians, not  willing  to  accept  the  proffered  aid,  are  free  to  take  their  own 
course,  so  far  as  the  society  is  concerned.  Thirdly,  by  an  act  passed  by 
the  legislative  assembly  in  1853,  the  probate  court  of  each  county  is 
authorized  (on  complaint  that  there  are  in  the  county  minor  children 
who  are  not  properly"  brought  up)  to  issue  an  order  to  a  proper  officer 
requiring  him  to  bring  said  child  or  children  before  the  court,  and  sum- 
mon the  parents  or  guardian,  as  the  case  may  be,  to  appear  and  show 
cause,  if  any  they  have,  why  said  children  should  not  be  bound  out  to 
suitable  t)ersons  under  the  provisions  of  the  statute. 

Most  of  the  citizens  of  Utah  are  partial  to  large  families  ;  consequently 
there  is  not  much  trouble  in  procuring  suitable  places  for  children  in 
the  most  respectable  families,  with  little  or  no  cost  to  the  county. 

The  salutary  effects  of  these  preventive  measures  are  visible  in  the 
streets  of  our  cities  by  the  absence  of  prostitutes  walking,  mincing,  and 
tinkling  as  they  go,  designing  to  lead  the  unsuspecting  youth  from  the 
path  of  virtue.  As  yet  no  female  convict  has  been  committed  to  my 
custody,  nor  to  the  custody  of  my  predecessors  in  office. 

v.— PEOCEEDIXGS  AND  DISCUSSIONS. 

[Reported  by  Rev.  William  H.  Tiffaay.] 

The  proceedings  of  the  lii-st  day  consisted  simply  of  what  was  done  at 
the  opening  session,  which  has  been  already  reported  in  a  former  part 
of  these  transactions. 

SECOND   DAY — MORNINCt   SESSION. 

Wednesday,  January  22,  1873. 
Q''he  congress  re-assembled  at  10  a.  m.  in  Kaine's  Hall. 
In  the  absence  of  the  president,  the  Kev.  Dr.  Bellows,  of  New  York, 
one  of  the  vice-presidents,  called  the  meeting  to  order. 
'Prayer  was  offered  by  the  liev.  Thomas  K.  Pessendeu,  of  Connecti- 

jCUt. 

Judge  Walker,  of  INIichigan,  chairman  of  the  business  committee, 
mo\'ed  that  the  congress  hold  two  daily  sessions,  viz,  from  10  to  3  in 
the  nioriiiiig,  and  Irom  7  to  0.30  in  the  evening.     Carried. 

The  annual  reportof  the  standing  committee  on  ])rison  discii)line  was 
read  by  Dr.  Wines,  in  the  absence  of  Z.  It.  Brockway,  of  Michigan, 
chairman,  di'taiued  l)y  sickness.     (For  the  report  see  i)age  331.) 

'Tlie  H'poit  of  the  standing  connnittee  on  discharged  ])risoners  was 
read  by  Mr.  Allinson,  of  New  Jersey,  chairman.  (For  the  report  see 
I)age  33().) 

(lovernorSeymour,  who  h;id  assumed  the  chair  <luri  11  g  the  reading  of  Mr. 
r.iofkway's  jKiper,  said  he  liopiMJ  tliat  the  rei)oit,  able  and  satislactory 
as  it  was  in  most  respects,  would  not  go  out  witliout  sf)me  (pialilication. 
He  feared  tluit  it  Ja voted  restraint  too  strtnigly.  There  was  a  class  of 
oHeiiders,  ciilled  "  rot;iry  men,"  apiiearing  olten  before  the  courts  and 


DISCUSSION    ON    PRISON    DISCIPLINE,    &C.  461 

in  prison,  who  needed  to  be  sharply  dealt  by ;  but  he  was  afraid 
of  poli(;e  supervision.  Virtue  could  not  be  made  by  coercion.  He  had 
an  abiding  belief  that  there  was  good  in  every  man,  and  that  this  should 
be  sought  out,  encouraged,  and  developed.  The  number  of  pardons 
granted  by  him  during  his  four  years'  administration  as  governor  of 
New  York  had  been  made  matter  of  reproach.  With  him  it  was  rather 
an  occasion  of  gratulation  and  pride.  He  believed  that  very  many 
reformations  had  been  thus  effected.  He  had  witnessed  many  touching 
instances  of  gratitude,  and  one  which,  though  perfectly  sincere,  had  an 
air  somewhat  ludicrous.  Pie  had  extended  clemency  to  a  poor  fellow 
who,  in  expressing  his  thanks  for  the  favor,  said  :  "Governor,  1  hope 
to  be  able  to  do  as  much  for  you  some  time."  Another  consideration  : 
he  thought  there  was  too  prevalent  a  desire  to  make  our  prisons  not 
only  self-supporting  but  sources  of  revenue,  and  that  the  report  gave 
too  much  countenance  to  this  feeling.  He  believed  in  making  prisoners 
work  and  earn  money  ;  but  he  believed  also  in  giving  them  ;a  share  in 
their  earnings,  and  a  pretty  large  share  too.  Labor  so  performed  would 
be  far  more  valuable  to  the  prisoner,  for  it  would  be  willing,  cheerful, 
and  hearty  ;  and  it  would  tend  to  beget  a  love  for  work  and  to  form  the 
habit  of  industry.  What  he  wanted  was  the  reformation  of  the  criminal, 
and  he  believed"  that  this  would  be  better  effected  by  kindly  care  than 
by  excessive  coercion  and  restraint.  But  he  would  not  close  without 
saying  that,  despite  these  criticisms,  he  regarded  the  report  as  an  excel- 
lent one,  and  thought  it  contained  many  valuable  suggestions. 

Dr.  Wines  agreed,  in  the  main,  with  what  had  fallen  from  the  president, 
but  thought  he  had  attached  too  strong  a  meaning  to' some  expressions  in 
the  report.  He  was  quite  sure  that  there  was  no  man  in  this  congress  who 
felt  more  strongly  for  the  ])risoner,  or  acted  more  wisely  on  his  behalf,  than 
Mr.  Brockway  in  the  management  of  his  prison  at  Detroit.  As  regarded 
police  supervision  after  discharge,  it  was  not  much  known  in  this  coun- 
try, and  doubtless  there  was  a  strong  feeling  against  it ;  but  it  was  a 
question  worthy  of  being  studied.  It  was  discussed  in  the  London 
Congress.  The  continental  delegates  opposed  it  as  harsh  and  injurious 
as  practised  among  them,  but  approved  of  it  where,  as  in  England,  it 
was  of  a  friendly  character  and  designed  to  shield  and  help  the  convict. 
When  so  practised,  they  thought  it  wholesome  and  beneficial.  It  was, 
however,  applied  in  England  only  to  "habitual  criminals,''  whom  Gov- 
ernor Seymour  had  described  as  "revolvers,"  and  in  reference  to  Vv^hom 
he  had  admitted  that  "restraint"  might  be  salutary. 

Mr.  H.  Thane  Miller,  of  Ohio,  heartily  indorsed  what  the  president  had 
said,  and  thought  the  congress  would  do  the  same.  -The  diamond  senti- 
ment of  his  address  last  night  was,  that  criminals  "needed  a  spirit  to 
guide,  and  a  Saviour  to  atone."  That  w«,s  true.  The  only  hope  for  the 
criminal  was  in  a  change  of  heart ;  and  therefore,  officers  having  them  in 
charge  should  be  men  of  God.  More  care  should  be  had  in  the  instruction 
of  convicts,  in  setting  them  good  exami;)les,  and  in  pointing  them  to  the 
Saviour  and  the  Holy  Spirit  for  salvation  and  sanctification.  The  read- 
ing of  the  convicts  was  also  important.  5EIe  believed  in  the  idea  ex- 
pressed in  Mr.  Brockway's  report,  that  there  should  be  a  compulsory  law 
to  have  the  children  of  the  convict  and  all  children  sent  to  school. 

As  regarded  the  second  report,  read  by  Mr.  Allinson,  on  discharged 
prisoners,  he  believed  that  great  good  would  be  accomplished  by 
the  practical  application  of  its  suggestions.  Convicts  must  be  helped 
when  they  come  out  of  prison,  not  only  with  good  advice,  but  money  or 
its  equivalent.  They  must  be  aided  in  getting  work.  More  than  fifty 
discharged  from  the  Ohio  state  prison  last  year  had  had  employment 


462  NATIONAL    PRISON    REFORM    CONGRESS    OF    1873. 

fnrnislied  thein,  to  the  equal  benefit  of  tliemselves  and  the  conimuDity. 
He  hoped  that  all  wonld  carry  the  spirit  of  that  report  to  their  homes. 

Air.  Albree,  of  Pennsylvania,  had  visited  Mr.  Brockway's  prison,  and 
six)ke  of  it  in  terms  of  warm  commendation.  He  thought  terms  of  im- 
prisonment should  be  made  longer,  so  that  there  might  be  time  for 
reformation,  and  for  the  successive  steps  which  that  work  required. 
Prisoners  needed  sympathy  and  love,  and  these  should  be  shown  in 
person,  uot  by  proxy.  He  was  a  director  in  the  Allegheny  County 
workhouse,  of  which  Air.  H.  Cordier  was  warden.  The  institution  was 
started  only  a  few  years  ago.  It  was  conducted  on  reformatory  princi- 
ples, and  promised  great  success. 

Dr.  Wright,  of  Tennessee,  expressed  warm  approval  of  both  reports, 
and  thought  the  congress  would  indorse  them. 

Colonel  Burr,  of  Ohio,  did  not  desire  to  occupy  the  time  of  the  con- 
gress. He  only  wished  to  say  a  word  on  one  or  two  points.  He  had 
toeeu  in  charge  of  a  i)rison  having  an  average  of  a  thousand  men,  and 
knew  something  of  the  matters  discussed  here.  The  idea  had  been 
thrown  out  that  officers  looked  down  upon  prisoners  as  a  lower  order  of 
beings.  This  might  be  so  iu  some  cases,  but  it  was  different  from  his 
own  experience  and  practice.  He  forgot  that  they  were  prisoners,  and 
looked  upon  them  as  brothers.  There'  was  but  one  thing  that  would 
really  and  radically  reform  criminals,  and  that  was  the  Christian  religion, 
the  regenerating  ])ower  of  the  Holy  Siiirit,  and  salvation  through  the 
blood  of  Jesus.  He  thought  that  police  supervision  would  uot  do  in  this 
country,  nor  had  he  much  faith  in  the  idea  of  indefinite  sentences,  as 
suggested  in  both  reports.  The  great  difficulty  with  discharged  prison- 
ers was  the  idea  of  their  having  been  convicts.  If  they  tried  to  conceal 
the  fact,  they  were  sure  to  be  found  out  and  crushed.  Police  supervis- 
ion he  thought  would  add  to  this  load.  Put  some  trust  in  the  prisoner, 
and  thus  beget  in  him  the  desire  to  lead  a  better  life;  this  will  inspire 
hoi)e  ami  prompt  effort  to  deserve  your  confidence. 

t)r.  Bellows,  of  New  York,  was  sorry  to  see  any  conflict  introduced 
here.  He  was  much  struck  with  the  independence  of  Mr.  lirockway. 
Independent  men  are  nu^n  of  strength.  They  often  combine  opposite 
traits,  and  are  capable  of  high  thought  and  great  action.  He  regretted 
also  to  see  a  conflict  between  theory  and  practice.  This  was  illogical 
and  unnatural.  All  right  pra(;tice  is  based  on  sound  theory,  aiul  all 
just  theory  is  the  child  of  correct  practice.  A  war  between  theory  aiuI 
practice  was  therefore  an  internecine  war.  Let  us  {)ut  heads  and 
hearts  and  hands  together,  and  make  a  perfect  man.  Another  thing 
he  was  sorry  to  see,  namely,  a  conflict  between  prison  reformers  and 
society  at  hirge,  as  if  scxnety  was  not  in  favor  of  true  reform.  So(;iety 
was  reformatory  ;  and  the  whole  prison  system  did  not  begin  to  com- 
pare in  (conservative  and  reformatory  i)ower  with  the  great  natural  laws 
of  society  its«^lf.  Men  were  stayed  up  by  public  ()[)inioii,  l>y  a  sense  of 
decency,  l)y  the  desii'e  to  stand  well  in  the  (community,  and  the  like. 

lli'W  Mr.  Milligan,  of  Pennsylvania,  was  opposed  to  police  su|)ervis- 
ion  of  <li.sch;iig('d  juisoners.  What  we  wanted  tor  piisoners  as  well 
as  others,  was  the  atonement  of  Christ  and  the  spirit  of  love.  He  had 
hel[>ed  a  great  many  discharged  prisonei-s,  spending  hundreds  of  dolhirs 
this  way;  and  only  one  man,  thus  aidcil,  had  ever  [)roved  false  to  the 
trust  reposed  in  him. 

The  l^-v.  ]\Ir.  VVoodiiury,  of  lihode  Ishmd,  read  a  i)aper  by  Dr. 
(Jlarke,  of  iMass;i<clinsclts,  who  was  unable  to  he  pies(Mit,  on  "The  final 
cans(!  of  ciiminiU  legislati(Mi  as  aU'ecting  modes  of  piuiisluuent."  (For 
this  pa[)er  see  p.  .'370.) 


DISCUSSION    ON    INDEFINITE    SENTENCES.  463 

Dr.  Wines,  of  New  York,  read  a  "Summary  of  the  views  and  sug- 
gestions contained  in  the. report  for  187U  of  the  Board  of  Public  Char- 
ities of  Pennsylvania,"  sent  by  Mr.  George  W.Harrison,  president  of 
the  board.     (For  this  paper  see  p.  307.) 

Dr.  Wines  said  thatone  fact  had  struck  him  forcibly,  viz,  that  all  the  four 
papers  read  this  morning — Mr.  Prockway's,  Mr.  Allinson's,  Dr.  Clarke's, 
and  Mr.  Harrison's — had  contained  a])proving  references  to  the  idea 
that  criminals  should  not  be  restored  to  liberty  till  they  gave  evidence 
of  being  better  fitted  for  citizenship  than  they  were  on  entering  the 
prison;  and  a  paper  would  be  read  this  evening,  communicated  by  Dr. 
Despine,  of  Prance,  which  embodied  the  same  sentiment.  Dr.  Despiue 
went  further,  and  expressed  the  o{)inion  that  when  prisons  became  real 
reformatories,  as  this  was  their  avowed  aim,  the  incorporation  of  the 
principle  of  indefinite  sentences  in  the  penitentiary  system  would  be  an 
absolute  necessity.  All  must  admit  that  this  i)rinciple  was  justf  the 
only  difficulty  was  in  finding  a  right  way  to  apply  it.  But  he  believed 
the  problem  capable  of  solution,  for  he  held  that  God  never  made  a 
truth  into  which  he  did  not  put  a  power  which,  sooner  or  later,  would 
cause  it  to  prevail.  When  the  reformation  of  criminals  was  sought 
in  dead  earnest,  difficulties  would  disappear,  and  our  way  would  be  made 
plain. 

General  Miner,  of  Missouri,  expressed  his  opposition  to  the  principles 
both  of  indefinite  sentences  and  police  supervision. 

Mr.  Hageman,   of  New  Jersey,  expressed  concurrence  in  these  views. 

Mr.  KichardVaux,  of  Pennsylvania,  advocated  the  same  side  of  both 
these  questions  with  the  last  two  speakers.  He  had  the  greatest  pos- 
sible respect  for  Mr.  Brockway.  He  was  behind  no  man  in  admiration 
of  his  ability  and  success  as  a  prison  officer.  Possibly  his  views  might 
be  applicable  to  the  locality  where  he  lived  and  worked.  But  what  might 
be  true  in  Michigan  would  not  be  true  in  Pliiladel{)hia  or  New  York. 
Police  supervision  extended  thei)rison  beyond  its  walls.  He  would  say, 
with  entire  respect,  that  New  York  had,  in  its  prison  at  Sing  Sing,  a  gi- 
gantic manufactory  of  crime.  Criminals  were  there  educated  to  go  out  and 
rob  with  greater  skill  and  success.  In  the  city  of  New  York  the  rogues 
were  stronger  than  the  whole  power  exerted  to  keep  them  in  subjection. 
Hence  there  was  failure  in  the  courts,  judges  and  juries  often  conniving 
or  winking  at  wrong.  Mr.  Brock  way's  plan  would  vastly  increase  the 
police  force  in  New  York,  requiring  a  cordon  of  policemen  around  each 
block  in  the  city.  What  was  api)licable  in  England  would  not  be  per- 
mitted in  this  country'.  The  prolongation  of  the  prison,  after  the  pris- 
oner has  gone  forth  t'vom  its  walls,  would  not  be  tolerated  among  us. 
The  most  important  suggestion  was  tiiat  we  hold  out  hope  t^)  the  pris- 
oner. Keforui  should  be  the  end  in  view;  and  hope  should  be  held  out 
from  the  beginning, 

Mr.  Bradford,  ot  Connecticut,  said  that  he  took  square  issue  with  the 
last  speaker;  he  believed  that  we  should  have  supervision  of  the  dis- 
charged prisoner,  if  it  was  of  the  right  kind.  None  could  object  to  the 
continued  supervision  of  a  kind  father  after  his  son  had  left  the  i)aiernal 
roof.     This  was  the  kiiul  of  supervision  that  discharged  convicts  needed. 

Mr.  Coates,  of  Pennsylvania,  was  against  the  idea  of  indefinite  sen- 
tences, and  denied  the  right  ot  society  to  exercise  supervision  atter  the 
prisoner  had  served  out  his  time. 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Fessenden,  of  Connecticut,  read  a  report  on  the  pre- 
ventive, reformatory,  and  penal  institutions  in  that  State.  (For  this 
report,  see  p.  379.) 

Dr.  Wines  read  a  report  on  the  prison  question  in  California,  which 


464  NATIONAL    PRISON    REFORM    CONGRESS    OF    187:5. 

had  been  prepared  and  forwarded  by  the  Rev.  James  Woodworth,  sec- 
retary of  the  prison  commission  of  that  State,- who  was  unable  to  attend 
in  person.     (For  this  paper,  see  p.  375.) 

Dr.  Bellows,  of  New  York,  asked  for  information  as  to  the  training  of 
the  girls  mentioned  in  the  report  of  Mr.  Fessenden,  whether  the  causes 
of  crime  in  their  cases  were  inquired  into,  and  whether  the  treatment 
"was  specially  adapted  to  each  case.  He  spoke  in  strong  commendation 
of  Dr.  Carpenter's  essay  on  unconscious  cerebration,  and  wished  to  as- 
certain whether  the  treatment  of  the  girls  referred  to  was  based  upon 
the  truths  contained  in  that  book. 

Mr.  Fessenden  explained  that  the  points  presented  in  the  inquiry  of 
Dr.  Bellows  were  made  matters  of  examination,  and  the  treatment  was 
controlled  by  the  result.  But  they  found  that  clean  clothes,  good  water, 
and  i)leuty  of  soap  made  a  wonderful  change.  One  of  the  girls,  after  she 
had  shed  her  coat  of  hlth,  came  out  as  handsome  as  a  "picture."  A 
police  officer  said  to  him  of  another  of  the  girls,  "If  you  can  make  any- 
thing of  that  girl,  you  can  reform  any  one."  Yet  she  is  a  good  girl. 
Oar  success  is  very  cheering  in  this  work. « 

Mr.  Janney,  of  Maryland,  referring  to  statements  made  in  the  two 
reports  read,  said  he  rejoiced  that  temperance  was  making  some  prog- 
ress. The  ftict  that  nine-tenths  of  the  crime  committed  could  be  traced 
to  intemperance,  showed  that  effort  should  be  made  to  promulgate  the 
principles  of  temperance  and  to  secure  their  general  practical  adoption. 
The  offspring  of  intemperate  parents,  when  they  tell  into  crime,  were 
more  to  be  pitied  than  blamed. 

Hon.  Henry  Barnard,  of  Connecticut,  said  that  there  was  now  organ- 
izing, in  his  State,  a  farm-school,  based  on  the  will  of  Mr.  Watkiuson, 
the  funds  for  the  support  of  which  amounted  to  about  $100,000.  Mr. 
Watkiuson  had  also  left  a  small  sum  to  aid  discharged  prisoners.  He 
quite  agreed  with  the  president  (Governor  Seymour)  that  a  portion  of 
the  funds  arising  from  the  labor  of  the  convicts  should  be  set  aside  for 
their  use  when  discharged. 

Mr.  White,  of  Pennsylvania,  said  that  they  had  established  a  work- 
house, a  few  years  ago,  in  Allegheny  County,  and  that  the  earnings  of 
the  convicts  had  exceeded  their  expectations.  They  made  oil-barrels. 
They  gave  three  cents  a  barrel  to  the  convicts,  who  made,  on  an  average, 
twenty-two  barrels  a  day.  A  man,  committed  for  two  years  for  petty 
offense,  had  earned  $250  for  himself. 

Colonel  Burr,  of  Ohio,  said  that  in  his  State  they  were  authorized  by 
the  board  of  directors  to  place  to  the  credit  of  each  convict,  as  a  reward 
for  good  conduct,  such  sum  as  they  thought  ht,  not  exceeding  10  per 
cent,  of  his  earnings. 

Mr.  P.  T.  Miller,  of  Missouri,  said  that  his  experience  as  a  prison 
ofticcr  had  given  him  sonnf  knowledge  of  this  matter.  It  was  no  argu- 
ment to  say  that  a  bad  man,  because  he  was  bad,  should  make  no  more 
money  than  a  better  man,  because  he  was  better.  We  should  (cultivate 
and  encouiagc  industrial  skill  as  well  as  morality.  We  should  change 
C4>erccd  into  free  labor.  Money  is  mighty  to  move  men  even  in  a  right 
direction. 

Jjctters  were  here  received  from  a  number  of  penal,  reformatory,  aiid 
charital)le  institutions  of  Baltimore,  inviting  the  members  of  the  con- 
gress to  visit  such  institutions  (luring  their  stay  in  the  city.  The  invi- 
tations were.  acce|)ted  with  thanks. 

A  recess  was  taken  till  7  o'clock  p.  m. 


MISS  LINDA  Gilbert's  address.  465 

EVENING  SESSION. 

The  congress  re-assembled  at  7  p.  m. 

The  minutes  of  the  iirevious  meeting-  were  read  and  approved. 

The  i)resident,  with  complimentary  remarks,  introduced  ]\Iiss  Linda 
Gilbert,  of  Illinois,  who  gave  an  account  of  her  extensive  visitation  of 
prisons  in  different  States,  in  which  she  communicated  a  great  amount 
of  interesting  statistical  information.  She  said  that  90  i)er  cent,  of  all 
the  prisoners  in  the  country  were  more  or  less  intemperate.  The  num- 
ber of  county  jails  in  all  the  States  was  2,197,  and  the  average 
number  of  prisoners  in  each  jail  was  about  8.  The  average  number  of 
prisoners  in  all  the  prisons  in  the  country  did  not  fall  much,  if  any,  below 
40,000.  Seventy-seven  per  cent,  of  the  inmates  of  our  prisons  never 
learned  a  trade.  Forty  per  cent,  were  illiterate.  Thirty-eight  per  cent, 
lived  out  of  the  family  relation,  and  had  no  home  influences.  She  said 
that  only  parts  of  trades  were  usually  learned  in  prisons ;  hardly  any- 
where was  a  full  trade  imparted.  Some  thought  that  criminals  could 
not  be  reformed  ;  but  Mary  Magdalene  had  seven  devils  cast  out  of  her. 
There  was  much  mechanical  ingenuity  shut  up  within  prison  walls. 
She  knew  of  one  prisoner  whose  skill  had  brought  thousands  of  dollars 
into  the  treasury'  of  the  State.  Her  own  special  work  had  been  to  ])ro- 
vide  libraries  for  county  jails,  and  she  was  now  engaged  in  collecting 
books  for  the  new  jail  of  Saint  Louis.  Books  wexe  the  photographed 
souls  that  have  brightened,  and  yet  brighten,  the  world.  Her  belief 
was  that  mercy  should  be  mingled  with  justice,  and  reform  with  pun- 
ishment. 

Dr.  Wines  read  a  paper  on  "  The  Criminal,"  whicli  had  been  commu- 
nicated by  Dr.  Despine,  of  France.     (For  this  paper,  see  page  338.) 

Judge  Walker,  of  Michigan,  read  a  report  on  the  preventive,  reform- 
atory, and  penal  institutions  of  his  State.  (For  said  report,  see  page 
411.) 

Hon.  John  F.  Hageman,  of  New  Jersey,  read  a  similar  report  for  that 
State.     (For  his  report,  see  page  428.) 

The  president  (Governor  Seymour)  said  that  the  papers  just  read 
were  now  open  for  discussion.  He  declared  himself  in  favor  of  provid- 
ing discharged  convicts  with  a  certificate,  engrossed  on  parchment, 
with  seal,  &c.,  attesting  their  good  conduct  during  their  term  of  imprison- 
ment. He  thought  that  such  a  testimonial  would  be  a  stimulus  to  a  vir- 
tuous life.  The  first  impulse  of  nearly  all  men  is  to  turn  away  from 
the  convict  and  leave  him  to  his  fate.  But  such  a  certificate  might  in- 
fluence some  to  throw  aside  their  prejudice,  and  to  aid  him  in  again 
becoming  a  good  citizen. 

Mr.  Pierce,  of  Massachusetts,  remarked  that  something  had  been  said 
of  the  demoralizing  influence  of  jails  on  boys  and  girls.  Many  had  been 
struck  with  horror  at  seeing  small  children  at  such  places,  intermingled 
with  hardened  criminals,  who  took  pleasure  in  corrupting  them,  and  in 
preparing  them  to  corrupt  society  on  their  release.  They  had  a  visiting 
agency  established  by  law  in  Massachusetts.  The  agent  and  his  assist- 
ants interested  themselves  in  children  charged  with  violating  the  law, 
aided  them  on  trial,  and  secured  them  homes.  Boys  were  restless,  un- 
easy, fickle.  They  needed  some  friend  to  guide  and  guard  them ;  some 
one  whom  they  could  call  upon,  and  from  whom  they  could  obtain 
counsel  and  aid.  It  might  be  asked,  How  do  these  boys  get  to  prison  ? 
He  answered:  By  the  lower  courts,  which  hurried  them  ottto  jail,  when 
only  accused  and  not  proved  guilty  of  crime,  and  often  not  guilty  in 
fact.  There  was  some  friction  in  the  system,  but  it  worked  the  best  of 
H.  Ex.  185 30 


466  NATIONAL    PKISON    REFORJI    CONGRESS    OF    1873. 

any  plan  yet  devised.  Some  of  the  courts  sought  to  break  up  tlie  agency. 
But  the  people  had  confideuce  in  it,  and  kept  it  in  motion.  It  was  doing 
great  good. 

Mr.  Vaux,  of  Pennsylvania,  commented  on  the  paper  of  Dr.  Despine, 
regarding  it  as  marked  by  profound  thought,  keen  analysis,  and  a 
thoroughly  scientific  cast,  though  he  could  not  accept  all  its  views,  par- 
ticularly the  part  relating  to  indefinite  sentences. 

Dr.  Wines,  of  New  York,  concurred  in  the  judgment  just  expressed  of 
the  ability  and  value  of  Dr.  Despine's  essay.  He  thought  it  contained 
seeds  of  thought  which  could  not  fail  to  spring  up  and  bear,  in  the  end, 
a  rich  harvest. 

The  congress  adjourned  till  to-morrow  at  10  a.  m. 

THIRD  DAY — MORNING  SESSION. 

Thursday,  January  23,  1873. 

The  congress  met  at  10  a.  m..  Governor  Seymour  presiding,  and  was 
opened  with  prayer  by  the  Eev.  Dr.  Smith,  of  Maryland. 

The  minutes  of  yesterday  were  read  and  approved.  Dr.  Wines  an- 
nounced that,  through. funds  proffered  for  this  express  purpose,  the 
National  Prison  Association  had  been  able  to  issue  the  complete  works 
of  Edward  Livingston  on  criminal  jurisprudence,  and  they  offered  these 
incomparable  volumes  to  every  person  who,  by  an  annual  subscription 
of  $10,  became  a  member  of  the  association. 

Dr.  Bellows,  of  New  York,  said  that  this  congress  ought  not  to  sepa- 
rate without  an  expression  of  its  sense  of  obligation  to  that  great  man 
to  whom  i^enal  science  owed  so  much.  He  therefore  moved,  and  the 
congress  unaiiimously  adopted,  the  following  resolution: 

Eesolvedj  That  prison  science  owes  an  inextinguishable  debt  of  grati- 
tude and  commemoration  to  the  great  American  expounder  of  the 
humane  jHnnciples  which  have  since  been  acknowledged  as  the  true 
guide  to  reformers  of  penal  law  and  administration ;  that  Mr.  Living- 
ston, by  his  genius  and  moral  elevation,  anticipated  by  half  a  century 
the  ideas  which  are  now  just  beginning  to  prevail  among  students  of 
criminal  and  penitentiary  science;  and  that  his  work  is  a  monument  of 
learning,  largeness  of  thought,  nobility  of  feeling,  and  practical 
sagacity — an  honor  to  the  country  of  which  he  was  so  distinguished  a 
citizen,  and  to  humanity,  to  which  he  was  so  noble  an  example. 

Governor  Seymour  said  that  the  resolution  of  Dr.  Bellows  did  no  more 
than  justice  to  3Ir.  Livingston  in  saying  that  he  was  the  greatest  man 
of  our  country  in  so  far  as  penal  science  was  concerned.  He  believed  that 
he  was  also  the  foremost  statesman  that  this  country  had  i)roduced.  He 
had  received  a  copy  of  an  edition  in  Prench  of  Mr.  Livingston's  work, 
recently  issued  in  Paris.  He  therefore  moved,  as  additional  to  that  of 
Dr.  ]ieilows,  the  following  resolution  : 

Resolved,  That  this  congress  learns  with  great  satisfaction  that  M. 
Gharles  Lucas,  a  distinguished  member  of  the  Institute  of  Prance,  has 
j)iiblished,uiid(a'  the  aus|)i(;es  of  the  institute,  an  exposition  of  the  penal 
code  for  Louisiana  and  for  the  United  States,  by  Edward  Jjivingston, 
aiMl  we  ar(5  gratilied  that  this  work  of  our  illustrious  countryman  is  thus 
broiiglit  to  the  attention  of  IOuroi)ean  countTies. 

On  motirin  of  Dr.  Wines,  it  was  ordeied  that  a  committee  of  five  be 
ai)i)oint«'d  to  consider  tlie  expcMlicncy  of  making  application  to  the  Con- 
gress of  the  (Jnit(^d  Stales  for  aid  to  the  National  Prison  Association, 
and  to  r«'poit  to  this  conNcntion. 


DISCUSSION    ON    REPORT    OF    EXECUTIVE    COMMITTEE.        467 

The  chair  named  for  the  committee  Judge  Walker,  R.  K.  White, 
Edward  Earle,  Dr.  Bellows,  aud  Dr.  Wines. 

Dr.  Bellows  presented  aud  read  the  annual  report  of  the  executive 
committee  of  the  National  Prison  Association.  (For  this  report  see 
page  321.) 

A  paper  on  "  Untried  Prisoners,''  communicated  to  the  congress  by 
William  J.  Mullen,  of  Pennsylvania,  was  then  read.  (For  this  paper  see 
page  3G2.) 

The  chair  announced  that  the  two  papers  just  read  were  open  for  dis- 
cussion. 

Mr.  Powell,  of  New  York,  desired  to  express  the  great  pleasure  which, 
in  the  main,  he  had  felt  in  listening  to  the  report  read  by  Dr.  Bellows. 
He,  however,  took  exception  to  the  moral  value  attached  by  the  report 
to  the  dress  of  women.  There  was  a  vast  amount  of  waste,  and  worse 
than  waste,  in  this  direction.  He  had  lately  seen  a  lady  in  Washiljgtou 
the  flounces  of  whose  dress  alone  cost  $1,000,  and  the  rest  of  the  dress 
corresponded  in  style  and  expensiveness.  This  matter  of  dress  was 
becoming  one  of  the  strongest  temptations  to  crime.  He  favored  the 
dress  of  Quaker  ladies,  which  was  neat  and  economical,  and  instanced 
Elizabeth  Fry  and  Lucretia  Mott  as  illustrations.- 

Dr.  Bellows  accejited  the  criticism,  saying  that  his  remarks  on  the 
subject  of  dress  were  not  in  the  report,  but  were  thrown  oft  extempo- 
raneously in  the  reading.  He  took  back  all  that  he  had  said,  except  the 
principle  underlying  his  remarks,  which  he  believed  to  be  just  and  trtie. 

Governor  Seymour  hoped  that  the  doctor  would  not  surrender  too 
much.  He  thought  the  principle  involved  a  powerful  means  of  cultivat- 
ing and  refining  the  sensibilities.  We  had  better  seek  to  quicken  these 
in  prisoners,  rather  than  conquer  or  crush  them. 

Mr.  Pritchard,  of  Kentucky,  said  that  for  three  years  past  he  had  had 
opportunity  to  witness  the  working  of  prisons.  They  had  a  most 
objectionable  system  in  Kentuck3\  One  feature  of  the  system  was  the 
leasing  out  not  simply  the  labor  of  the  prisoners,  but  the  prisoners  them- 
selves, to  contractors.  The  system  placed  the  inmates  of  the  prison  com- 
pletely under  the  control  of  the  contractors.  They  worked  the  men  for 
money  only,  and  were  sometimes  harsh  and  merciless.  Kentucky  had 
lavished  millions  on  other  charities,  but  nothing  on  the  improvement  of 
prison  discipline.  They  needed  the  warden  system,  so  as  to  have  mat- 
ters under  the  control  of  the  State  and  not  that  of  contractors.  He 
was  willing  to  trust  the  people,  the  great  mass  of  whom  were  right  on 
this  subject.  With  a  warden  at  the  head  of  the  prison,  and  the  disci- 
pline placed  in  his  hands,  they  would  escape  some  of  the  worst  features 
of  their  present  system.  It  was  unwise  for  the  States  to  rent  the  con- 
victs. He  offered  a  resolution  on  the  subject,  which  was  referred  to  the 
business  committee. 

Colonel  Burr,  of  Ohio,  expressed  his  thanks  to  Dr.  Bellows  for  his  re- 
port. We  should  not  only  keep  alive  the  sensibilities  of  prisoners,  but, 
what  was  kindred  to  that,  we  should  exercise  the  spirit  and  power  of 
kindness  instead  of  mere  force.  All  that  Dr.  Bellows  had  said  had 
been  verified  over  aud  over  again  in  his  experience  and  observation. 
He  had  a  thousand  jirisoners  under  his  charge,  and  his  great  source  of 
power  over  them  lay  in  the  fact  that  he  was  their  friend.  A  single  and 
even  a  trivial  act  of  kindness  would  produce  great  effect. 

At  this  point  Governor  Seymour  called  the  Hon.  Mr.  Yaux,  of  Penn- 
sylvania, one  of  the  vice-presidents,  to  the  chair. 

Colonel  Burr  continued :  He  said  that  where  force  had  proved  of 
scarcely  any  avail,  a  kind  word  had  accomplished  wonders.     A  Prussian 


468  NATIONAL    PRISON    REFORM    CONGRESS    OF    187:5. 

engraver  had  beeu  in  liis  prison  ;  he  was  a  very  fine  workman  and  uuich 
desired  by  counterfeiters,  who  would  have  given  thousands  of  dollars  to 
get  him  for  their  work.  They  provided  him  with  means  of  escape,  drills, 
&c.,  and  85,000,  and  he  readily  succeeded,  but  was  caught.  He  was 
placed  in  a  cell  and  expected  severe  punishment.  But  when  he  (Colonel 
Burr)  went  to  see  him,  he  simply  said,  "Charlie,  put  on  your  coat  and 
go  to  the  shop,  to  work."  The  man  started,  surprised,  and  said,  with 
tears  in  his  eyes,  "  Warden,  I  did  not  expect  this."  He  walked  away, 
and  turned  again  and  said,  "Warden,  I  will  never  try  this  again." 
Again  he  started,  and  after  going  a  few  paces  he  stopped  a  third  time, 
and  added,  "  Warden,  you  will  never  have  any  more  trouble  with  me  as 
long  as  I  am  with  you."  And  he  was  true  to  his  word.  That  man 
loved  him  to-day  as  one  of  his  own  children. 

Dr.  Wines,  of  Kew  York,  was  afraid  that  the  enthusiasm  excited  by 
the  magnificent  paper  of  Dr.  Bellows  would  draw  away  the  attention  of 
the  congress  from  the  modest  but  very  valuable  paper  of  Mr.  Mullen, 
read  immediately  after  it.  He  hoped  that  that  document  would  receive 
the  attention  which  it  so  well  deserved.  It  set  forth,  clearly  and 
strongly,  the  duty  of  society  to  persons  under  arrest,  but  not  yet  brought 
to  trial.  It  showed  how  much  they  stood  in  need  of  some  friendly  inter- 
vention, and  how  much  suffering  and  wrong  might  be  prevented  by 
timely  and  judicious  action  on  their  behalf. 

Mr.  Merrefield.  of  Maryland,  emphasized  the  remarks  of  Dr.  Wines, 
and  moved  that  Mr.  Mullen's  paper  be  referred  to  the  busines's  commit- 
tee.    Carried. 

Mr.  Eockwood,  of  Utah,  agreed  to  all  that  had  been  said  on  the 
power  of  kindness.  He  had  in  his  prison  three  of  the  worst 
"roughs"  in  that  Territory.  When  first  committed,  they  threatened 
vengeance,  and  declared  their  purpose  to  escape.  He  gave  them 
bread  and  milk,  with  strawberries,  for  their  breakfast,  and  took  them 
out  on  the  road  to  work.  On  leaving  them  he  instructed  the  overseer 
not  to  work  them  too  hard,  as  their  hands  were  soft  and  would  blister. 
The  other  prisoners  told  them  that  if  they  behaved  well  they  would  be 
kindly  treated.  Next  Sunday  morning  they  confessed  that  their  inten- 
tion had  been  to  destroy  their  keepers  and  escape.  Kindness  had  con- 
quered them,  and  they  wept  like  children.  They  had  been,  and  con- 
tinued to  be,  among  the  best  men  in  the  prison.  He  had  found  it  im- 
portant to  separate  the  old  from  the  young.  Ninety  per  cent,  of  the 
prisoners  were  better  men  on  their  release  than  they  had  been  on  their 
commitment.  Tiiat  was  his  experience.  Kindness  gave  power.  Hope 
should  be  held  out  to  prisoners. 

Mr.  Bigham,  of  Pennsylvania,  said  that  under  the  leadership  of  the 
great  founder,  William  Penn,  his  State  had  been  a  pioneer  in  prison 
discipline,  and  she  intended  to  maintain  her  pre-eminence. 

General  lOggleston,  of  iMississippi,  said  that  he  was  from  the  South, 
and  wished  to  say  a  few  words  lespecting  that  section  of  the  coun- 
try. He  claimed  tliat  his  State  was  in  advance  of  some  of  the  older 
States.  She  had  forbidden  the  use  of  the  lash  in  punishing  prisoners. 
They  had  a(loj)ted  the  comnuitation  system,  shortening  the  term  of  im- 
jtrisonment  for  good  conduct  three  days  each  month.  They  had  reli- 
gious service,  Sundiiy-school,  a  line  melodcon  played  by  a  convict,  and 
excellent  singers  among  the  ])risoners.  Tliey  found  music  a  power  in 
moral  training.  On  ("liristmas  th(^y  gave  the  convicts  an  extra  dinner, 
and  lull  freedom  within  the  prison  pi'emises  to  converse  and  anuise  them- 
selves as  they  j)Iease(l.  They  found  no  harm,  bat  rather  beni^tit,  to  be 
the  result  of"  this  indulgence.     On  his  release  they  took  from  the  pris- 


DISCUSSION     ON   INTEMPERANCE    AND    CRIME.  469 

oner  every  mark  of  bis  convict  service,  gave  liiin  a  complete  outfit  of 
clothing,  and  ten  dollars  in  money. 

A  report  from  New  Hampshire,  by  tlie  Eev.  Dr.  Clark,  was  read.  (See 
page  42C.) 

A  report  from  South  Carolina,  prepared  by  General  C.  J.  Stolbrand, 
was  read  by  Judge  Walker.     (See  page  447.) 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Woodbury,  of  Rhode  Island,  read  a  report  from  that 
State.     (See  page  440.) 

Dr.  Wines,  of  New  York,  read  a  paper  contributed  by  Sir  Walter 
Crofton,  of  England,  on  sundry  points  discussed  at  the  Congress  of 
London,  with  a  view  of  correcting  certain  errors  into  which  he  consid- 
ered members  of  that  body  had  fallen  regarding  the  state  of  things  in 
his  country.     (See  page  359.) 

Dr.  Wines  said  that  it  gave  him  pain  to  differ  from  a  gentleman 
whom  he  so  much  respected,  admired,  and  loved,  both  on  account  of 
his  personal  qualities  and  his  great  services  to  the  cause  of  prison  re- 
form as  he  did  with  the  author  of  that  paper.  Still,  he  could  not  accept 
his  views  on  i>enal  labor  as  an  instrument  of  reformation,  or  the  lash  as 
a  disciplinary  punishment  in  prisons.  These  were  the  only  points,  he 
believed;  certainly  they  were  the  principal  ones,  on  which  he  dissented 
from  the  opinions  of  his  distinguished  friend,  to  whom  the  world  is  so 
much  indebted  for  his  labors  in  the  cause  of  prison  reform. 

Mr,  Powell,  of  New  York,  read  a  paper  on  "  Intemperance  and  Crime." 
(See  page  3G4.) 

Mr.  Pierce,  of  Massachusetts,  said  that  the  paper  just  read  treated  in- 
temperance as  the  chief  cause  of  criminality.  But  mere  statistics  would 
not  show  what  produced  crime.  Intemperance  was  often  an  incident  of 
low  life.  He  referred  to  the  separate  system,  the  Crofton  system,  and 
the  Maconochie  system  of  prison  discipline,  and  condemned  them  all  as 
"  weighed  in  the  balance  and  found  wanting."  He  did  not  come  there 
to  boast  of  his  own  State;  there  were  things  there  that  ought  to  be  dif- 
ferent ;  but  the  worst  thing  they  had  to  contend  with  was  the  indiffer- 
ence of  the  people  on  this  question  of  prison  reform.  The  administra- 
tion of  county  prisons  in  Massachusetts  was  very  objectionable;  you 
could  not  work  into  them  any  regular  system. 

Mr.  Coates,  of  Pennsylvania,  admitted  that  intemperance  was  not  the 
only  cause  of  crime,  but  it  was  one  of  the  greatest,  in  his  view  the  very 
greatest,  of  these  causes,  and  should  be  distinctly  so  set  forth.  In  this 
matter,  he  that  was  not  with  us  was  against  ns.  Let  no  man  tell  him 
that  they  had  not  the  power  to  crush  this  giant  enemy  to  the  order  and 
welfare  of  society.  They  had  the  power  if  they  would  but  use  it.  He 
appealed,. in  conclusion,  to  the  members  of  the  congress,  as  men  and 
as  Christians,  to  aid  in  the  suppression  of  this  great  evil. 

Mr.  Yaux,  of  Pennsylvania,  said  that  he  fully  indorsed  the  views  of  the 
gentleman  from  Massachusetts  (Mr.  Pierce)  on  this  subject.  He  did  not 
believe  that  intemperance  was  the  great  cause  of  crime;  there  were 
others  greater.  He  objected  to  sweeping  accusations.  The  worst  mur- 
der in  New  York,  that  of  the  policy-dealer,  was  not  caused  by  intem- 
perance ;  and  so  in  the  Stokes  case.  He  hoped  temperance  would  suc- 
ceed, and  he  would  do  what  he  could  to  help  its  success ;  but,  said  he, 
let  us  be  wise,  and  not  by  the  mere  use  of  terms,  by  dreams,  increase 
the  catalogue  of  crimes. 

Mr.  Folger,  of  New  Hampshire,  said  that  the  rule  laid  down  by  the 
Savior  was,  "by  their  fruits  ye  shall  know  them."  It  was  by  that 
rule  that  intemperance  should  be  judged  in  its  relation  to  crime.  He 
was  glad  the  question  had  been  brought  before  us.  He  was  sorry  it  had 
been  ignored  at  London.     Despite  the  silence  maintained  there,  the 


470  NATIONAL    PKISON    REFORM    CONGRESS    OF    1873. 

governor  of  au  English  prison  had  informed  him  that  drink  brought  most 
of  his  prisoners  there.  As  to  what  had  been  stigmatized  as  2^oUce 
espionage,  we  might  judge  that  by  its  fruits  also.  It  had  been  tried  and 
worked  well  in  England.  So  it  might  be  in  this  country.  There  it  was 
a  kind  care,  and  not  an  espioncif/e  at  all. 

Dr.  Parish,  of  Pennsylvania,  had  desired  to  hear  the  paper  on  intem- 
perance, but  had  not  been  in  at  the  reading.  He  concurred  in  the  views 
of  Mr.  Vans.  He  once  asked  the  chaplain  of  the  Eastern  penitentiary 
how  many  inebriates  they  had  there.  He  replied,  "not  one;  inebri- 
ates are  not  the  kind  of  persons  who  become  convicts."  He  protested 
against  the  use  of  sweeping  declarations — against  ultraism.  Drunken- 
ness was  not,  |;e?'  se,  a  crime. 

Mr.  Powell,  of  New  York,  replying  to  Dr.  Parish,  said  that  he  b  ad  visited 
the  Eastern  penitentiary,  and  was  informed  by  the  warden  that  nine-tenths 
of  the  inmates  had  been  addicted  to  the  use  of  intoxicating  liquors.  As  to 
the  murden?r,  Foster,  it  vras  in  evidence  that  he  had  spent  the  evening  in 
drinking,  and  Stokes  was  of  the  same  character  ;  he  had  been  assured 
that  he  was  under  the  influence  of  liquor  when  he  committed  the  act. 
The  paper  he  had  read  did  not  undertake  to  Hx  the  status  of  drunken- 
ness ;  the  laws  and  the  courts  had  done  that. 

The  Pev.  Mr.  Woodbury,  of  Ehode  Island,  said  that  we  were  very  apt  to 
consider  things  that  seemed  to  be  connected  as  cause  and  effect.  We  might 
possibly  err  in  this.  None  of  us  would  consider  drunkenness  as  a  crime  of 
itself ;  but  we  all  agreed  that  intemperance  and  intoxication  were  indic- 
ative of  a  want  of  self-control,  in  which  state  all  crimes  became  pos- 
sible; and  a  lack  or  neglect  of  possible  self-control  was  sin.  The  appe- 
tite for  drink  was  sometimes  inherited  ;  and  the  desire  for  gratification 
came  upon  its  subjects  periodically,  say,  every  six  or  twelve  months, 
and  v.'as  then  uncontrollable.  He  once  roomed  in  a  theological  school 
with  a  young  gentleman  whose  apx^etitecame  upon  him  so  strongly  that 
he  shut  himself  up  for  several  days  and  secretly  indulged  in  drink.  And 
then,  after  an  interval  of  soberness,  he  would  have  another  surrender 
of  himself  to  drink.  The  hahit  of  intemperance  was  formed  by  indul- 
gence, not  inherited,  or  caused  by  disease.  This  habit  was  indicative 
of  a  want  of  self-command,  a  lack  of  full  manhood,  that  we  should  en- 
deavor to  develop  and  strengthen.  Persons  without  this  self-command 
were  often  shown  by  facts  and  confession  to  have  been  suddenly  assailed 
with  temptation,  without  any  previous  intention,  to  commit  crime.  Con- 
victs very  frequently  stated  that  they  had  no  thought  of  doing  the 
wrong  until  they  l^ecame  intoxicated. 

Kecess  until  7  o'clock  i>.  m. 

EVENING  SESSION. 

The  congress  reassembled  at  the  appointed  hour,  Governor  Seymour 
in  the  chair. 

Mr.  Develin,  of  Xcw  York,  read  a  paper  on  the  susceptibility  of  crim- 
inals to  reformatory  inlhiencM's,  coiiuiiunicated  by  ])r.  Andeison,  presi- 
dent of  the  New  York  Catholic;  Protectojy,  who  was  unable  to  be  pres- 
ent himself.     (For  Dr.  Anderson's  ])aper  see  page  .350.) 

Dr.  Wines  said  that  it  wouhl  be  impossible  for  him  to  present  his  an- 
anual  rei)ort  in  lull,  unless  the  congress  was  prei)ared  to  devote  a  day 
to  hearing  it  read.  As  this  evenir)g  was  to  be  given  up  to  a  considera- 
tion of  Hiformatory  work,  he  would  read  what  his  report  contained  on 
the  reformatory  svslcm  of  (Jreat  I>iitain.  (See  Part  lofliis  report, 
pp.  llC-122.) 


DISCUSSION    ON    REFOKMATORY    WORK.  471 

Dr.  Wines  read  a  coininmiication  from  Mr,  Demetz,  louuder  and 
director  of  the  penitentiary  colony  of  Mettray,  France,  on  the  prepara- 
tory school,  connected  with  the  colony,  for  the  training  of  sub-ofticers  to 
be  employed  in  the  iustitutioM.  (For  the  letter  of  Mr.  Demetz,  see 
page  358.) 

The  Eev.  Mr.  Woodbury,  of  Rhode  Island,  read  an  exceedingly  in- 
teresting paper  on  preventive  and  reformatory  work  in  Massachusetts, 
prepared  by  Mr.  F.  B.  Sanborn,  a  member  of  the  board  of  public  chari- 
ties in  that  State.     (For  Mr.  Sanborn's  paper  see  page  400.) 

Mr.  Develin  then  addressed  the  congress  in  regard  to  the  Catholic 
Protectory  of  New  York  City.  He  said  that  the  institution  was  founded 
and  commenced  operations  in  1803.  It  had  since  aided  7,000  children.  The 
present  number  of  inmates  was  l,2o0,  300  of  whom  were  girls.  It  was  in 
no  sense  a  prison,  with  bars  and  massive  walls  to  encompass  the  children,  ■ 
but  an  institution  ^yhere  the  children  were  made  to  feel  that  the  managers 
and  officers  were  their  true  friends,aud  where  the  rule  was  maintained  al- 
most wholly  by  moral  forces.  The  boys  all  learned  trades,  becoming  type- 
setters, stereotypers,  machinists,  shoe-makers,  tailors,  carpenters,  chair- 
makers,  bakers,  farmers,  and  gardeners.  Aua'icount  was  kept  with  each 
boy  and  girl  in  the  institution.  The  officers  were  careful  to  inculcate  the 
idea  that  labor  is  a  duty,  and  that  it  is  ennobling,  not  degrading.  They, 
allowed  inmates  so  much  per  mouth  or  week,  according  to  their 
diligence.  One  boy  had  earned  enough  to  bring  his  mother,  three 
brothers,  and  a  sister  from  Ireland  to  this  country.  Another  had  saved 
and  invested  $300  in  laud  near  the  school,  and  the  indications  were  that 
by  the  time  the  lad  had  reached  his  majority,  his  investment  would 
yield  him  sufficient  capital  to  enable  him  to  start  in  business.  Many 
other  boys  in  the  school  had  accumulated  kirger  or  smaller  sums  of 
money  by  their  industrj^.  In  the  shoe-making  business,  the  institution 
was  a  small  Lynn.  The  boys  did  jobs  of  printing  for  i)eople  outside, 
and  the  same  with  other  trades  carried  on  in  the  protectory.  They  had 
pigeon-holes,  into  which  were  put  checks  or  tokens  of  good  conduct; 
and  the  scholars,  according  to  the  number  of  these  tokens,  received 
small  gifts;  to  the  younger  children  were  given  toys;  to  the  older, 
money.  They  allowed  the  well-behaved  to  roam  in  the  adjoining  woods, 
to  bathe  in  the  river,  to  row  in  boats,  and  to  fish.  In  this  way  they 
endeavored  to  show  the  boys  that  they  were  their  friends.  They  en- 
deavored to  bend  the  twig  aright,  so  that  when  the  boy  became  a  man, 
he  would  prove  a  good  and  useful  citizen.  The  boys  felt  that  their 
institution  was  a  home.  The  protectory  was  a  Roman  Catholic  institu 
tion,  but  it  received  Protestant  boys  and  girls,  and  no  restriction  was 
placed  upon  their  attending  Protestant  chTirches  and  Sunday  schools, 
nor  were  any  attempts  made  to  induce  them  to  embrace  the  Catholic 
faith. 

Mr.  Develin  said  that  there  were  more  causes  than  one  for  congratu- 
lation on  the  meeting  of  this  congress,  but  a  principal  cause  was  the 
common  ground  on  which  we  could  all  stand,  compare  views,  and  work 
in  harmony.  It  had  been  so  in  the  Cincinnati  and  London  congresses, 
and  it  was  so  in  this.  Dr.  Wines,  an  eminent  American  Protestant, 
and  Dr.  Manning,  an  eminent  Catholic  prelate  of  England,  united  in 
the  one  great  and  noble  work  of  assisting  the  prisoner  in  his  efforts  to 
reform.  We  had  hoped  for  the  presence  of  the  Catholic  archbishop  of 
this  city,  who  had  been  invited  to  open"  one  of  the  sessions  of  this  con- 
gress with  prayer ;  but  he  had  been  prevented  by  sickness,  which  had 
caused  him  to  seek  a  healthier  clime. 

Mr.  Develin  closed  by  inviting  the  members  of  the  congress  to  visit 


472  NATIONAL    PRISON    REFORM    CONGRESS    OF    1873. 

the  protectoiy.    If  they  would  come  to  the  office,  No.  UO  Iteadc  street, 
they  would  be  conveyed  to  the  iustitutiou  by  carriages. 

Mr.  Pritchard,  of  Kentucky,  in  consideration  of  his  being  obliged  to 
leave  the  city  to-night,  asked  that  the  discussion  on  reformatory  insti- 
tutions might  be  suspended  at  this  point  to  enable  him  to  introduce, 
and  the  congress  to  pass,  a  resolution  condemning  the  system  of  leas- 
ing prisons  to  contractors.  It  was  a  question  in  which  he  felt  a  very 
deep  interest,  and  he  would  be  glad  to  be  present  when  it  was  dis- 
cussed. It  was  explained  by  the  ])resident  that  when  the  subject  came 
up  for  consideration  to-morrow,  the  colleagues  of  Mr.  Pritchard  would 
be  present,  and  would,  no  doubt,  represent  the  public  opinion  of  Ken- 
tucky on  this  subject.  After  further  conversatiou,  Mr.  Pritchard 
withdrew  his  request,  and  the  discussion  on  reformatories  was  resumed. 

Mr.  Talcott,  of  Rhode  Island,  said  that  he  was  from  a  small  State, 
and  was  at  the  head  of  one  of  the  sinallest  institutions  for  reform  in 
the  country.  The  work  was  a  great  one,  and  how  to  do  it  wisely  and 
well  was  the  question.  To  learn  this  he  had  come  here ;  and  while  willing 
to  give  his  own  views,  he  hoped  to  hear  from  others  who  had  had  greater 
experience.  He  had  two  hundred  children  and  youths  in  his  institution, 
and  thirty  more  placed  in  families  iu  different  parts  of  the  State,  whose 
names  were  on  the  roll.  They  were  boarded  out  at  $2  a  week,  and 
'  must  be  reported  upon  at  least  monthly.  From  one  to  two  dollars  a 
week  were  paid  for  their  education.  If  the  children  staid  three  or 
four  months  in  a  family,  arrangements  were  made  for  continuing  them 
there.  The  discipline  of  the  institution  was  parental,  as  much  so  as 
they  knew  how  to  make  it.  Some  correction  was  occasionally  neces- 
sary, and  a  little  chastisement,  administered  in  a  right  spirit,  had  a 
good  effect.  The  special  featyire  of  the  institution  was  that  of  a  family- 
home. 

The  Eev.  Father  Quiun,  of  New  York,  asked:  "Do  you  have  walls 
surrounding  your  reformatory  P' 
.    Mr.  Talcott  replied  that  they  had. 

Father  Quinn.  "  Is  there  any  special  feature  in  your  institution 
wherein  it  differs  from  other  reformatories  ?" 

Mr.  Talcott.  "  No,  it  is  very  much  like  other  institutions,  having 
the  same  end  in  view." 

Itev.  Mr.  Sheldon,  of  New  Jersey,  superintendent  of  the  reform  school 
for  boys  at  Jamesburgh,  said  that  their  plan  embodied  the  family  S3-stem 
as  far  as  possible.  Boys  were  sent  to  them  up  to  twenty-one  years  of 
age.  They  had  power  to  release  any  inmate  at  the  end  of  a  year,  if 
they  judged  it  expedient.  They  sought  to  infuse  the  stimulus  of  hope 
into  the  minds  of  the  boys.*  They  had  no  encircling  wall.  They  sought 
to  get  into  the  heart  of  the  boy ;  they  sympathized  with  him  in  his 
troubles,  and  so  endeavored  to  hold  him  by  the  power  of  kindness. 
For  the  encouragement  of  fellow-laborers  in  this  Avork,  lie  would  say 
that  kindness  had  wrought  wonders  for  them.  It  was  the  great  power 
witli  wliicli  to  mohl  tliese  young  heaits  to  virtue.  It  won  their  confi- 
dence and  lestoicd  their  sclfivspoct,  both  of  which  were  great  elements 
in  effecting  tlieir  refoiniation. 

Mr.  Shii)h'y,  of  Ohio,  thought  that  i)revention  was  the  great  thing. 
lie  believed  in  com[)ulsory  e<lu('ation  as  an  effective  means  to  this  end. 
There  were  jiarents  Avho  would  not  educate  their  children,  but  would 
sooner  train  them  lor  ciime  and  ruin.  They  had  a  law  in  Ohio  by 
which  they  could  take  a  cliild  away  from  such  parents,  to  the  benefit  of 
society  and  the  sahiitioii  of  the  child. 


DISCUSSION    ON    KEFORMATORY    WORK.  473 

Judge  Walker,  of  Michigau,  asked :  "How  loug  have  you  liad  this 
law,  aud  Avhat  have  been  its  results?" 

Mr.  Shipley  answered  :  "  We  have  had"  the  law  four  years,  aud  it 
has  worked  well ;  many  children  have  been  rescued  and  placed  in  good 
homes  with  farmers." 

Judge  Walker  :  "  Can  children  be  taken  away  from  parents  without 
their  consent  f" 

Mr.  Shipley:  "Yes.  Our  institution  is  'the  house  of  refuge'  for 
those  worse  than  orphan  children." 

Mr.  Milligan,  of  Western  Pennsylvania,  said  that  they  had  adopted 
in  their  prison  almost  all  the  reformatory  measures  that  had  been  advo- 
cated in  this  congress,  and  they  looked  forward  to  a  bright  future  of 
successful  reformatory  woric.  But  he  would  like  to  hear  discussed  in 
this  congress  the  criminal  codes  of  the  several  States  and  their  adminis- 
tration. He  believed  that  there  was  more  crime  produced  by  defective 
laws  and  bad  administration  than  was  prevented  or  punished  by  them. 
Criminal  laws  and  courts  seemed  to  him  a  uwghty  machine  for  the 
manufacture  of  criminals.  He  favored  indefinite  sentences  and  graded 
prisons.  Would  they  turn  a  jierson  infected  with  the  small-pox  loose 
to  spread  the  contagion  ?  That  seemed  to  him  quite  as  reasonable  as  it 
would  be  to  release  a  prisoner  infected  with  the  leprosy  of  crime,  which  . 
was  worse  than  that  of  small-pox. 

Mr.  Ames,  of  Massachusetts,  desired  to  emphasize  the  views  expressed 
by  Mr.  Shipley  in  favor  of  preventive  measures.  They  had  a  law  in 
Massachusetts  like  that  of  Ohio,  by  which  children  exposed  to  want 
and  in  danger  of  falling  into  crime  could  be  taken  from  their  parents, 
and  thns  preserved  from  matured  criminality.  That  was  prevention, 
which  was  better  than  cure.  The  lovers  of  humanity  should  awake  and 
put  forth  every  effort  to  save  the  crowds  rushing  to  ruin,  young  women 
especially.  Seventy-five  per  cent,  of  those  rescued  by  this  law  from  the 
criminal  example  aud  teaching  of  their  parents,  and  from  association 
with  the  vile,  were  saved.  They  should  retain  a  supervision  over  such 
during  their  minority,  kindly  watching  over  them,  getting  them  into 
good  family-homes,  and  thus  preparing  them  for  the  highest  position  that 
woman  could  occupy — that  of  wife  and  mother.  He  might  be  an  enthu- 
siast, -but  he  believed  that  hundreds  and  thousands  of  girls,  now  just 
commencing  a  course  of  crime  and  infamy,  might  be  saved.  A  far 
greater  number  of  institutions  than  now  existed  should  be  established 
in  every  State,  both  preventive  and  reformatory.     ' 

Mr.  Eockwood,  of  Utah,  said  that  in  1853  an  act  was  passed  in  that 
Territory,  authorizing  the  probate  judge  to  take  any  child,  on  presenta- 
tion of  proper  evidence  that  it  needetl  care,  and  bind  it  out,  at  the  dis- 
cretion of  the  court.  He  had  known  children  who  had  been  thus  saved 
as  brands  from  the  burning.  They  could  also  bind  out  juvenile  oliend- 
ers  that  were  found  drunk  on  the  streets ;  if  claimed  by  responsible 
persons,  they  were  surrendered  ;  but  if  there  were  no  such  to  care  for 
them,  they  bound  them  out. 

Dr.  Wright,  of  Tennessee,  read  a  report  on  the  penitentiary  system 
of  his  State.     (For  his  report  see  p.  449.) 

iSTo  report  having  been  sent  in  from  Missouri,  General  Miner  and  Mr. 
Miller  submitted  a  report  prepared  during  the  sessions  of  the  congress, 
which,  without  being  read,  was  placed  on  file.  (For  this  report  see  p.  424.) 

General  Miner,  on  behalf  of  the  Missouri  delegation,  invited  the  con- 
gress to  hold  its  next  meeting  in  Saint  Louis,  and  assured  them  of  a 
hearty  welcome. 

Adjourned  till  10  to-morrow  morning. 


474  NATIONAL    PRISON    REFORM    CONGRESS    OF    1873. 

FOURTH  DAY — MORNING   SESSION. 

Friday,  January  24,  1873. 

The  congress  re-assembled  at  10  a.  m.,  pursuant  to  adjournment. 

In  the  absence  of  the  president,  Judge  Walker,  of  Michigan,  one  of 
the  vice-presidents,  on  invitation,  took  the  chair. 

The  Eev.  J.  L.  Milligau,  of  Pennsylvania,  opened  the  session  with 
prayer. 

Mr.  Miller,  of  Missouri,  renewed  the  invitation  to  the  congress  to  hold 
its  next  meeting  in  Saint  Louis,  repeating  the  assurance  of  cordial  wel- 
come by  the  city  and  the  State,  and  adding,  "  You  need  to  see  our  people 
and  our  city ;  .and  we  need  to  see  and  hear  you,  to  receive  the  lessons 
you  will  give  us,  and  to  feel  the  quickening  of  your  presence." 

On  motion,  the  invitation  was  accepted,  with  thanks.  Subsequently 
in  the  day,  a  telegram  was  read  from  the  Hon.  Joseph  Brown,  mayor  of 
Saint  Louis,  repeating  the  invitation,  and  promising  the  congress  the 
heartiest  of  Missouri  welcomes,  which  was  received  with  much  applause. 

Dr.  Wines  stated  that  the  board  of  directors  of  the  Xational  Prison 
Association,  at  a  meeting  held  in  this  city  yesterday,  had  resolved  to 
have  these  annual  congresses  in  the  spring,  during  the  month  of  May 
or  June,  the  exact  date  to  be  fixed  according  to  circumstances,  by  the 
board,  or  its  executive  committee,  and  that  the  next  meeting  would,  as 
a  matter  of  course,  take  place  in  the  spring  of  1874. 

Dr.  Wines  further  stated  that  the  constitution  of  the  national  associ- 
ation provided,  that  committees  of  correspondence  should  be  formed  in 
all  the  States  at  the  earliest  practicable  moment,  to  cooperate  with  the 
association  in  i)ushing  the  work  of  prison  reform  in  all  its  departments, 
but  especially'  in  the  gathering  of  criminal,  penitentiary,  and  reforma- 
tory statistics,  and  that  he  had  been  instructed  by  the  board  of  direct- 
ors to  invite  the  delegations  from  the  several  States  to  hand  in  to  him 
the  names  of  such  persons  as  they  judged  competent  and  suitable  to  be 
placed  upon  the  proposed  committees.  He  further  said  that  it  was  the 
judgment  of  the  board  that  where  boards  of  State  charities  or  i)rison  as- 
sociations exist,  instead  of  forming  new  organizations  they  should  be 
invited  to  co-operate  with  the  national  association  in  the  manner  and 
for  the  purpose  indicated. 

On  motion,  it  was  ordered  that  the  further  reading  of  reports  from 
States  be  dispensed  with,  and  that  reports  not  hitherto  read  be  referred 
to  the  executive  committee  of  the  association  for  publication,  either  in 
full  or  epitomized  form,  in  the  transactions  of  this  congress. 

])r.  Wines  read  a  ]tni)er  by  Miss  Carpenter,  of  England,  on  life-sen- 
tenced prisoners,  at  the  conclusion  of  whi(!h  he  said  that  he  much  re- 
gretted that  the  i)ressure  of  business  on  this  last  day  of  the  sessions 
of  the  congress  was  such  as  to  forbid  an  extended  consideration  of  the 
very  im])()rtant  question  treated  by  Miss  Carpenter.  The  i)aper  was 
able  and  suggestive,  like  everything  that  came  from  the  pen  of  that 
distinguished  j)hilantlirojnst  and  writer.  It  presented  many  very  strik- 
ing views,  and  though  tliere  was  no  time  at  i)resent  to  consider  and 
discuss  them,  tin;  <'ssay  would  be  printed  as  a  part  of  the  ])roceedings, 
and  would  be  as  seed  <-,ast  into  the  i)ublic  mind  and  thouglit  of  the 
conntry  and  tlie  woild.     (I^'or  JMiss  Carpenter's  pa|)er  see])age  .'548.) 

j\lr.  Sliij)ley,  of  Ohio,  cliairman  of  the  finance  committee,  and  treas- 
urer of  the  congress,  repoited  Dial  '^L'tl  had  been  received,  that  all  bills 
had  been  j)ai<l,  and  tliat  there  remaine<l  a  snrplus  of  $73.85.  On  motion 
of  I\Ir.  Ciiflitli,  of  Maryhind,  it  was  onh^-ed  that  the  balance  in  the 
liands  of  treasnrer  be  ai)]»ioi)iiated  to  the  National  Prison  Association, 


DISCUSSION    ON    MEMORIAL    TO    CONGRESS.  475 

aud  it  was  accordiugly  lianded  over  to  tbe  secretary,  for  trausmission 
to  the  treasurer  of  the  association. 

In  the  absence  of  Mr.  Moufort  and  the  other  secretaries  of  the  con- 
gress, General  James  L.  Miner,  of  Missouri,  was,  by  vote  of  the  con- 
gress, invited  to  act  as  secretary  in  their  pUice. 

Dr.  AVines,  on  behalf  of  the  special  committee  appointed  to  consider 
the  expediency  of  petitioning  Congress  to  make  an  appropriation  in  aid 
of  the  work  of  the  National  Prison  Association,  reported  the  draught 
of  a  memorial  addressed  to  that  body. 

General  Eggleston,  of  Mississippi,  and  Mr.  Vaux,  of  Pennsylvania, 
doubted  the  propriety  of  the  action  proposed. 

Governor  Seymour,  of  New  York,  said  that  he  was  what  was  called  a 
"  States'  rights  ''  man,  and  that  upon  that  point  he  agreed  with  the  gen- 
tlemen who  had  preceded  him.  But  there  was  one  aspect  of  this  case 
which  took  it  out  of  the  scope  of  their  criticisms.  The  movement  in 
which  we  were  engaged  was  national,  aud  even  international.  We  were 
in  fact  a  part  of  the  congress  which  met  in  London  last  year.  We  acted, 
therefore,  in  a  national  relation.  Criminal  administration  and  i)rison 
discipline  belonged  to  the  National  Government,  as  well  as  to  the  gov- 
ernments of  the  States,  for  the  United  States,  equally  with  the  individ- 
ual States,  had  its  courts  aud  its  convicts.  Besides,  the  District  of  Co- 
lumbia and  the  Territories  were  within  our  purview,  and  these  were 
under  the  immediate  jurisdiction  of  the  National  Government.  And 
then,  as  he  had  said,  this  work  was  international,  as  well  as  national. 
The  Loudon  Congress  formed  a  permanent  international  commission, 
charged  with  the  duty  of  organizing  a  plan  for  the  c<)llection  of  inter- 
national penitentiary  statistics  upon  common  principles,  and  according 
to  common  formulas ;  and  it  was  expected  that  all  nations  would  co- 
operate in  this  work.  Would  the  United  States  Government  alone  stand 
aloof  from  it  ?  He  thought  that  the^jroverument  should  not  and  would 
not  decline  co  operation  in  an  object  at  once  so  catholic  and  so  impor- 
tant. 

The  discussion  was  continued  for  some  time,  a  number  of  delegates 
taking  part  therein. 

Governor  Seymour  resumed  the  chair,  and  Judge  Walker  moved  that 
the  report  of  the  committee  be  adopted;  that  thtf  president  aud  secre- 
tary be  authorized  to  sign  the  memorial ;  and  that  a  committee  of  thir- 
teen, of  which  the  president  should  be  chairman,  be  appointed  to 
present  the  memorial  to  Congress. 

The  motion  passed,  and  the  following  gentlemen  were  appointed  on 
the  committee:  Hon.  Horatio  Seymour,  of  New  York,  chairman  ;  Hon. 
Richard  Vaux,  of  Pennsylvania ;  General  J.  L.  Miner,  of  Missouri : 
General  B.  B.  Eggleston,  of  Mississippi;  Hon.  C.  L  Walker,  of  Michi- 
gan ;  Governor  F.  Smyth,  of  New  Hampshire  ;  Hon.  Edward  Earle,  of 
Massachusetts ;  Hon.  R.  K.  White,  of  Kentucky  ;  Hon.  Isaac  D.  Jones, 
of  Maryland ;  Murray  Shipley,  Esq.,  of  Ohio ;  Professor  W.  F.  Phelps, 
of  Minnesota ;  Eev.  H.  W.  Bellows,  D.  D.,  of  New  York ;  and  Dr.  E. 
C.  Wines,  of  New  York. 

Mrs.  Richardson,  of  Missouri,  through  Judge  Walker,  offered  the  fol- 
lowing resolution,  which  was  unanimously  carried,  viz : 

Resolved,  That  the  friends  of  prison  reform  be  earnestly  invited  to 
show  their  interest  in  the  cause  by  becoming  members  of  the  National 
Prison  Association,  and  thus  promote  its  usefulness  and  at  the  same 
time  aid  in  the  circulation  of  the  works  of  that  great  statesman,  jurist, 
and  prison  reformer,  Edward  Livingston. 


476  NATIONAL    PRISON    REFORM    CONGRESS    OF    1873. 

Mrs.  Eicliardson  sent  up  $10  to  constitute  herself  a  member  of  the 
association,  thus  proving;  her  faith  by  her  works. 

Judge  Walker,  of  the  business  committee,  reported  six  resolutions  on 
jioints  which  had  been,  in  some  form,  referred  to  the  said  committee. 

For  these  propositions  see  further  on,  under  the  heading  ''  Eesolutions 
adopted  by  the  congress." 

The  first  resolution,  relating  to  the  connection  between  intemi)erance 
and  crime,  the  subject  having  been  fully  discussed  yesterday,  was  car- 
ried unanimously. 

The  second  resolution,  relating  to  the  leasing  of  prisons,  gave  rise 
to  an  extended  discussion. 

General  Eggleston,  of  jVIississippi,  said  that  the  "  leasing  system  "  pre- 
vailed in  his  State,  but  worked  ba((ly.  They  found  themselves  imposed 
upon  by  the  lessees.  The  men  were  overworked.  There  was  constant 
friction  between  the  State  authorities  and  the  lessees.  The  authorities 
insisted  that  the  men  should  have  wholesome  and  sufficient  rations,  and 
be  suitably  clad,  kindly  treated,  and  not  overtasked.  The  lessees  com- 
plained that  such  interference  curtailed  their  profits,  and  would  compel 
them  to  surrender  their  contract.  He  thought  that  when  their  new 
prison  building  was  completed  and  the}'  had  room  for  all  their  convicts 
to  work  within  the  prison  premises,  the  system  would  be  definitely 
abandoned. 

Dr.  Wright,  of  Tennessee,  defended  the  system,  as  practised  in  his 
State.  They  retained  control  of  the  discipline  and  management  of  the 
prison.  They  did  not  for  a  moment  lose  sight  of  the  interests  of  the 
convicts,  whose  reformation  they  earnestly  sought. 

Mr.  South,  of  Kentuckj',  said  that  he  did  not  quite  agree  with  the 
views  of  his  colleague,  Mr.  Pritchard.  He  defended  the  system  in  part, 
and  commended  the  humanity  of  the  late  lessee.  Captain  Todd. 

Judge  Walker,  of  Michigan,  said  that  there  seemed  to  be  some  diffi- 
culty or  misunderstanding,  which  he  thought  grew  out  of  the  term 
"leasing."  He  thought  the  word  "  contracting"  would  be  preferable. 
There  was  a  prejudice  against  leasing,  but  in  all  the  States  there  was 
something  of  the  contract  i^rinciple  and  practice.  The  terai  "leasing" 
conveyed  different  ideas  to  different  minds. 

Governor  Sejmout  supposed  leasing  and  contracting  to  be  very  much 
the  same  thing. 

Dr.  Wines,  of  Kew  York,  said  that,  with  all  deference  to  the  two 
eminent  gentlemen  who  had  last  addresse<l  the  congress,  he  conceived 
that  there  was  a  material  difference  between  the  leasing  system  and  the 
contract  system,  and,  altliough  he  did  not  like  the  latter,  he  considered 
the  former  greatly  more  objectionable.  Under  the  contract  system,  the 
labor  oidy  of  tlie  convict  was  hired  out;  while  the  whole  care  of  the 
jnisoners,  the  discipline,  tlie  clothing,  the  bedding,  the  food,  the  medical 
attendance,  the  religious  and  secular  instruction,  the  hours  of  labor, 
&c.,  were  retained  in  the  hands  of  the  authorities.  But,  under  the 
leasing  system,  all  this  was  changed.  The  whole  control  and  manage- 
jiient  of  the  prison,  including  tluv  nuiterial  and  moral  interests  of  the 
prisoners,  were  turned  o\er  to  the  lessee,  who  was  sometimes  an  indi- 
\idual  and  sometimes  a  business  company  ;  but  always  a  party  whose 
sole,  object  was  to  grow  rich,  lirst  out  of  wiiat  the  convicts  couhl  earn, 
and  next  out  of  what  could  be  saved  from  the  cost  of  feeding,  clothing, 
and  housing  tlujm.  'i'ln^  ]uison  was  let,  as  lie,  understood  it,  for  a  term 
of  years,  to  the  party  who  offer<Ml  the  highest  bonus  to  the  State,  over 
and  above  th(^  kec])  ;ind  care  of  the  prisoiU3rs.  Other  considerations 
might  possibly  come  in,  but  this  was  the  main  and  controlling  one.    He 


DISCUSSION    ON    SYSTEM    OF    LEASING   PRISONS.  477 

looked  upoji  it  as  a  system  objectionable  to  the  last  degree.  It  was  the 
same  system  against  which  John  Howard,  a  himdred  years  ago,.lifted 
up  his  voice  aud  employed  his  pen.  That  was  the  English  system  of  his 
day.  He  had  had  some  opportunity  oflearniug  the  state  of  public  opiuiou 
in  some  of  the  States  where  the  system  had  been  tried  in  this  country.  He 
first  met  the  system  in  Illinois  in  1865,  where  he  found  public  sentiment 
unanimous,  or  nearly  so,  against  it ;  and  a  year  or  two  later  it  was 
crushed  out.  He  next  went  to  Missouri,  where  the  system  had  previously 
existed,  but  public  opinion  had  destroyed  it.  He  then  passed  over  to 
Kentucky,  where  the  system  was  then  and  is  still  in  vogue.  But  even 
there  those  most  closely  connected  with  it — the  prison  inspectors,  for  ex- 
ample— were  against  it.  One  of  them  pronounced  it,  in  his  judgment,  the 
worst  system  that  human  ingenuity  could  devise.  He  admitted,  and 
was  glad  to  admit,  that  Captain  Todd,  who  was  at  that  time  the  lessee, 
was  a  humane  and  just  man,  and  he  had  proved  his  disinterestedness, 
as  well  as  the  breadth  of  his  views  and  the  elevation  of  his  character, 
by  advocating  a  policy  which  no  doubt  would  have  taken  thousands  of 
dollars  annually  out  of  his  pocket,  that  is  to  say,  the  creation  of  a  prison 
for  juvenile  offenders,  which  would  have  removed  fifty  to  a  hundred 
young  men  from  his  institution,  and  deprived  him  of  the  profit  of 
their  labor.  He  believed  that  Captain  Todd  had  acted  justly  and  honor- 
ably by  the  convicts,  but  the  account  he  had  received  of  the  conduct  of 
previous  lessees — some,  not  all — was  quite  different.  It  was  tiieprineiple 
of  the  plan  to  which  he  objected.  It  was  too  liable  to  abuse,  aud  the 
temptation  to  abuse  was  too  strong.  In  the  millennium  it  might  do,  if 
there  were  any  prisons  then ;  but  in  the  present  condition  of  human 
nature,  he  believed  the  system  radically  and  incurably  vicious. 

Mr.  White,  of  Kentucky,  agreed  with  Dr.  Wines.  He  did  not  ask 
the  congress  to  pass  judgment  upon  his  State,  but  he  wanted  to  settle 
a  principle  of  prison  treatment.  Indiana  had  once  tried  this  system; 
but  she  found  that  while  it  enriched  the  contractor  it  robbed  the  \}eo- 
pie  and  demoralized  the  prisoner. 

Colonel  Burr,  of  Ohio,  said  that  though  they  contracted  the  labor  of 
their  prisoners,  they  retained  complete  control  of  them.  A  contractor 
could  not  even  sjyeak  to  a  prisoner,  except  to  tell  him  what  to  do,  and 
he  (Colonel  B.)  had  the  power,  on  the  least  interference  of  a  con- 
tractor, to  dismiss  him  and  forbid  his  return  to  the  prison;  and  more 
than  once  he  had  exercised  that  power.  But  leasing  a  penitentiary, 
with  the  power  of  control  over  the  convicts  vested  in  the  lessee,  was  a 
different  matter.  That  was  going  back  to  the  dark  ages  of  prison  dis- 
cipline. 

The  Kev.  Mr.  Woodbury,  of  Rhode  Island,  said  that  public  opinion 
controlled  prison  systems  as  it  did  everything  else.  As  a  congress  we 
could  only  suggest  reforms  and  then  leave  the  States  to  decide  for 
themselves. 

Dr.  Wines  asked  Mr.  Woodbury  whether  the  contractor  in  the  Ehode 
Island  prison  did  not  agree  to  employ  discharged  convicts  in  his  factory 
outside. 

Mr.  Woodbury  replied  that  there  was  no  stipulation  of  that  kind  in 
the  contract;  but  there  was  an  understanding  to  that  effect  and  an 
obligation  of  honor  for  them  to  do  so. 

Colonel  Burr  said  that  this  was,  to  a  considerable  extent,  the  case  in 
Ohio. 

Mr.  Miller,  of  Missouri,  expressed  his  detestation  of  the  leasing  sys- 
tem where  the  lessee  had  control  of  the  prisoners.  Where  the  State 
had  control  it  was  better;  but  he  would  prefer  to  have  the  State  work 


478  NATIONAL    PRISON    REFORM    CONGRESS    OF    1873. 

the  men.  It  might  do  so  through  a  competent  agent  as  well  as  a 
contractor  could.  Mere  mouey-making  should  not  be  a  consideration. 
It  was  wrong  to  put  prisoners  into  the  hands  of  men  whose  sole  aim 
was  to  enrich  themselves  out  of  their  toil.  It  was  the  worst  kind  of 
slavery. 

Mr.  Woodbury  said  that  a  practical  difficulty  would  be  the  capital. 
Where  should  that  be  obtained  ? 

Mr.  Griffith,  of  Maryland,  without  at  all  favoring  the  system  of  leasing, 
claimed  that  that  of  letting  the  labor  on  contract  worked  well  in  the 
Maryland  penitentiary.    The  board  had  entire  control. 

The  resolution  was  then  adopted. 

Judge  Walker  read  the  third  resolution,  relating  to  accused  but 
untried  prisoners;  and  the  fourth  relating  to  the  aiding  of  discharged 
convicts,  which  were  considered  together. 

The  Eev.  Mr.  Doll,  of  Maryland,  agent  of  the  Prisoners'  Aid  Society, 
said  that  his  society  did  something  in  the  way  of  looking  after  the 
arrested,  as  well  as  in  aid  of  those  released  from  prison.  Their  associ- 
ation was  but  three  years  old,  yet  581  prisoners  had  been  discharged  by 
the  courts  through  his  intervention.  The  facts  collected  by  his  investi- 
gations had  convinced  the  judges  either  that  they  were  innocent  or  that 
the  charges  against  them  were  too  trivial  for  grave,  judicial  proceedings. 
Eleven  hundred  and  sixty-five  had  been  aided  with  money ;  three 
hundred  and  forty-nine  had  had  steady  places  provided  for  them,  and 
two  hundred  and  eighty-eight  had  been  furnished  with  temporary  em- 
ployment. His  own  house  had  been  for  the  last  twelve  months  turned 
into  a  refuge  for  discharged  female  prisoners,  and  he  would  soon  have 
to  ask  the  people  of  Baltimore  to  provide  a  home  for  such,  for  the  num- 
ber was  becoming  too  great  for  his  limited  accommodations.  God  had 
given  him  a  large-hearted,  noble  helpmate  in  his  wife.  Fifteen  poor 
creatures  were  then  in  his  house,  who  but  a  short  time  ago  were 
within  {he  walls  of  the  penitentiary.  Fourteen  of  them  were  colored 
girls.  And  these  poor  creatures  had  made  his  house  a  hanking 
house  for  their  savings.  He  begged  pardon  for  his  warmth  in  this 
matter.  I  feel  (said  he)  that  I  have  a  greater  responsibility  resting  upon 
me  than  when  I  was  ordained  by  the  bishop,  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  to  what  would  be  called  a  higher  order  of  the  ministry.  0!  sir, 
we  want  ^prison  ministry.  I  say  to  my  brethren  in  the  ministry,  we  must 
come  down  from  our  pulpits  and  minister  to  them  that  are  in  jmson. 
A  poor  girl  rescued  from  the  whirlpool  of  prostitution  and  received 
into  our  lioino  until  we  i'ound  her  a  place  of  em})loyment  has  visited  us 
a  dozen  times  since,  bringing  small  presents  to  testify  her  gratitude. 
JShe  has  recently  been  restored  to  her  father's  house,  in  Virginia.  No 
I)risoners'  aid  association  is  complete  without  a  prison  agent  connected 
with  it.  We  took  charge  of  three  poor  girls  a  short  time  since  that  "but 
for  our  aid  society  wouhl  have  speedilj'  rushed  to  ruin.  Now  they  are 
saved,  and  are  in  membership  witli  the  church.  We  are  but  doing  the 
Master's  work  when  we  thus  (/o  f/o/rn  and  seek  to  save  the  lost.  Mr. 
I 'resident,  I  sujipose  that  my  time  is  very  limited  ;  but  I  wish  to  use  it 
all  in  i)l<'ading  esix'cijiily  lor  the  \wo\:  cliildren  needing  our  sym])athy 
and  aid.  I'^or  tlicin  I  could  stand  and  plead  until  the  going  down  of  the 
sun. 

Mr.  Mcncficld  said  that  ]>rison  n^lbrni  in  Baltimore  owed  much  to 
Mrs.  Doll  for  the,  suc(;('ss  attained  llirougli  the  labors  of  her  husband. 

aMi'.  (Irillith  related  several  telling  ineidents  connected  with  this  work 
in  Baltimore.  lie,  said  that  the  most  faithl'ul  ])orter  he  ever  had  in  his- 
store  was  a  discharged  convict. 


DISCUSSION  ON  RESOULTION  RELATING  TO  REFORMATORIES.    479 

The  resolutions  were  carried. 

Judge  Walker  next  read  the  fifth  resolution,  relating  to  the  necessity 
of  vigorous  effort  to  improve  the  administration  of  existing  prison  sys- 
tems. 

In  doing  so,  he  said  that  the  States  did  not,  as  a  general  thing,  pay 
salary  enough  to  secure  and  retain  good  men  as  wardens  and  keepers. 
The  very  best  men  were  needed  for  the  duties  required. 

The  Kev.  Mr.  Milligan,  of  Pennsylvania,  thought  the  resolution  a, 
very  wise  one.  The  idea  was  not  to  interfere  with  special  systems,  but 
to  stir  up  all  to  work,  on  their  own  plans,  in  the  best  and  most  effective 
manner. 

Mr.  Coates,  of  Pennsylvania,  said  that  that  was  the  true  idea.  Let 
each  follow  his  own  chosen  and  well  considered  way,  and  "  by  their 
fruits  shall  ye  know  them." 

The  resolution  was  adopted. 
•  Eecess  until  7  p.  m. 

EVENING   SESSION. 

The  congress  re-assembled  at  the  hour  named,  Mr.  Yaux  in  the  chair. 

Judge  Walker  read  a  letter  from  Alfred  H.  Love,  of  Philadelphia, 
apologizing  for  his  absence  from  the  meeting,  expressing  his  sympathy 
in  its  objects,  and  giving  his  views  at  some  length  on  the  subject  of 
prison  discipline.     (For  Mr.  Love's  paper  see  page  374.) 

Dr.  Wiaes  submitted  a  similar  though  shorter  letter  from  Dr.  Aiken, 
of  Wilmington,  Delaware,  apologizing  for  his  absence.  He  had  lost 
his  wife,  and  the  funeral  took  place  during  the  meeting  of  the  congress. 

Dr.  Wines  also  read  a  short  letter  from  Eev.  C.  C.  Foote,  late  chap- 
lain of  the  Detroit  House  of  Correction.  (For  Mr.  Foote's  letter  see 
page  314.) 

He  further  submitted  a  letter  received  sometime  ago  from  Hon.  B.  F. 
Butler.     (For  said  letter  see  p.  369.) 

Governor  Seymour  took  the  chair  at  this  point,  and  announced  the 
committee  of  thirteen  on  the  memorial  to  be  presented  to  Congress. 
The  names  of  the  gentlemen  constituting  the  committee  have  already 
been  given. 

Judge  Walker  read  the  sixth  resolution,  relating  to  reformatories. 

Dr.  Hatch,  of  Connecticut,  said  that  we  had  the  boys,  and  the  ques- 
tion was,  What  kind  of  citizens  shall  they  be !  We  needed  good  citi- 
zens, and  such  came  from  good  homes.  He  approved  of  compulsory 
education,  and  hoped  for  its  general  adoption.  If  the  children  were 
rightly  educated,  we  would  not  need  either  penal  or  reformatory  institu- 
tions. He  questioned  the  necessity  of  such  a  resolution ;  it  was  but 
the  alphabet;  we  were  beyond  that.  Let  us  have  warm  hearts  to 
receive  the  children  kindly.  Of  course  we  would  pass  the  resolution  ; 
but  we  were  already  getting  beyond  it. 

Dr.  Wines  reminded  Dr.  Hatch  that  if  Connecticut  was  beyond  it, 
Texas  was  not ;  nor  Arkansas ;  nor  Oregon  ;  nor  a  half  score  of  other 
States. 

Mr.  Bigham,  of  Western  Pennsylvania,  said  that  since  the  Cincinnati 
Congress  they  had  been  considering  the  question  of  changing  their  in- 
stitution— the  Western  House  of  Eefuge — and  had  concluded  to  adopt 
the  family  plan  instead  of  the  congregate,  formerly  in  use.  They  were 
going  out  some  miles  into  the  country.  It  would  take  them  two  years, 
probably,  to  complete  their  new  buildings,  and  then  they  meant  to  have 
the  model  reform  school  of  the  country. 

Mr.  Coates  favored   teaching  these  boys  trades.     Skilled  workmen 


480  NATIONAL    PRISON    REFORM    CONGRESS    OP    187:5. 

were  becoming  scarce,  and   were  greatly  needed.     The  reformatories 
might  aid  in  snpplying  this  want. 

Mr.  Shipley,  of  Ohio,  said  that  the  members  of  the  convention  some- 
times lost  sight  of  the  main  i)oint.  It  A\'as  not  so  mucli,  how  can  wo  cure 
the  convicts  and  have  them  become  good  nien,  as  how  can  we  prevent  the 
children  from  becoming  convi<!ts  ?  Compulsory  education  was  good,  but 
it  alone  would  not  keep  boys  from  growing  up  into  criminals.  We  nuist 
adapt  our  schools  to  the  circumstances  and  wants  of  the  children.  There 
were  a  great  many  agencies.  Among  them  lie  was  i)leased  to  see  the 
feature  in  the  New  York  Catholic  Protectory,  referred  to  l)y  Mr.  Develin, 
that  of  giving  rewards  to  little  boys,  lie  admired  that  plan.  They  had 
established  a  school  in  Cincinnati,  and  they  provided  a  warm  diinier  for 
the  needy  children  that  attended  it.  They  took  150  children  from  the 
street,  and  fed,  taught,  aud  saved  them.  They  had  their  private  visi- 
tor, whose  business  it  was  to  find  and  bring  them  to  the  school ;  and  after 
they  had  interested  them  in  learning,  they  transferred  them,  if  possible, 
to  the  public  schools.  They  tried  to  act  on  the  princii)le  of  the  patriarch 
Job :  "  The  cause  which  1  knew  not,  1  searched  out." 

Mr.  Yaux,  of  Pennsylvania,  believed  that  the  old  Greeks  used  to  pray 
that  the  gods  would  endow  us  with  the  eloquence  of  silence,  lie  felt 
the  need  of  that  prayer.  lie  had  been  ap])ealed  to,  quoted,  unkindly 
criticised,  and  kindly  laughed  at,  by  some  of  the  members  of  that  con- 
gress, lie  had  tried  to  bear  it  all  as  well  as  he  could,  and  kept  on 
praying  as  did  the  Greeks.  But  the  time  had  come  when  it  became 
necessary  for  him  to  say  a  single  word  in  defense  of  his  views.  It  had 
been  said,  "  there  is  no  partisanship  in  what  is  spoken  here.  We  are 
all  met  to  devise  means  to  advance  the  cause  of  reform."  However  that 
might  be,  he  would  say,  God  Mess  the  irork.  They  should  lay  dovvu  gen- 
eral pri)iei])les,  and  not  go  too  much  into  particular  measures.  Some 
had  praised  Christianity.  That  was  right ;  but  they  had  given  a  slap 
at  the  individual  system  of  treating  convicts. 

The  l*ennsylvania  system  had  been  discussed,  while  it  was  not  under- 
stood by  five  gentlemen  out  of  the  State.  The  i)hrase  ^^  solitary  conftue- 
ment "  had  been  used  and  applied  to  it.  Miss  Gilbert  so  characterized 
it,  and  asked,  "  ^Vould  you  hang  a  Christian?"  Y^es,  he  would  hang 
forty  "  Christians,"  if  they  broke  the  law  and  were  found  guilty.  The 
Pennsylvania  system  should  be  spoken  of  as  the  separate  or  individual 
system,  lloward  did  not  commence  visiting  British  prisons  until  long 
after  Pennsylvania  had  reformed  abuses  in  the  indiscriminate,  or  rather 
110  system,  which  then  prevailed.  To  Pennsylvania  belonged  the  praise 
of  moving  first  in  this  reform.  The  best  paper  read  in  that  congress  on 
the  prison  (juestion  was  that  of  I3r.  Despine,  of  Prance.  Until  you  ele- 
vate this  reform  to  a  st;ienee,  you  arc  running  after  vagaries.  You 
must  study  and  know  the  criminal  himself.  Such  knowledge  was  the 
basis  of  all  right  prison  treatnuMit.  You  cannot  reform  criminals  by 
merely  ])Utting  them  into  prison,  nor  ]irevent  crime  by  putting  boys  into 
refoririatories.  You  most  hud  out  what  are  the  causes,  and  adai)t  your 
treatment  to  them.  That  is  the  problem  ;  that  strikes  at  the  root  of  the 
matter.  All  else  is  but  ])laying  with  the  surface.  You  must  look  at 
l)rinciples,  not  mere  details.  You  must  look  at  the  question  as  states- 
men, not  as  i)oliticians.  Politics  must  be  eliminated  fiom  pi-isons  and 
prison  management. 

The  ])resident  asked  Mr.  Vanx  whether  in  Pennsylvania-  the  prison- 
ers wei(;  ke|)t  separate,  or  were  allowed  to  leceive  visits. 

Mr.  Yaux  caid  that  they  were  separated  from  each  (jthcr,  but  not  from 
the  world. 


VALEDICTORY  ADDRESSES.  481 

The  Eev.  Mr.  Bradford,  of  Connecticut,  said  that  the  great  question 
was  how  to  care  for  the  young  in  the  reformatory,  how  to  save  them 
from  becoming  criminals.  They  should  take  care  of  the  girls  in  peril  of 
falling.  Save  them,  and  society  was  saved.  They  had  in  Connecticut 
the  model  school.  They  were  ahead  of  Massachusetts.  They  had  had 
remarkable  instances  of  reformation,  of  which  he  gave  several  interest- 
ing illustrations.  They  had  no  bars  and  bolts  more  than  in  private 
houses.  As  regarded  labor,  the  girls  were  engaged  in  making  paper 
boxes,  and  ten  per  cent,  of  the  money  earned  belonged  to  themselves. 
Some  had  saved  $75  or  $100.  This  was  a  great  stimulus ;  it  put  hope 
into  them,  without  which  none  of  us  could  accomplish  much. 

The  resolution  was  then  agreed  to  unanimously. 

On  motion,  the  cordial  thanks  of  the  congress  were  tendered  to  the 
Prisoners'  Aid  Association  of  Maryland  for  the  abundant  labor  expend- 
ed in  preparation  for  this  meeting;  to  the  citizens  of  Baltimore,  for 
courtesies  and  hospitalities ;  to  the  band  of  the  House  of  Eefuge  for 
the  excellent  music  with  which  they  entertained  the  congress  at  its 
opening  session ;  to  Mr.  Raine  for  a  liberal  reduction  on  the  rent  of  his 
beautiful  and  commodious  hall ;  to  railroad  companies  and  proprietors 
of  hotels  for  reduction  of  fares  and  board;  to  the  reporters  of  the  asso- 
ciated press  and  the  Baltimore  journals  for  their  services  in  making 
known  the  doings  of  the  congress ;  to  the  Eev.  Wm.  H.  Tiffany,  who 
kindly  rendered  his  service  as  ofiicial  reporter  to  the  body  without 
charge ;  to  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  and  the  managers 
of  the  numerous  penal,  reformatory,  and  charitable  institutions  of  Balti- 
more and  Aicinity  for  invitations  to  visit  and  inspect  the  establishments 
under  their  care ;  and  to  the  Hon.  Michael  C.  Kerr,  a  member  of  the 
Congress  of  the  United  States  from  the  State  of  Indiana,  and  of  this 
body  by  appointment  of  the  executive  of  that  State,  for  his  eloquent 
and  instructive  address,  delivered  on  the  evening  of  the  21st  instant. 

Dr.  Wines  moved  the  following  : 

This  congress,  while  expressing  its  gratitude  for  the  valuable  reports 
and  papers  furnished  by  writers,  at  home  and  abroad,  cannot  assume 
responsibility  for  every  sentiment  and  utterance  contained  in  them.  It 
holds  itself  responsible  only  for  the  ])rinciples  and  acts  sanctioned  by  a 
formal  vote. 

Dr.  Hatch  rose  and  said:  The  business  of  this  congress  is  concluded. 
I  hope  we  shall  now,  for  a  few  moments,  resolve  ourselves  into  a  mutual 
admiration  society,  have  a  good  time,  and  shake  hands  all  round.  I 
love  sharp  men,  [looking  at  Mr.  Vaux;]  they  bring  out  points  more  dis- 
tinctly. 

Mr.  Vaux  reciprocated  the  kindly  feeling. 

Dr.  Hatch  continued :  We  shall  go  home  refreshed,  prepared  to  work 
with  warmer  hearts  and  a  more  earnest  zeal.  We  are  satisfied  that  the 
great  thing  is,  to  have  the  right  kind  of  men  in  charge  of  our  prisons 
and  reformatories.  It  is  not  the  separate,  or  the  associated,  or  the  fam- 
ily system  that  will  do  the  work;  but  good  men,  earnest  men,  men 
working  in  the  right  spirit.  Thus  acting,  we  shall  advance  in  our  great 
reform ;  and  when  we  meet  next  year,  in  Saint  Louis,  brothers  Vaux 
and  Milligan  and  all  being  there,  we  will  renew  friendships,  compare 
notes,  exchange  congratulations,  and  move  onward  with  equal  tread  in 
the  march  of  imi^rovement. 

Mr.  White,  of  Kentucky,  expressed  his  pleasure  at  seeing  his  own 
opinion  so  fully  represented  in  this  congress.     Once  the  cry  was,  save 
the  criminal ;  now  the  better  idea  is,  to  preserve  from  crime.     The 
friends  of  this  movement  will  hear  of  our  doings,  and  take  courage. 
H.  Ex.  185 31 


482  NATIONAL   PRISON   EEFORM    CONGRESS    OF    1873. 

Mr.  Talcott  exi^ressed  mncli  satisfaction  with  what  he  had  seen,  heard, 
and  felt  since  he  came  to  Baltimore.  He  believed  that  in  this  warfare 
upon  crime  we  should  prevail,  relying  for  the  victory  on  Him  "  to  whom 
belong  the  kingdom,  and  the  power,  and  the  glory." 

Dr.  Wines  said :  I  do  not  rise,  Mr.  President,  to  make  a  speech,  but 
to  give,  in  few  words,  an  account  of  my  stewardship.  It  is  just  twenty- 
seven  months  since  the  Cincinnati  congress  met,  at  which  meeting  it 
was  voted,  with  absolute  unanimity,  that  an  international  congress 
should  be  convened.  Cincinnati  asked  me  to  undertake  the  organization 
of  that  movement.  It  was  impossible  to  answer  so  grave  a  proposition 
on  the  spur  of  the  moment.  All  I  could  then  do  was  to  promise  to  con- 
sider it,  venturing,  however,  to  add,  that  in  case  I  concluded  to  accept 
the  honor  and  the  labor,  if  there  did  not,  in  1872,  assemble  in  London  a 
congress  composed  of  five  hundred  delegates,  coming  from  the  very  ends 
of  the  earth,  it  should  not  be  for  the  want  of  work  put  forth  to  accom- 
plish that  result.  Well,  the  congress  met  in  London  last  Julj\  More 
than  four  hundred  delegates  were  present.  Every  state  in  Europe,  ex- 
cept Portugal,  was  officially  represented.  Our  own  Government,  Mexico, 
several  of  the  South  American  States,  the  West  India  Islands,  Bengal, 
Ceylon,  Australia,  Japan, 'Hong-Kong,  and  most  of  the  States  of  our 
own  Union,  had  delegates  there.  It  was  an  able  body,  equipped  and 
ripe  for  the  work  in  hand.  And  notwithstanding  these  four  hundred  and 
odd  representative  men  and  women  came  from  so  many  and  such  widely 
distant  regions,  diifering  in  nationalities,  speech,  institutions,  usages, 
ideas,  and  manners,  yet,  after  ten  days  of  mutual  conference  and  consulta- 
tion, they  were  able  to  agree,  unanimously,  upon  a  declaration  of  prin- 
ciples of  prison  discipline,  which  was  substantially  an  echo  of  the 
declaration  made  at  Cincinnati.  Surely,  "  the  Divinity  that  shapes  our 
ends "  never  stood  more  conspicuously  revealed  than  in  such  an  issue 
under  such  circumstances.  I  have  been  permitted  to  see  all  this,  and  to 
return  to  commit  the  result  of  the  work  which  you  gave  into  my  hands 
to  your  judgment  and  kindness. 

Colonel  Burr,  of  Ohio.  The  congress  can  only  say,  "  Well  done,  good 
and  faithful  servant." 

Judge  Walker  moved  a  special  vote  of  thanks  to  the  Hon.  Horatio 
Seymour  for  the  ability,  dignity,  and  courtesy  with  which  he  has  per- 
formed the  duties  of  the  chair ;  and  to  Dr.  Wines  for  his  faithful,  devoted, 
and  successful  services  in  the  cause  of  prison  reform. 

In  making  this  motion,  Mr.  Walker  said  :  Ladies  and  gentlemen,  we 
have  ail  been  charmed  by  the  diginity,  urbanity,  and  wisdom  of  our 
president  in  his  official  relations  to  this  body,  and  with  the  clearness, 
|)0\ver,  and  eloquence  of  his  utterances,  whenever  he  has  favored  the 
congress  by  taking  part  in  its  discussions.  As  to  the  corresponding 
secretary,  we  are  so  nuu^h  indebted  to  his  labors  that  language  utterly 
fails  in  attempting  to  express  our  obligations  to  him.  Except  for  his 
labors,  the  (Cincinnati  congress  would  not  have  assembled ;  nor  the 
international  (congress  liave  been  held  in  London;  iu)r  the  ])resent  con- 
gress have  convened  in  Jialtimore;  nor  (he  \vori<;  of  prison  reform  have 
gairuid  such  an  impetus  in  this  and  other  ('(uintiies.  If  a-ny  nmii  living, 
he  surely  may  be  e(Migratulated  on  having  accomplished  sonu>thing 
for  the  aiiuilioration  of  his  r,u'A\ 

A  few  words  in  relation  to  this  gathering:  I  came  here  not  as  an  expert; 
I  had  had  a  little  experieiu-e,  iind  had  given  some  attention  to  the  sub- 
ject, lint  I  came  to  learn,  not  to  teach.  1  have  enjoyed  this  congress; 
have  felt  it  to  be  good  to  l)e  here,  among  men  so  unselfish.  Jt  does  us 
all  good  to  meet  with  such  men.    J  have  known  something  of  lialtimore, 


VALEDICTORY  ADDRESSES.  483 

but  I  was  not  prepared  to  see  its  advanced  condition  in  relation  to  the 
great  works  of  Christian  charity.  Brother  Doll,  to-day,  indicated  some- 
thing very  promising.  God  speed  you  in  this  great  work  for  truth  and 
humanity.  Another  thing:  we  have  no  Friends  in  my  neighborhood  in 
Michigan.  But  I  have  Quaker  blood  in  my  veins,  and  have  attended 
many  a  silent  meeting.  [  am  glad  to  see  some  of  the  "  Friends"  here, 
aiding  the  good  cause,  in  the  spirit  of  the  great  Master. 

He  called  for  the  vote  on  the  resolution  of  thanks  to  the  president 
and  corresponding  secretary. 

Carried  by  acclamation. 

Mr.  Merrefield  thanked  Mr.  Walker  for  his  kindly  greetings  to  his 
Quaker  ''Friends,"  and  heartily  reciprocated  them  in  their  name  as  well 
as  his  own. 

Dr.  Wines  bowed  his  thanks,  simply  remarking  that  this  more  than 
paid  for  all  the  service  he  had  rendered. 

Governor  Seymour  said :  I  am  deeply  grateful  for  this  kind  expression 
of  your  feeling.  My  claims  to  your  gratitude  are  light  indeed  compared 
to  those  of  Dr.  Wines.  There  have  been  features  connected  with  this 
convention  very  peculiar.  Generally  men  meet  to  carry  out  their  special 
views.  We  met  as  strangers,  with  all  shades  of  sentiment.  Yet,  with 
abundant  sources  of  difference,  we  have  gone  through  our  deliberations 
in  harmony.  We  have  received  the  ideas  of  others  with  respect ;  we  have 
advanced  our  own  without  arrogance  or  dogmatism.  I  think  we  may 
say  that  there  is  something  in  the  very  cause  we  are  engaged  in  which 
has  produced  this  concord  and  consideration  for  each  other.  We  may 
not  have  accomplished  all  we  desired  and  hoped  for  the  good  of  those 
within  prison,  walls  ;  but  we  part  with  kinder  feelings  than  those  with 
which  we  came  together.  It  is  sad  to  think  that  many  of  us  have  met 
for  the  last  time.  It  is  my  wish  and  hope  that  we  may  all  go  to  our  homes 
in  safety ;  and  that  we  may  be  successful  in  doing  somethiug  to  advance 
virtue,  wisdom,  reform,  and  happiness  in  society. 

The  president  then  declared  this  congress  dissolved,  and  announced 
that  another  congress,  similar  in  character,  would  convene  in  the  city 
of  Saiut  Louis  in  the  spring  of  1874. 


VI.— RESOLUTIONS  ADOPTED  BY  THE  COXGBESS. 

As  the  i^ational  Congress  of  Cincinnati,  in  1870,  adopted  a  comprehen- 
sive declaration  of  principles  of  prison  discipline,  and  the  International 
Congress  of  London,  in  1872,  re-atfirmed,  substantially,  though  in  a  con- 
densed form,  the  same  platform,  it  was  judged  by  the  Congress  of  Balti- 
more unnecessary  to  formally  go  over  the  ground  again  in  1873.  Never- 
theless, in  the  course  of  the  proceedings,  several  members  introduced 
resolutions  relating  to  special  points  connected  with  penitentiary  or  re- 
formatory work.  These  were  referred,  as  introduced,  to  the  business 
committee,  which,  on  the  last  day  of  the  session,  reported  them  back, 
in  a  form  more  or  less  modified,  for  the  action  of  the  congress.  The 
greater  part  of  the  last  day's  session  was  devoted  to  a  consideration  of 
the  questions  raised  by  the  resolutions,  which,  after  having-*  been 
variously  amended,  were  adopted,  and  are  as  follows : 

I.  Whereas,  it  is  fully  established  by  incontestable  facts  that  intem- 
perance in  the  use  of  intoxicating  liquors  is  one  of  the  principal  incite- 
ments to  crime,  as  well  as  a  chief  cause  of  pauperism;  and  idiereas,  it 


484  NATIONAL    PRISON    REFORM    CONGRESS    OF    ]873. 

follows  that  in  proportion  as  intemperance  is  suppressed,  crime  and  its 
terrible  consequences  will  be  prevented :  Therefore, 

Resolved,  That  this  congress  will  welcome  and  encourage  any  wise 
and  efficient  measures  for  the  suppression  of  this  great  evil,  whether  by 
an  appeal  to  moral  and  religious  principle,  by  voluntary  effort,  by  legis- 
lative action,  or  by  the  enforcement  of  existing  laws. 

II.  Resolved,  That  the  best  interests  of  prison  discipline  demand  that 
the  governments  controlling  prisons,  whether  state  or  municipal,  should, 
through  their  officers,  have  the  entire  control  of  the  prisoners,  both  as  to 
their  hours  of  work  and  their  treatment ;  and  that  any  system  of  leasing 
or  of  contract  that  does  not  secure  this,  can  but  be  injurious  to  the  best 
interests  of  both  the  prisoners  and  the  public. 

III.  Resolved,  That  prisoners'  aid  societies  and  other  like  associations 
to  befriend  discharged  prisoners  and  to  assist  them  in  i^rocuring  homes 
and  employment,  have  proved  most  effective  as  an  auxiliary  in  the 
reformatory  work,  and  that  the  organization  of  such  societies,  where 
they  do  not  exist,  is  most  cordially  recommended,  and  urged  as  a  duty 
upon  the  friends  of  prison  reform. 

IV.  Resolved,  That  the  great  success  which  has  attended  the  efforf 
wherever  made,  and  especially  in  Philadelphia,  as  shown  by  the  papet 
of  Mr.  Mullen,  for  the  protection  of  persons  charged  with  a  violation  or 
law,  by  a  careful  investigation  in  eacti  case  before  trial  by  a  disinterested 
agent  appointed  for  that  purpose,  fully  authorizes  this  congress  to 
recommend  the  establishment  of  such  an  agency  in  each  State,  and 
especially  in  each  large  city,  where,  from  the  great  number  of  such 
charges  and  the  haste  with  which  many  of  them  are  disposed  of,  there 
is  danger  that  innocent  persons  may  often  be  convicted  of  offenses 
wrongfully  charged  upon  them. 

V.  Whereas,  in  the  present  state  of  prison  reform  it  is  impossible  to 
determine,  either  with  precision  or  unanimity,  upon  an  ideal  system  of 
prison  discipline;  and  tchereas,  if  that  were  possible,  radical  changes  in 
existing  institutions  and  their  mode  of  administration  would  require 
much  time  and  great  effort  in  their  accomplishment  :  Therefore, 

Resolved,  That  it  becomes  a  matter  of  vital  importance  that  the  friends 
of  prison  reform  should  make  prompt,  vigorous,  and  steadily  persistent 
efforts  for  the  improvement  of  i)risons  as  thej^  actually  exist  and  are 
administered,  and  especially  that  they  should  seek  to  educate  the  public 
mind  as  to  the  importance  of  elevating  the  character  of  the  service  en- 
gaged in  their  administration,  and  the  great  necessity  of  securing  for 
each  service  men  of  the  highest  moral  and  intellectual  character,  by 
providing  a  liberal  compensation  therefor,  and  by  making  the  employ- 
ment entirely  independent  of  partisan  influence,  and  also  that  they 
should,  by  every  wise  and  practicable  effort,  seek  to  show  both  the  im- 
l)ortance  an<l  the  possibility  of  making  our  prisons  thoroughly  reforma- 
tory in  their  cliaracter. 

VI.  Resolved,  That  experience  has  demonstrated  that  juvenile  reform- 
atoi'ics,  houses  of  refuge  and  ]»rote('tion,  and  industrial  schools  for  the 
training  of  negle(;ted,  vagrant,  erring,  and  viciously  inclined  youths  are 
among  tlie  most  ellectivcr  nutans  yet  (levised  for  the  saving  of  such  youths 
from  a  life  of  crime  ;  and  tliat  it  is  essential  to  the  highest  success  of 
such  institutions  that  tlu'V  should  not,  eitiier  in  theory  or  in  fact,  be  or 
be  considered  as  ])enal  in  their  eliaiacter,  but  ratiier  as  temporary  homes 
for  their  inmates,  wiiose  treatment  should  approximate  as  nearly  as  i>os- 
sible  to  the  i)arental  system. 


OFFICERS BOARD    OF    DIRECTORS.  485 

VII.— THE     NATIONAL      PRISON     ASSOCIATION     OF     THE 
UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA. 

1. — Officers  of  the  association  for  1873. 

President. — Hou.  Horatio  Seymour,  Utica,  New  York. 

Vice-Presidenii^. — Hon.  James  G,  Blaine,  Speaker  United  States  House 
of  Representatives,  Augusta,  Maine;  Hon.  Daniel  Haines,  Hamburgh, 
New  Jersey ;  Henry  W.  Bellows,  D.  D.,  232  East  Fifteenth  street.  New 
York ;  General  Amos  Pilsburj^,  Superintendent  Albany  Penitentiary^ 
Albany,  New  York;  Hon.  Conrad  Baker,  Indianapolis,  Indiana. 

Treasurer. — Salem  H.  Wales,  520  Fifth  avenue,  New  York. 

Corresponding  Secretary. — E.  C.  AYiues,  D.  D.,  LL.D. ;  office  320  Broad 
way;  residence,  Irvington,  New  York. 

Recording  Secretary. — Bradford  K.  Peirce,  D.D.,  Editor  Zion's  Herald, 
Boston,  Massachusetts. 

2. — Board  of  directors. 

Samuel  Alliuson,  Yardville,  New  Jersey. 

William  H.  Aspinwall,  33  University  Place,  New  York. 

Hon.  Conrad  Baker,  Indianapolis,  Indiana. 

Henry  W.  Bellows,  D.  D.,  232  East  Fifteenth  stseet,  New  York. 

Hou.  James  G.  Blaine,  Speaker  United  States  House  of  Representa- 
tives, Augusta,  Maine. 

Rev.  Charles  L.  Brace,  secretary  Children's  Aid  Society,  19  East 
Fourth  street.  New  York. 

Z.  R.  Brock  way,  Superintendent  Detroit  House  of  Correction,  Detroit, 
Michigan. 

James  Brown,  esq.,  38  East  Thirty-seventh  street.  New  York. 

Charles  F.  Coffin,  president  board  of  directors,  House  of  Refuge,  Rich- 
mond, Indiana. 

Hon.  John  E.  Develin,  New  York. 

Hon.  Theodore  W.  D wight,  LL.  D,,  President  Columbia  College  Law 
School,  37  Lafayette  Place,  New  York. 

G.  S.  Griffith,  Baltimore,  Maryland. 

Hon.  Daniel  Haines,  Hamburgh,  New  Jersey. 

E.  W.  Hatch,  M.  D.,  Superintendent  State  Reform  School,  "West  Meri- 
den,  Connecticut. 

Hon.  R.  B.  Hays,  Cincinnati,  Ohio. 

Morris  K.  Jesup,  59  Liberty  street.  New  York. 

John  Taylor  Johnston,  110  Liberty  street.  New  York. 

A.  J.  Ourt,  M.  D.,  corresponding  secretary  board  of  public  charities, 
737  Walnut  street,  Philadelphia,  Pennsylvania. 

B.  K.  Peirce,  D.  D.,  Editor  Zion's  Herald,  Boston,  Massachusetts. 
General  Amos  Pilsburj^,  Superintendent  Albany  Penitentiary,  Albany, 

New  York. 

F.  B.  Sanborn,  Editor,  Concord,  Massachusetts. 
Hon.  Horatio  Seymour,  Utica,  New  York. 
Hon.  L.  Stanford,  Sacramento,  California. 

Oliver  S.  Strong,  president  board  of  managers  New  York  House  of 
Refuge,  61  Bible  House,  New  York. 

Salem  H.  Wales,  520  Fifth  avenue. 

Hou.  and  Rev.  G.  William  Welker,  Goldsborough,  North  Carolina. 

A.  R.  Wetmore,  president  board  of  managers  New  York  Juvenile 
Asylum,  305  Greenwich  street,  New  York. 


486  NATIONAL    PRISON    REFORM    CONGRESS    OF    1873. 

Hon.  E.  K.  White,  Louisville,  Kentucky. 

John  E.  Williams,  President  Metropolitan  National  Bank,  108 
Broadway,  New  York. 

E.  C.  Wines,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  320  Broadway,  New  York. 

3. — Standing  committees. 

1.  Executive  committee. — The  jiresident,  H.  Seymour;  treasurer,  S. 
H.  Wales,  and  secretary,  E.  C.  Wines,  ex  officio  ;  H.  W.  Bellows,  Kev. 
Charles  L.  Brace,  John  E.  Develin,  and  James  Brown. 

2.  Committee  on  criminal-law  reform. — H.  Seymour,  Daniel  Haines, 
Conrad  Baker,  James  G.  Blaine,  Theodore  W.  Dwight,  E.  B.  Hayes. 

3.  Committee  on  jirison  discipline. — F.  B.  Sanborn,  Z.  E.  Brockway, 
Amos  Pilsbury,  A.  J.  Ourt,  G.  William  Welker. 

4.  Committee  onjuvinile  delinquency. — B.  K.  Peiree,  C.  L.  Brace,  O.  S. 
Strong,  E.  W.  Hatch,  A.  E.  Wetmore. 

5.  Committee  on  discharged priHoners. — Daniel  Haines,  Samuel  AUinson, 
Charles  Coffin,  E.  K.  White,  G.  S.  Griffith. 

4. — CORKESPONDING  ]ME]MBERS. 

Miss  Mary  Carpenter,  Eed  Lodge  Eeformatory,  Bristol,  England. 

Miss  Florence  Nightingale,  South  street,  London,  England. 

Eight  Hon.  Sir  Walter  Crofton,  C.  B.,  Hillingdon,  Uxbridge,  England. 

Frederic  Hill,  esq.,  27  Thurlow  Eoad,  Hampstead,  Loudon,  England. 

Edwin  Hill,  esq..  No.  1  Saint  Mark's  Square,  Eegent's  Park,  London, 
England. 

Miss  Florence  Hill,  Bristol,  England. 

Miss  Joanna  Margaret  Hill,  Birmingham,  England. 

Alfred  Aspland,  esq.,  Dukenfield,  Ashton-under-Lyne,  England. 

William  Tallack,  esq.,  No.  5  Bishopsgate  street.  Without,  London, 
England. 

Charles  Ford,  esq.,  24  New  street.  Spring  Gardens,  London,  England. 

Eev.  Sydney  Turner,  inspector  of  reformatories,  15  Parliament  street, 
London,  England. 

W.  L.  Sargant,  esq.,  Birmingham,  England. 

Edwin  Chadwick,  esq.,  C.  B.  Mortlake,  England. 

A.  Angus  Croll,  esq.,  Granard  Park,  Putney,  England. 

Miss  Frances  Power  Cobbe,  26  Hereford  Square,  Loudon,  England. 

George  W.  Hastings,  esq.,  1  Adam  street,  Adelphi,  Loudon,  Eng- 
land. 

T.  B.  LI.  Baker,  Hardwicke  Court,  Gloucester,  England. 

T.  L.  Murray  Browne,  esq.,  No.  4  Old  Square,  Lincoln's  Inn,  London, 
England. 

Edwin  Pears,  esq'.,  Secretary  of  British  Social  Science  xlssociatiou. 
No.  1  Adam  street,  Adelphi,  London,  England. 

Major  E.  F.  ]JuCaue,  sur\'eyor-general  of  i>risons.  No.  44  Parliameut 
street,  London,  England. 

John  Lentaigne,  esq.,  inspector  of  county  aiul  borough  Jails,  Dublin, 
Ireland. 

Caj)tain  J.  Barlow,  director  of  convict  ])risous,  Dul)lin,  Ireland. 

M.  Jionneville  de  Maisangy,  7  i"ue  Penthirvre,  Paris,  France. 

M.  Victor  I5ournat,  20  rue  Jacob,  l*aris,  France. 

M.  Eol)in,  (i)asteur,)  21  rue  Piat,  J>elleville,  Paris,  France. 


CORRESPONDING  MEMBERS LIFE-DIRECTORS LIFE-MEMBERS.  487 

M.  J.  Jaillaut,  director  of  prisoners,  ministry  of  the  interior,  Paris, 
France. 

M.  Jules  (le  Lamarque,  chief  of  bureau,  direction  of  prisons,  Paris, 
Prance. 

Dr.  Prosper  Despiue,  12  rue  du  Loisir,  Marseilles,  France. 

M.  Charles  Lucas,  member  of  the  Institute,  Paris,  France. 

M.  le  Vicompt  d'Haussonville,  member  of  the  national  assembly,  rue 
St.  Dominique,  Paris,  France. 

M.  Aug'uste  Demetz,  92  rue  de  la  Yictoire,  Paris,  France. 

M.  Berdeu,  administrator  of  prisons,  Brussels,  Belgium. 

M.  J.  Stevens,  inspector-general  of  prisons,  Brussels,  Belgium. 

M.  Auguste  Visschers,  106  rue  Royale,  Brussels,  Belgium. 

Mr.  Alstorphius  Greveliuk,  the  Hague,  Netherlands. 

Eev.  Dr.  Laurillard,  secretary  of  the  Netherlands  Prison  Society, 
Amsterdam,  Netherlands. 

Mr.  B.  J.  Ploos  Von  Amstel,  Amsterdam,  Netherlands. 

Dr.  Guillaume,  director  of  the  penitentiary,  Neufchatel,  Switzerland. 

Mr.  Max  Wirth,  chief  of  the  statistical  bureau,  Berne,  Switzerland. 

Signor  F.  Cardon,  director-general  of  prisons,  Rome,  Italy. 

Signer  Mar.  Bettrani-Scalia,  inspector-general  of  prisons,  Rome,  Italy. 

Baron  Franz  von  Holtzendorff,  professor  of  law  in  the  University  of 
Berlin,  Berlin,  Prussia. 

Rev.  Dr.  Wichern,  director  of  the  Rauhe  Haus,  Horn,  near  Hamburg, 
Germany. 

Mr.  Fr.  Bruiin,  director  of  prisons,  Copenhagen,  Denmark. 

Senhor  Andre  Fleury,  secretary  of  the  committee  of  inspection  of  the 
house  of  correction,  Rio  de  Janeiro,  Brazil. 

5. — Life  directors  by  the  contribution  of  two  hundred  dol- 
lars OR  UPWARD,  at  one  TIME,  TO  THE  FUNDS  OF  THE  ASSOCIA- 
TION. 

Timothy  M.  Allyn,  Hartford,  Connecticut. 

James  Brown,  New  York. 

Morris  K.  Jesnp,  New  York. 

W.  Soldatenkoff,  St.  Petersburg,  Russia. 

E.  C.  Wines,  New  York. 

-C. — Life  members  by  the  contribution  of  one  hundred  dol- 
lars OR  UPWARD  AT  ONE  TIME. 

Horatio  Seymour,  Utica,  New  York. 

William  H.  Aspiuwall,  New  York. 

W.  Amor}',  Boston,  Massachusetts. 

H.  K.  Corning,  New  York. 

D.  Denny,  Boston,  Massachusetts. 

Edward  Earle,  Worcester,  Massachusetts. 

George  B-  Emerson,  Boston,  Massachusetts. . 

Mrs.  Mary  A.  Holden,  Providence,  Rhode  Island. 

Joseph  Rowland,  Matteawan,  New  York. 

John  Taylor  Johnston,  New  York. 

Amos  Pilsbury,  Albany,  New  York. 

Jonathan  Sturges,  New  York. 

N.  Thayer,  Boston,  Massachusetts. 

C.  H.  Shipman,  Brooklvn,  New  York. 

B.  G.  Clarke,  New  York. 

Miss  M.  W.  Wills,  Hartford,  Connecticut. 


488  NATIONAL    PKISON    REFORM    CONGRESS    OF    1673. 

7. — Treasurer's  report  for  two  years. 

The  Xat'wiial  Prison  Association  in  account  icith  S.  H.  Wales,  trcasiiret 

Cr. 

April  30, 1873.  By  amount  of  donations  from  May,  1871,  to  May,  1873 $7,  068  85 

amount  of  appropriation  by  United  States  Congress 5.  000  00 

loan 4,925  00 

16, 993  85 

Dr. 

April  30, 1873.  To  cash  paid  for  expenses  connected  •with  the  International 

Penitentiary  Congress  and  for  salaries $15,  000  00 

officeexpenses,includingreut,  fuel,  light,  attendance,  &c.  80a  00 
cash  paid  for  printing  and  expenses  connected  with  two 

annual  reports a. 594  26 

cash  paid  for  stationery 64  04 

cash  paid  for  postage,  telegraphing,  and  expressage 264  43 

cash  paid  for  oftice-furniture 141  97 

cash  paid  for  traveling  expenses 105  25 

cash  paid  miscellaneous  expenses 14  80 

balance  to  new  account 85 

16,993  85. 

.     E.  E. 

8.— Contributions  to  the  National  Prison  Association  fro:m: 
May,  1871,  TO  May,  1873. 

CaVifornia. 
Mrs.  L.  Hutchison,  Bishop  Creek -. $10 

Connecticut. 

Timothy  M.  Allyn,  Hartford $500 

.James  E.  English,  New  Haven 25 

R.  S.  Fellowes,  New  Haven 20 

Kev.  Thos.  K.  Fessenden,  Farmington 20 

Miss  M.  W.  Wells,  Hartford 125 

Rev.  Geo.  Wooding,  Wethersfield 10 

700' 

Illinois. 

George  W.  Perkins,  Poutiac 10 

Charles  E.  Feltou,  Chicago 10 

20 

Indiana. 

Charles  F.  Coffin,  Richmond 20 

loir  a. 
James  McCartey,  Salem 10' 

Kcntuclif. 

('yniH  Mendenhall,  Covington 10 

J'.  Caldwell,  Louisville 10 

20' 

Man/land. 

W.  R.  Lirwohi,  Baltimore  ...' ". 10 

(;.  S.  Grillith 10 

• 20' 

Massachusetts. 

W.  Aniory,  P.ostoii • 100 

William  .J.  iSowditoli,  Boston 10 

(Iridic V  .J.  I'\  I'.ryaut,  I'ostori 20 

John  W.  Candler,  Boston 50 

( 'ash,  Boston 10 

D.  Denny,  Boston 100 

Mrs.  Henry  V.  Durunt,  Boston , 50 


CONTRIBUTIONS    FOR    187J    AND    1872.  489 

Edward  Earle,  Worcester .filOO 

Geo.  B.  Emerson,  Boston 100 

Charles  O.  Foster,  Boston 25 

*A.  Hardy,  Boston 25 

S.  G.  Howe,  Boston 10 

Mrs.  Julia  Ward  Howe,  Boston ., 10 

Samuel  Johnson,  Boston 10 

H.  P.  Kidder,  Boston 50 

O.  W.  Peabody,  Boston 50 

Avery  Plumer,  Boston 10 

M.  S.  Scudder,  Boston 20 

E.  S.  Tobey,  Boston 50 

Nathaniel  Thayer,  Boston 100 

J.  C.Tyler,  Boston 10 

Samnel  D.  Warren,  Boston 50 

Mrs.  Elizabeth  Earns  worth,  Groton 10 

$970 

Micliigau. 

O.  Goldsmith,  Detroit 10 

H.V.N.  Lothrop,  Detroit 10 

R.  McLelland,  Detroit 1 10 

James  McMillen ,  Detroit 10 

John  S.  Newberry,  Detroit 10 

C.  I.  Walker,  Detroit 20 

Rev.  Charles  Johnson,  Lansinj^ 10 

—  80 
Minnesoia. 

F.  W.  Phelps,  Winona 10 

Missouri. 
Mrs.  A.  W^  Richardson 10 

NtbrasTca. 
H.  C.  Campbellj  Lincoln 10 

New  Sampshire. 
Rev.  William  Clark,  D.  D.,  Andover 10 

Xciv  Jersey. 

D.  Haines 10 

Xcw  Yorl\ 

Brother  Teliow 10 

William  H.  Aspinwall,  New  York , 200 

James  Brown,  New  York 600 

Stewart  Brown,  New  York 150 

B.  G.  Clarke 175 

H.  K.  Corning,  New  York 150 

Erastus  Corning,  Albany 200 

Cash 10 

Winthrop  S.  Gilman,  New  York 150 

Bishop  E.  S.  Janes,  D.  D 10 

Joseph  Howland,  Matteawan 200 

James  Hunter,  New  York 20 

Richard  Irvin 75 

Morris  K.  Jesup,  New  York 250 

W.  R.  Janeway 25 

John  Taylor  Johnston,  New  York 200 

Henry  T.  Morgan,  New  York 75 

A.  S.  McDonald 20 

W.  C.  Palmer 20 

Amos  Pilsbury,  Albany 100 

H.  F.  Phinney,  Cooperstown 25 

Rev.  George  L.  Prentiss,  D.D 10 

Guy  Richards,  New  York 65 

George  Sterry 25 

Horatio  Seymour,  Utica 100 


490  NATIONAL    PRISON   REFORM    CONGRESS    OF    1873. 

Jonathan  Stnro;es,  New  York $150 

Rev.  William  M.  Paxton,  D.  D 10 

E.  C.  Wines,  New  York 400 

Rt.  Rev.  Horatio  Potter,  D.  D 10  * 

John  David  Wolle,  New  York 200 

Weston  &  Gray,  New  York 100 

Salem  H.  Wales,  New  York 150 

R.  W.  Weston 50 

John  E.  Williams,  New  York 50 

C.  H.  Shipman,  Brooklvn.. 200 

|4, 185  00 

Ohio. 

Murray  Shipley,  Cincinnati 10 

G.  E.  Howe,  Lancaster 10 

Mrs.  R.  A.  S.  Janney,  Columbus 10 

R.  B.  Hayes,  Cincinnati 10 

A.  H.Monfort 10 

50  00 

Fennsylvania. 

Henry  Cordier ,  Claremont,  AJleghenv  County .50 

T.  H.'Ne vin,  Allegheny ". 10 

60  00 

Ehodc  Island. 

A.  E.  Burnside,  Providence 10 

A.  C.  Barstow,  Providence 20 

Jacob  Dunuell,  Pawtucket 20 

AV.  W.  Hojipin,  Providence 10 

Mrs.  Mary  A.  Holden,  Providence : 100 

Robert  H.  Ives,  Providence 60 

William  J.  King,  Providence 40 

Mrs.  Henry  Lippitt,  Providence 20 

Jesse  Metcalf,  Providence 10 

Seth  Padelford,  Providence 10 

Mrs.  G.  M.  Richmond,  Providence 30 

Miss  Caroline  Richmond,  Providence 20 

A.  &  W.  Sprague,  Providence 100 

James  Y.  Smith  &.  Nichol,  Providence 40 

Amos  D.  Smith,  Providence 10 

H.  J.  Steere,  Providence 10 

James  Tillinghast,  Providence 20 

Royal  C.  Taft,  Providence 20 

Rev.  Augustus  Woodbury,  Providence 20 

570  00 

West  Virginia. 

Thomas  P.  Shallcross,  Mounds ville 10  00 

Wisconsin . 
Edwin  Ilurlbut,  Oconomowoc 10  00 

United  States. 

Appropriation  by  Congress , 5,  000  00 

Surplus  alter  iiayiug  expenses  of  Baltimore  Congress 73  85 

Russia. 
W.  Soldatenkoft;  St.  Petersburg 200  00 

'i'otal  contributions  for  the  two  years 7.068  85 


0. — Act  of  incorporation. 

The  people  of  ihc  ^Sfate  of  Nciv  Yorl;  represented  in  .senate  and  assembly, 

do  enact  a.s  follows  : 

Section  1.  Horatio  Seymour,  Theodore  W.  Dwi^lit,  Francis  Lieber, 
Amos  JMlsl)ury,  .lames  lirowii,  AVilliam  II.  Asi)iuwall,  John  Taylor 
Johnston,  .loliii   E.   Williams,  Theodore  Koosevelt,  JMorris  K.  Jesup, 


CONSTITUTION BY-LAWS.  491 

Isaac  Bell,  James  G.  Blaine,  Conrad  Baker,  Eutherford  B.  Hayes, 
Daniel  Haines,  Enoch  0.  Wines,  Oliver  S.  Strou*g,  Bradford  K.  Peirce, 
Charles  L,  Brace,  Charles  F.  Coffin,  Howard  Potter,  Henry  S.  Terbell, 
Z.  11.  Brockway,  Frank  B.  Sanborn,  Edward  W.  Hatch,  and  their  asso- 
ciates and  successors  in  office,  are  hereby  constituted  a  body  corporate 
and  politic,  by  the  name  of  "  The  National  Prison  Association  of  the 
United  States  of  America,"  whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  consider  and  rec- 
ommend i)lans  for  the  promotion  of  the  objects  following ;  that  is  to 
say — 

1.  The  amelioration  of  the  laws  in  relation  to  i^ublic  offenses  and 
offenders,  and  the  modes  of  procedure  by  which  such  laws  are  enforced. 

2.  The  improvement  of  the  ])ena!,  correctional,  and  reformatory  insti- 
tutions throughout  the  country,  and  the  government,  management,  and 
discipline  thereof,  including  the  appointment  of  boards  of  control  and 
of  other  officers. 

3.  The  care  of,  and  providing  suitable  and  remunerative  employment 
for,  discharged  prisoners,  and  especially  such  as  may  or  shall  have  given 
evidence  of  a  reformation  of  life. 

Sec.  2.  The  principal  place  of  business  of  the  said  corporation  shall 
be  in  city  of  New  York;  and  the  management  and  disposition  of  its 
affairs,  property,  and  funds  shall  be  vested  in  the  persons  named  in  the 
first  section  of  this  act,  and  their  associates  and  their  successors  in  office, 
who  shall  remain  in  office  for  such  period,  and  be  displaced  and  suc- 
ceeded by  others  to  be  elected  at  the  times  and  in  the  manner  prescribed 
by  the  by-laws.  The  number  of  members  to  constitute  a  quorum  shall 
be  fixed  by  the  by-laws. 

Sec.  3.  The  said  corporation  shall  have  power  to  purchase  or  take  by 
gift,  grant,  devise,  or  bequest,  real  and  personal  property  to  an  amount 
not  exceeding  three  hundred  thousand  dollars,  subject  to  the  provisions 
of  chapter  three  hundred  and  sixty  of  the  laws  of  eighteen  hundred  and 
sixty. 

Sec.  4.  The  said  corporation  shall  have  and  possess  all  the  general 
powers,  and  be  subject  to  all  the  liabilities,  contained  in  the  third  title 
of  chapter  eighteen  of  the  first  part  of  the  Kevised  Statutes. 

Sec.  5.  This  act  shall  take  effect  immediately. 

State  of  New  York, 

Office  of  the  Secretary  of  State,  ss  : 
I  have  compared  the  preceding  with  the  original  law  on  file  in  this 
office,  and  do  hereby  certify  that  the  same  is  a  correct  transcript  there- 
from, and  of  the  whole  of  said  original  law. 

Given  under  my  hand  and  seal  of  office  at  the  city  of  Albany,  this 
twenty-ninth  day  of  April,  In  the  year  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and 
seventvone. 

DEIDRICH  WILLERS, 

Deputy  Secretary  of  State. 

10. — Constitution. 

Article  I.  This  Association  shall  be  called  the  National' Prison  As- 
sociation of  the  United  States  of  America,  and  its  objects  shall  be — 

1.  The  amelioration  of  the  laws  in  relation  to  public  offenses  and 
offenders,  and  the  modes  of  procedure  by  which  such  laws  are  enforced. 

2.  The  improvement  of  the  penal,  correctional,  and  reformatory  institu- 
tions throughout  the  country,  and  of  the  government,  management,  and 


492  NATIONAL    PEISON    REFORM    CONGRESS    OF    1673 

discipline  thereof,  including  the  appointment  of  boards  of  control  and 
of  other  officers.  * 

3.  The  care  of,  and  providing  suitable  and  remunerative  employment 
for,  discharged  prisoners,  and  especially  snch  as  may  or  shall  have  given, 
evidence  of  a  reformation  of  life. 

Art.  II.  The  officers  of  the  association  shall  be  a  president,  five  vice- 
presidents,  a  corresponding  secretary,  a  recording  secretary,  a  treasurer, 
and  a  board  of  directors,  not  exceeding  thirty  in  number,  of  which  the 
officers  above  named  shall  be  ex  officio  members. 

Art.  III.  There  shall  be  the  following  standing  committees,  namely: 
An  executive  committee,  of  which  the  president  shall  be  ex  officio  chair- 
man, the  recording  secretary  ex  officio  secretary,  and  the  corresponding 
secretary  and  treasurer  ex  officio  members;  a  committee  on  criminal  law 
reform;  a  committee  on  prison  discipline ;  a  committee  on  juvenile  de- 
linquency ;  and  a  committee  on  discharged  prisoners. 

Art.  IV.  The  boartl  of  directors,  of  whom  any  five  members  shall 
constitute  a  quorum — two  of  said  members  being  officers  of  the  associa- 
tion— shall  meet  semi-annually,  and  in  the  interval  of  its  meetings  its 
powers  shall  be  exercised  by  the  executive  committee,  which  shall  fix 
its  own  time  of  meeting. 

Art.  Y.  Committees  of  correspondence  shall  be  organized  in  the  sev- 
eral States,  as  may  be  found  practicable ;  and  the  formation  of  State 
associations  shall  be  encouraged. 

Art.  VI.  Any  person  contributing  annually  to  the  funds  of  the  asso- 
ciation not  less  than  ten  dollars  shall  be  a  member  thereof;  a  contribu- 
tion of  one  hundred  dollars  at  any  one  time  shall  constitute  the  contrib- 
utor a  life  member ;  and  a  contribution  of  two  hundred  dollars  at  any 
one  time  shall  entitle  the  contributor  to  be  a  life  director.  Correspond- 
ing members  may  be  appointed  by  the  board  of  directors  or  by  the  ex- 
ecutive committee.  The  power  of  electing  officers  shall  be  confined  to 
the  corporate  members  of  the  association. 

Art.  VII.  The  association  shall  hold  an  annual  meeting  at  such  time 
and  place  as  the  executive  committee  shall  appoint,  on  which  occasion 
the  several  standing  committees,  the  corresponding  secretary,  and  the 
treasurer  shall  submit  annual  reports.  Special  meetings  may  be  called 
by  the  president  in  his  discretion,  and  shall  be  called  by  him  whenever 
he  is  requested  to  do  so  by'anj'  three  members  of  the  board. 

Art.  VIII.  All  officers  of  the  association  shall  be  elected  at  the 
annual  meeting  or  gome  adjournment  thereof;  but  vacancies  occurring 
after  the  annual  meeting  may  be  filled  by  the  board  of  directors,  who 
shall  also  appoint  all  committees  not  chosen  at  the  annual  meeting;  and 
all  officers  shall  hold  over  till  their  successors  are  chosen. 

Art.  IX.  The  executive  committee  shall  consist  of  seven  members  of 
the  board  of  directors — the  president,  the  recording  secretary,  the  cor- 
responding secretary,  and  the  treasurer  being  ex  officio  members — any 
tlireoof  whom  shall  constitute  a  quorum  for  the  transaction  of  busi- 
ness. 

Art.  X.  Tliis  constitution  may  be  amended  by  vote  of  a  majority  of 
the  members  of  the  association  at  any  meeting  thereof:  Provided,  That 
notice  of  tlie  i)roposed  amendment  shall  have  been  given  at  the  next 
preceding  meeting. 


BY-LAWS.  493 

11. — By-laws. 

I.  The  order  of  business  at  eacli  stated  meeting  of  the  board  sball  be 
as  follows: 

1.  Reading  of  the  minutes. 

2.  Report  of  the  treasurer. 

3.  Report  of  the  corresponding  secretary. 

4.  Reports  from  standing  committees. 

5.  Reports  from  special  committees. 
C.  Miscellaneous  business. 

II.  The  president,  corresponding  secretary,  recording  secretary,  and 
treasurer  shall  perform  the  customary  duties  of  their  respective  offices. 

III.  The  president  shall  appoint  the  committees,  unless  otherwise 
ordered  by  the  association. 

IV.  The  president  shall  decide  questions  of  order,  subject  to  an  appeal ; 
and  the  rules  of  order  shall  be  those  in  Cushing's  Manual,  so  far  as  they 
may  be  applicable, 

V.  No  bills  shall  be  paid  by  the  treasurer  unless  approved  and  signed 
by  the  chairman  of  the  executive  committee,  or  by  some  other  member 
of  said  committee  designated  by  him. 

YI.  No  alteration  shall  be  made  in  these  by-laws,  except  on  notice  of 
the  proposed  amendment  given  at  a  previous  meeting  of  the  board. 


NOV     8,98, 

REC'D  MLC 

OCT  1 2  1962 

S    FEB  2  2 


RENEWAL 


^T 


MAR 
WAR 


MAY  1 2  1935 


m 


rD  LD-URl 

7 1977 
2 '3  W/J 


Form  L-9-10m-2,'31 


DEC 
DISC 

APR 


'D  LD-UI?C 

13  1977 

lARGE-lM 

3  197P 

1 6 1979 


(fCr  01  1990 

*fC'D  LO-URI. 
•Oy  26M0 


/ 


UC  SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 


AA    000  841  227    2 


UNIVERSITY  of  CAUFORNi/ 

LOS  ANGELES 
UBRARY 


